Household Cavalry Regiment
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The Household Cavalry Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 19 October 1992-Present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Army |
Type | Horse Guards |
Role | Formation Reconnaissance |
Size | One regiment |
Part of | Household Cavalry |
Garrison/HQ | Windsor |
Motto | Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (Evil be to Him who Evil Thinks) |
March | Life Guards: Quick - Millanollo Slow - Life Guards Slow March Trot Past - Keel Row Blues and Royals: Quick - Quick March of the Blues and Royals Slow - Slow March of the Blues and Royals Trot Past - Keel Row |
Commanders | |
Colonel-in-Chief | HM The Queen |
The Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and is one of two regiments that are formed from the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the amalgamation of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Both regiments were allowed to maintain their identities, and each provides two squadrons for the HCR. This makes the HCR relatively unique in the British Army, in that it is an operational regiment only - it does not have its own ceremonial identity, as the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals have their own RHQs, their own uniforms and accutrements.
The regiment is part of the Household Cavalry, which is a corps in its own right, rather than the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC). However, it serves as one of the five formation reconnaissance regiments, for which it is equipped with various vehicles including the FV107 Scimitar, and is considered, for operational purposes, as part of the RAC. Uniquely among the army's formation reconnaissance regiments, the Household Cavalry Regiment has four operational squadrons (the rest have three); one of the HCR's squadrons is permanently attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade.
It currently serves as the formation reconnaissance regiment assigned to 1 Reconnaissance Brigade, which provides reconnaissance to 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division, and is based at Combermere Barracks, Windsor, one mile from Windsor Castle.