Rifleman

For other uses, see Rifleman (disambiguation).
Portuguese Army rifleman (caçador) of the Peninsular War

A rifleman is a soldier in a light infantry unit. Although ultimately originating with the 16th century handgunners and the 17th century musketeers and streltsy, the term rifleman originated in the 18th century. Entire regiments and bodies of troops were armed with the weapon. It later became the term for the archetypal common infantryman.

History

Musketeers originally fought as an integral unit with pikemen. As the effectiveness of firearms increased, the balance of these pike-and-musket units shifted, until the pikes were supporting the muskets. The last pike regiments were dissolved by the 1720s with the invention of the bayonet. This innovation replaced the pike, and in effect converted the musket into a pike for those situations where it might still be useful, such as following up volleys with a charge, or defending against cavalry.

Smooth-bore weapons such as the musket had always been recognised as inaccurate, requiring massed volleys to be effective. Aimed fire, with targets individually chosen and fired upon on the initiative of the soldier, was not possible until the development of rifling in the barrel. This imparted spin to the bullet, greatly increasing the 'trueness' of the trajectory, rather than the randomness of a musket ball that actually 'bounced' down the barrel. Rifles, although deadly accurate, were disadvantaged by being very slow to reload. This meant that the soldiers chosen for this role needed to be resilient, brave and resourceful, as well as being good shots. Trained to act in teams of two, each defending the other while they re-loaded, they were still vulnerable, especially to cavalry, trained as they were to fight in isolated and dispersed groups rather than as a mass that could present a solid wall of bayonets. These factors—the time and expense required in training, the limited number of suitable recruits, and the specialised roles and situations where they were most effective—meant they were highly prized, given special privileges, and 'husbanded' rather than squandered. They were, in essence, an élite.

Units of 'Rifles' reached their heyday up to and including the Napoleonic Wars, with the British riflemen (partially derived from units of colonial militia; see Rogers' Rangers or the Royal Americans) truly excelling in the American War of Independence. Regular units of Rifles were formed in the British Army in 1800 (the 60th Regiment of Foot and the 95th Regiment of Foot). From around 1840, with the advent of the first military breech-loading rifles, the weapon entered an age of industrialised warfare, where it was mass-produced and accessible to all infantrymen. Much faster and simpler to load, able to be used while prone, impossible to be double-loaded after a misfire; the high level of training and highly specialised roles gave way to generality. The term 'rifleman', once used solely as a mark of distinction and pride, became a commonplace description of all soldiers, no matter what their actual status was. Nevertheless the term still retained a certain élan, that is still found today.

Modern tactics

Modern riflemen are armed with select-fire assault rifles, hybrids of submachine guns and rifles. Riflemen are the basic modern soldiers from which all other soldierly functions stem. Though by tradition certain infantry units are based on the rifleman, they employ a variety of other specialized soldiers in conjunction with the rifleman.

In the context of the modern fire team, "Rifleman" can be used to indicate a basic position such as scout, team leader, or designated marksman. In the same context, the terms Designated Automatic Rifleman and Assistant Automatic Rifleman are used to describe a soldier who carries either a light support weapon or its ammunition.

The term "Long-Rifleman" is often used by police forces, anti-terrorist units and small-scale team-based military forces worldwide. It is an assignment rather than a rank, and refers to a marksman or sharpshooter (not a sniper, who is additionally an expert in fieldcraft), one who is meant to expand the team's effective range with a long, scoped rifle.

Rifleman in different countries

Argentina

Australia

In the Australian Defence Force riflemen are employed by the Australian Army in both the Regular Army and the Army Reserves. Riflemen in the Australian Army are members of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. Riflemen in the Regular Army are organised into seven battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment.

The 7 battalions are composed of:

Riflemen of the Army Reserve are organized into individual state and university regiments with reserve depots being found in many places throughout rural and metropolitan Australia.

Belgium

Finland

Finnish infantry units are also known as Jäger (Finnish pl. Jääkärit, Swedish pl. Jägarna), a legacy of a Finnish volunteer Jäger battalion formed in Germany during World War I to fight for the liberation of Finland from Russia.

France

A Chasseur designation was given to certain regiments of French light infantry (Chasseurs à pied) or light cavalry (Chasseurs à cheval).

Chasseurs à pied - Foot Huntsmen

The name Chasseurs à pied (light infantry) was originally used for infantry units in the French Army recruited from hunters or woodsmen. Recognized for their marksmanship and skirmishing skills, the chasseurs were comparable to the German Jäger or the British light infantry. The Chasseurs à Pied, as the marksmen of the French army, were regarded as elite light companies and regiments.[1]

Chasseur alpins - Alpine Huntsmen

The elite mountain infantry of the French Army. Trained to operate in mountainous terrain and in urban warfare.

Chasseurs à cheval - Horse Huntsmen

The Chasseurs à Cheval, (light cavalry) were generally not held in as high esteem as their infantry counterparts, or the identically armed light cavalry units of hussars. During the French occupation of Algeria regiments of Chasseurs d'Afrique were raised. These were light cavalry recruited originally from French volunteers and subsequently from the French settlers in North Africa doing their military service. As such they were the mounted equivalent of the Zouaves.

Modern French Army Huntsmen

The modern French Army comprises bataillons of Chasseurs à pied (mechanized infantry : 16e BC),Chasseurs-Alpins (mountain troops : 7e, 13e, 27e BCA) and regiments of Chasseurs à cheval (1er-2e RCh and 4e RCh : light armored regiments). In addition one regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique (training unit : 1er RCA) has been re-raised to commemorate this branch of the French cavalry. Since May 1943 there has been a "Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes" (1er RCP).

All of these units have different traditions :

Although the traditions of these different branches of the French Army are very different, there is still a tendency to confuse one with the other. For example when World War I veteran Léon Weil died, the AFP press agency stated that he was a member of the 5th "Regiment de Chasseurs Alpins". It was in fact the 5th Bataillon.

French rifle units were designated Tirailleurs (Fr. 'Skirmishers').

Germany

Main article: Jäger (military)

India

In the Indian Army, of the 28 Infantry regiments, the following 10 are designated rifle regiments and are distinguished by their black rank badges, black buttons on their service and ceremonial uniforms as also the beret which is a darker shade of green than the other regiments. Apart from these, a paramilitary force, Assam Rifles and Eastern Frontier Rifles, also follows the traditions of the rifle regiment.

Rajputana Rifles
Garhwal Rifles
Jammu and Kashmir Rifles
1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment)
3 Gorkha Rifles
4 Gorkha Rifles
5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)
8 Gorkha Rifles
9 Gorkha Rifles
11 Gorkha Rifles

Israel

In the Israel Defense Forces every soldier goes through some basic training of infantry, called "Tironut". However, the level of training changes according to the role and unit to which the soldier belongs. The "Rifleman" profession (in Hebrew: רובאי) includes basic military skills, physical training, military discipline and using assault rifle. More infantry skills (such as operating diverse weapons) are added as the level of training increases.

Basic training ("Tironut"):

Advance training ("Imun Mitkadem"):

Additional training for combat soldiers:

Italy

Italian Rifle units were designated Cacciatori or Bersaglieri.

The Netherlands

Norway

Portugal

Main article: Caçadores

Portuguese Riflemen were known as Caçadores literally "Huntsmen". Portuguese Caçadores battalions were the elite light soldiers of the Portuguese Army during the Peninsular War. They wore distinctive brown uniforms for camouflage. They were considered, by the Duke of Wellington, as the "fighting cocks of his army". Each Caçadores battalion included an elite company armed with rifles known as atiradores (literally "Shooters").

In the first half of the 20th century the Caçadores battalions were recreated as border defense units.

In the 1950s, the title "Caçadores" was also given to the light infantry battalions and independent companies responsible for the garrison of the Portuguese overseas territories. There were units of this type mobilized both in European Portugal and locally in each overseas territory.

At the beginning of the 1960s, several special forces companies of the Portuguese Army were named "Special Huntsmen" (Caçadores Especiais). These units wore a brown beret in the colour of the uniforms of the caçadores of the Peninsular War. Later these units were abolished and the brown beret started to be used by most of the units of the Portuguese Army.

In the 1950s a paratrooper unit was formed in the Portuguese Air Force, known as "Parachutist Hunters" (Caçadores Paraquedistas). Later, battalions of Caçadores Paraquedistas were also created in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea.

In 1975, the designation "Caçadores" was discontinued in the Portuguese Armed Forces. All former units of caçadores started to be known simply as "Infantry".

Currently, every infantry soldier of the Portuguese Army is known as atirador.

Rhodesia

The Rhodesia Regiment had an affiliation with the King's Royal Rifle Corps since World War I. The regiment's badge was the Maltese Cross, the colours were red, black and rifle green and rifle green berets were worn. A private soldier had the title of "Rifleman".

Romania

Russia

The Imperial Russian Army, which was heavily influenced by the Prussian and Austrian military systems, included fifty Jäger or yegerskii [егерский] regiments in its organisation by 1812, including the Egersky Guards Regiment.

Spain

Spanish Riflemen were as Cazadores.

Sweden

United Kingdom

A historical reenactment with the British 95th Rifles regiment.

From their inception the British Rifle Regiments were distinguished by a dark green dress with blackened buttons, black leather equipment and sombre facing colours that gave them what was really a modern aspect - designed for concealment rather than display. This has been retained until the present day for those British units that still carry on the traditions of the riflemen. Their most famous weapon was the 'Baker rifle', which in the hands of the elite 95th regiment and the light companies of the 60th regiment and the Kings German Legion gained fame in the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France.

During the Siege of Delhi the 8th (Sirmoor) Local Battalion along with the 60th Rifles defended Hindu Rao's House during which a strong bond developed. After the rebellion the 60th Rifles pressed for the Sirmoor Battalion to become a rifle regiment. This honour was granted to them next year (1858) when the Battalion was renamed the Sirmoor Rifle Regiment. Later all British Army Gurka regiments were designated rifle regiments a nomenclature maintained to this day with the Royal Gurkha Rifles.

The rank of Rifleman instead of Private was officially started in 1923.[2]

United States

In 1808, the United States Army created its first Regiment of Riflemen. During the War of 1812 three more Rifle Regiments were raised but disbanded after the war. The Rifle Regiment was disbanded in 1821.

In the Mexican–American War Colonel Jefferson Davis created and led the Mississippi Rifles.

Riflemen were listed as separate to infantry up to the American Civil War.[3]

During the Civil War, Sharpshooter regiments were raised in the North with several companies being raised by individual states for their own regiments.[4]

In the United States Marine Corps, the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 0311 is for "Rifleman." It is the primary infantry MOS for the Marine Corps, equivalent to the U.S. Army MOS 11B for Infantryman. The training for Riflemen is conducted at the U.S. Marine Corps School of Infantry.

See also

References and notes

  1. ↑ Ross, Steven T. (1996). From Flintlock to Rifle: Infantry Tactics, 1740–1866. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-7146-4193-5.
  2. ↑ "About the Royal Green Jackets". Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  3. ↑ United States War Department Revised Regulations for the Army of the United States, 1861: With a Full Index J. G. L. Brown, printer, 1861
  4. ↑ Katcher, Philip; Walsh, Stephen (2002). Sharpshooters of the American Civil War 1861–65. Osprey Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-84176-463-4.