A military volunteer is a person who enlists in military service by free will, and is not a conscript, mercenary, or a foreign legionnaire. Volunteers sometimes enlist to fight in the armed forces of a foreign country, for example during the Spanish Civil War. Military volunteers are essential for the operation of volunteer militaries. Many armies, including the U.S. Army, formerly distinguished between "Important Volunteers" enlisted during a war, and "regulars" who served on long-term basis.
United States
In the United States troops raised as state militia were always described as "volunteers", even when recruited by conscription. Both US volunteers and regulars were referred to as "U.S." troops. The rank of an officer in a volunteer unit was separate from his rank (if any) as a regular, and usually higher. When the volunteer forces were disbanded at the end of the war, officers with both kinds of commission reverted to their "regular" rank. For instance, George Armstrong Custer became a brigadier general of volunteers during the American Civil War, but when the war ended, he reverted to captain. (He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel.) Volunteer rank is not the same as brevet rank.
- Military volunteers
Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland German volunteers arrive at train station, during WWII, to fight on the Russian Eastern Front in February 1944
Palestinian Arab volunteers in "Army of the Holy War" in 1947 fighting in the British Mandate of Palestine during Palestinian Civil War of 1947-1948
See also
- Sar-El, national project for volunteers for Israel
- SAF Volunteer Corps, volunteer scheme for the Singapore Armed Forces
- Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War
- Volunteering in a non-military context means working voluntarily without pay
External links
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Notes
This page was last edited on 24 October 2019, at 19:36