Troop

A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. Cavalry soldiers of private rank are called troopers (abbreviated Tpr., not troupers). Today, troop has different specific meanings in different armed forces.

Generally, soldiers may be referred to as troops.

British Army and Royal Marines

In the British Army the definition of a troop varies by corps.

• Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps: Three or four armoured fighting vehicles commanded by a subaltern, or the equivalent of a platoon in headquarters elements. The troop commander commands one vehicle himself, the troop sergeant a second, and the others are commanded by corporals.
• Special Air Service: Sixteen men, organised into four four-man patrols, and commanded by a captain (who also commands one of the patrols himself, the troop sergeant commanding another).
• Royal Artillery: A unit of two to four guns or launchers, or an equivalent headquarters unit. In the Royal Horse Artillery, a troop used to be the equivalent to a battery in other artillery units.
• Royal Engineers, Royal Corps of Signals and Royal Logistic Corps: A unit equivalent in size to a platoon in other corps, divided into sections.

Other corps do not use the term.

In the Royal Marines, a troop is the equivalent to an army platoon.

Canadian Army

In the Canadian Army, a Troop is the equivalent of a platoon within the Armoured, Engineer, and Signals branches. Two to four Troops are grouped under a squadron.

U.S. Cavalry

In the United States Army, in the cavalry branch, a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry company, commanded by a captain and consisting of 3 or 4 platoons, and subordinate to a squadron (battalion).

General military usage

The mass nouns troop or troops can also be used more generally:

• To refer to all active duty military (e.g. Support our troops, Bring the troops home).
• To refer to ground forces generally (e.g. combat troops).

When referring to a specific service different words are used (singular or plural):

• Royal Navy/United States Navy - Sailor
• Royal Air Force/United States Air Force - Airman
• British Army/United States Army - Soldier
• Royal Marines/United States Marine Corps - Marine
• United States Coast Guard - Coast Guardsman
• United States National Guard - National Guardsman

Note that within the British Armed Forces, these specific terms are often used only to refer to non-commissioned personnel (an army officer may speak of "my soldiers", for instance).

Scouting

In the British Scout Association, the Boy Scouts of America, and most other English-speaking Scouting organizations, a troop is an organized local group that meets regularly.

In Girl Scouts, a troop also refers to an organized local group that meets regularly. Troops are then organized into Councils depending on location. Troops work on badges and awards together, and arrange activities, events, and camping trips together.

State Police

With in the United States, State Police forces are often regionally divided into Troops. This usage came about from these orginzations modeling themselves off the US Army, and especially the older calvery units. For this same reason the State Police and Highway Patrol personnel of most states are known as "Trooper" rather than "Officer". California, all US territorial police forces(Guam, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and several other states use the "Officer" instead of "Trooper". Most state police and highway patrol forces are more heavily into Army style ranks then most US law enforcement agencies.