Rifleman

British Army rifleman of the Peninsular War

A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a long, rifled firearm. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the rifled musket. By the mid-19th century, entire regiments of riflemen were formed and became the mainstay of all standard infantry. Rifleman became a term for any common infantryman.

History

Units of musketeers were originally developed to support units of pikemen. As firearms became more effective, the composition of these pike-and-musket units changed, with pikemen eventually supporting the musketeers particularly against cavalry. The last pike regiments were dissolved by the 1720s, as pikes were superseded by the invention of the bayonet. This converted the musket into a pike for those situations where it might still be useful, such as following up volleys with a charge, crowd control, or defensive formations.

Smooth-bore weapons, such as the musket, had always been recognised as inaccurate and required massed volleys to be effective. Aimed fire, with targets individually chosen and fired upon at the initiative of the individual soldier, was not possible until the development of rifling in the barrel. This imparted spin to the bullet, greatly improving its ballistic performance and giving greater range and accuracy, as opposed to a smoothbore where the ball actually 'bounced' down the barrel. However although this impeded the accuracy of a smoothbore it was an advantage when loading from the muzzel, as the musket ball slid down the barrel quickly and easily with the ramrod being used mainly to compress the powder charge at the base of the barrel. Rifles instead required the ball to be rammed all the way down the barrel, a slower and more laborious procedure. This meant that the soldiers chosen for this role needed to be good shots, resilient, brave, and resourceful. Riflemen were trained to act in isolation and were dispersed in teams of two, defending each other while they re-loaded. They were still vulnerable, especially to cavalry, as they could not present the solid wall of bayonets a larger mass of soldiers could. 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 used sparingly rather than squandered.

Such rifle units reached their heyday in the period shortly before and during 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 formed in the British Army in 1800 were the 60th Regiment of Foot and the 95th Regiment of Foot. These units were often given the name "light infantry", emphasising their specialised roles.

Starting in the 1840s, with the advent of the Minié ball, and the first military breech-loading rifles, the weapon entered the age of industrialised warfare. It was mass-produced and accessible to all infantrymen. The high level of training and specialised roles gave way to generality: the rifles were much faster and simpler to load, able to be reloaded while prone, and impossible to be double-loaded after a misfire. The term 'rifleman', once used solely as a mark of distinction and pride, became a commonplace description of all infantry, no matter what their actual status was. Nevertheless, the term retained a certain élan that is still found today.

Rank

In many armies, rifleman is a rank equivalent to private, abbreviated Rfn.^[1][2]

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 specialised 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

Australia

Riflemen are employed by the Australian Army in both the Regular Army and the Army Reserve. 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:

• 1st Battalion (1 RAR)^[3]
• 2nd Battalion (2 RAR)^[4]
• 3rd Battalion (3 RAR)^[5]
• 5th Battalion (5 RAR)^[6]
• 6th Battalion (6 RAR)^[7]
• 7th Battalion (7 RAR)^[8]
• 8th/9th Battalion (8/9 RAR).^[9]

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

India

In the Indian Army, of the 28 infantry regiments, ten are designated rifle regiments and are distinguished by their black rank badges, black buttons on their service and ceremonial uniforms, and a dark green beret. Additionally, a paramilitary force, the Assam Rifles and Eastern Frontier Rifles, also follows the traditions of the rifle regiment.

These regiments are:

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 infantry training 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 use of the assault rifle. More infantry skills (such as operating diverse weapons) are added as the level of training increases.

Basic training (Tironut):

• Non-combat soldiers are trained as Rifleman 02.
• Combat-support troops are trained as Rifleman 03.
• Combat Engineering soldiers and infantry soldiers are trained as Rifleman 05.

Advance training (Imun Mitkadem):

• Combat soldiers of Armor corps and Artillery corps are trained as Rifleman 03.
• Field Intelligence Corps soldiers are trained as Rifleman 04.
• Combat Engineering sappers are trained as Rifleman 07.
• Infantry soldiers are trained as Rifleman 07.

Additional training for combat soldiers:

• Combat class commanders are trained as Rifleman 08.
• Combat Senior Sergeants are trained as Rifleman 10.
• Combat officers are trained as Rifleman 12.

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.

United Kingdom

A historical reenactment with the British 95th Rifles regiment.

From their inception British Rifle Regiments were distinguished by a dark green dress with blackened buttons, black leather equipment, and sombre facing colours designed for concealment. This has been retained to the present day for those British units that still carry on the traditions of the riflemen. Their most famous weapon was the Baker rifle (officially known as the Pattern 1800 Infantry 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.

• 60th rifles/King's Royal Rifle Corps
• 95th Rifles/The Rifle Brigade
• Royal Ulster Rifles
• Royal Green Jackets
• The Rifles
• Royal Gurkha Rifles
• Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

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 the following year (1858) when the Battalion was renamed the Sirmoor Rifle Regiment. Later all British Army Gurkha 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 introduced in 1923.^[10]

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.^[11]

During the Civil War, Sharpshooter regiments were raised in the North with several companies being raised by individual states for their own regiments.^[12]

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. Training for Marine Corps Riflemen is conducted at the U.S. Marine Corps School of Infantry and training for U.S. Army Riflemen is conducted at U.S. Army Infantry School.

See also

• Service rifle
• Assault rifle
• Battle rifle
• Jaeger
• Baker rifle
• Sharps Rifle
• Light Infantry
• Chasseur
• Fusilier
• Grenadier
• Infantry
• Skirmisher

References and notes