davyboy

I always thought this was a group of soldiers.

But the news always refer as 15000 troops are at......and this week Falluja.

Do they mean troops, or do they mean soldiers?

??

De Warrenne

I think, in this case, a troop (short for trooper?) is just one soldier - however troop may also be a collective term

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

You're thinking of troupe, the collective noun for a group of theatrical performers.

A troop is just one soldier.

davegtt

so in what case/sentace would you call someone a soldier? why not 15,000 soldiers were deployed?

davyboy

Well a troop of scouts, mean the "group" of scouts, not one of them.

fast bloke

they might not all be soldiers - the commisioned ranks are not usually considered to be soldiers

Gordo

Troop is a large group, a subdivision of a squadron or an alternative spelling of troupe.

The plural (troops) means soldiers/ armed forces.

It can also be used to parade ceremonially (trooping the colour)

trooper is an individual soldier.

Hope this helps!

G

davyboy

So how may people are fighting?

15000 troops, must be at least 30000 soldiers.......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/3994605.stm

Brendan Hughes

Given the political and media circus surrounding Iraq, I'd say that was quite appropriate...

marky1

When they say 15,000 troops they mean a group of 15,000 people including soldiers/officers etc. A troop can also mean a sub division of a regiment I believe

OllyK

This is from an RLC perspective, bit different from infantry but hey!!
4 x soldier = Fire Team (usually 3 for infantry)
2 x Fire Team, lead by a Corporal = Section
3 x Section + Admin Sergeant & Commander (2Lt) = Troop (Platoon in infantry)
3 x Troop + Admin / Support Staff + OC (Maj) = Squadron
3 Squadrons + HQ Squadron = Regiment (Sometimes referred to as a Batallion)

Above that you start getting in to Brigades and Division which all tend to be a bit fluid

daiscooby

A troop in the sense of a group is a subdivision of a squadron / regiment, normally applied to former cavalry regiments, although as I recall the REME used troop as a definition of a subsection as well as Logistics and Sig's, sections of the Para's and Marines IIRC.
But in essence the origin is in the Cavalry regiments.
Tick tocking infantry are in sections, then platoons etc, etc right up to Divisions. I agree totally with OllyK in that they seemed to be very changeable as the size and organisation of the Army was redefind, certainly starting with the breaking down of the traditional regiment system started in the 80's

Troops has been adopted world wide as a general term of reference for soldiers. It has no real meaning in correct Army terms of reference other than above, although everyone used it.

So 15K of 'troops' would be 15K soldiers of all ranks.