Greatest military units of all time

phoenix80 said:
PPLIR = Princess Patricia's Light Infantry Regiment?
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PPCLI, actually. Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

And as for the 'Canadian Contribution'

Princess Pat's: http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-canada/inf/914PPCLI.htm

Royal Canadian Regiment: http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-Canada/inf/883RCR.htm

Le Royale 22e Régiment: http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-Canada/inf/914R22R.htm

And those are just the Reg Force Infantry Units today. There's more here:

http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-canada/lists/cargxref.htm

Some good reading in there.
 
what about the US Marine scout snipers in Vietnam? not only were they snipers, but they were trained in artillery and airstrike operations as well.
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Maybe a current US serviceman can answer this for me. Is it unusual for US soldiers to be trained in calling in artillery and air support?

Because it is a core competency in Australia, everyone needs to know the all corps call for fire process.
 
I would like to make mention of the Army of Occupation in the Mexican/American War. It fought very well against much larger enemies.
 
23 Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army.
Battle of Longewala in 1971, a company of around 120 with just 2 recoiless rifles held out an outpost, with no minefield or artillery, against a Pakistani force of over 2000 troops and atleast 50 tanks, untill air support could come in.

Mauryan forces under Chandragupta (322-298BC) and his successors.
Forces overran almost all of South Asia. (Expansion stopped because of Emperor Asokas conversion to Buddhism). Gained control of ex-Persian territories, including large areas of Aghanistan and bits of Iran, through war and treties with Seleucus Nicator, Alexander's heir to the Greco-Bactrian areas.
 
A few IDF units to be considred:

Sayeret MATKAL
7th Armored Brigade
"Golani"-1st Infantery Brigade
35th Paratroop Brigade
 
Im surprised nobody mentioned this:

THE IRON BRIGADE (2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana) Union Army, aka 'The Black Hats'. Probably one of the best infantry brigades in the entire Civil War. These were crack troops.

Only one of the exploits (but most famous)

1st Day at Gettsysburg the held off an entire division allowing Meade's Army of the Potomac to join the engagement and prevented Lee from capturing Culps Hill and the Little Round tops.

They took 85% casualties...
 
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I would have to add to the list.

USS W.S. Sims - FF1059
USS Whipple - FF1062
USS Clark - FFG11
USS Samuel E. Morrison - FFG13
USS Saratoga - CV60

These Ships (units) are added due to the commonality of having a certain EWCS serve onboard each of them in various periods of his career!
 
And what's about the Fallschirmjäger in WW2 who fought at Crete, in North Africa or in Italy???

Glück ab!
Légionnaire
 
MACV SOG in Vietnam.

It was estimated that for every 1 SOG soldier there were 500 NVA tied up behind enemy lines trying to stop them from destroying weapons caches and plain out causing havoc. These guys would make Rambo look like a *****.
 
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I'll add the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from World War II.
The Nisei picked up a lot of Medals in World War II, sure, there was a whole lot of fighting going on, but Japanese Americans were not being treated all that well in the United States of America at the time.
 
One book lists the following as being outstanding in their field at their point in history (I cannot remember the source. I may also be missing one group in ancient history.

Vikings
English Longbowmen
Sarotoga Sharpshooters
U boat crews of WW1 (not WW2)
SS Panzer units WW2

The U boats of WW1 were far nearer at bringing Britain to its knees than in WW2, if these were given priority earlier on they may well have been successful

A few of my own suggestions, which mainly refer to entire races, or a section of the military structure rather than a unit

Spartans (society and training)
Roman Infantry (command and discipline)
Mongolian horsemen (tactics, horsemenship combined with archery skills, simple logistics)
Royal Navy during Napoleonic wars (experience, seamanship)
 
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Greatest military units of all time:
US Third Army
SS Panzer Lehr Division
Merrils Mauraders
101st Airborne Division (yes I had to give them some love)
Us Blackhorse Armored Calvary Regiment in the Vietnam War (commanded by Colonel George S. Patton the son of General George S. Patton Jr. commander of the Us Third Army)
 
perseus said:
SS Panzer units WW2
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Some of them at least. The 3 original SS divisions, Leibstandarte SS 'Adolf Hitler', Das Reich and Totenkopf were excellent formations. The later SS divisions formed in 1944 and 1945 were not nearly of the same quality. The best German formation of WW2 however, if going by kill efficiency, is not a Waffen SS formation but a Heer formation. 13. Kompanie, Großdeutschland, had the highest kill ratio of any Tiger battallion of WW2, namely 16.67:1. This compares to the best SS formation kill ratio of 12.82:1. In reality though, the 3 aforementioned Waffen SS Divisions, along with Großdeutschland, had the best German successes at Kursk, and were probably the best fighting formations of any nation in WW2.
 
I would nominate any of the Allied troops who landed on the beaches of Normandy or were a part of the airborne operations the night before/morning of the invasion. Balls.
 
Definatly BullDog....*hazzaa*


I must add in anyone in the British SAS especial during WW2
and The german GSG9
 
looking at all your replies there nick, seems that us Aussies really are ignored when it comes to our military doesnt it Have to agree with your list did you have 6RAR for the Battle of Long Tan, surely someone here can recognise this one
 
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