Territorial and Reserves

Private Robert Willis, a TA frontline medic, in Afghanistan.

The Territorial Army, or TA as it is usually known, is part of Britain's reserve land forces.  Together with the Regular Reserve the TA provides support to the Regular Army at home and overseas.

The TA is the largest of all the Reserve Forces, the others being the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), the Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR).

Throughout its history, almost every major operation has seen TA soldiers operating alongside their Regular counterparts.

Covering the United Kingdom, the TA is divided into three types of unit; National, Regional and Sponsored. Anyone thinking of joining usually has a choice of at least two types of unit, depending on how far they are prepared to travel to attend training.

Territorial Army soldiers take part in a Battle Camp at the Sennybridge Training Camp in mid-Wales.

Future Reserves 2020 - the TA of the future

The outcome of recommendations of the FR20 Commission, to examine the future shape and role of the UK's Reserve Forces, predicts an integrated, trained Army of 112,000 by 2020, comprising 82,000 full-time and 30,000 part-time soldiers.