- Please see Regular Army (disambiguation) for countries other than the United States that use this term
The
Regular Army of the United States was and is the successor to the
Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional military establishment. Even in modern times the professional core of the
United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army. From the time of the
American Revolution until after the
Spanish–American War, the small Regular Army of the United States was supported by State
militias and volunteer regiments organized by States but thereafter controlled by federal authorities and generals in time of war. These volunteer regiments came to be called
United States Volunteers (USV) in contrast to the Regular United States Army (USA). During the
American Civil War, about 97 percent of the
Union Army was United States Volunteers. In contemporary use, the term Regular Army refers to the full-time active component of the United States Army, as distinguished from the
Army Reserve and the
Army National Guard.
