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Concept
Grenadier
Summary
A grenadier (ˌgrɛnəˈdɪər , ɡʁənadje; derived from the word grenade) was historically a explosives engineering assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operations battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited from among the strongest and largest soldiers. By the 18th century, the grenadier dedicated to throwing hand grenades had become a less necessary specialist, yet in battle, the grenadiers were the physically robust soldiers who led vanguard assaults, such as storming fortifications in the course of siege warfare.
Certain countries such as France (Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale) and Argentina (Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers) established units of Horse Grenadiers and for a time the British Army had Horse Grenadier Guards. Like their infantry grenadier counterparts, these horse-mounted soldiers were chosen for their size and strength (heavy cavalry).
In modern warfare, the term is used to describe a MOS specialist soldier operating as part of a fireteam, trained and proficient in the application of providing limited high-angle indirect fire over "dead zones". These soldiers are armed with the grenade launcher, a man-portable, shoulder-fired, indirect-fire explosive weapon that fires a specially designed large-caliber projectile unitary grenade cartridge, often with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead.
The concept of troops being equipped with grenades dates back to the military of the Ming dynasty, when Chinese soldiers stationed on the Great Wall used thunder crash bombs. The earliest references to soldiers using grenades in European armies dates back to the early modern era in the Austrian and Spanish armies. References to grenade-throwing troops also appear in England during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and it was during the reign of King Louis XIV that companies of soldiers serving as grenadiers were first introduced into the French Royal Army. According to René Chartrand, Jean Martinet formed a grenadier company in the Régiment du Roi in 1667.
Official source
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