| Frontier Force Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Regimental cap badge of the FFR | |
| Active | 1843–present (59th Scinde Rifles) |
| Country |  British East India Company (1843–1858) British India (1858–1947) Pakistan (1947–present) |
| Branch | |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | |
| Size | 52 battalions[citation needed] |
| Regimental centre | Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Nickname(s) | 'Piffers' |
| Motto(s) | Arabic: لَبَّيْكَ (transl. 'I am here') (Talbiyah) |
| Colours[1] | |
| March | The Hundred Pipers (traditional) |
| Anniversaries | Defence Day: 6 September Piffer Week[2] |
| Engagements[1] |
|
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-chief | General Syed Asim Munir Ahmad Shah, NI(M) |
| Colonel-Commandant | General Syed Asim Munir Ahmad Shah, NI(M) |
| Notable commanders | |
The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the Piffers in reference to their military history as the PIF (Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as the FF (Frontier Force). The regiment takes its name from the historic North-West Frontier, a former province of British India and later Pakistan (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
Most of the regiment's ancestral military formations were units composed of infantry of either Punjabi or Pathan origin. However, the oldest unit of the regiment is the Scinde Camel Corps, raised in 1843 under Company rule in India. Another ancestral unit was the infantry component of the British Indian Army Corps of Guides (partial cavalry unit). Despite being a Pakistani regiment, the Frontier Force Regiment is also the successor to several Sikh regiments due to their widespread deployments in the North-West Frontier during the British Raj.
Presently, the regiment consists of 52 battalions,[citation needed] with its regimental centre located in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[3] Due to this regiment's presence, Abbottabad is also locally known as the "Home of the Piffers".[4][5] In its current form, the Frontier Force Regiment consists of both mechanized and motorized infantry battalions; there are also some armoured and artillery battalions which were raised from the ranks of the Frontier Force or one of its predecessor regiments.
The modern Frontier Force is Pakistan's third-oldest military regiment in terms of the date of most recent amalgamation, behind the Punjab and Baloch regiments. The regiment was raised in its current form in 1957, through the amalgamation of two (with a later third component) former British Indian Army regiments: the 12th Frontier Force Regiment and the 13th Frontier Force Rifles.[6] The third component, the Pathan Regiment, had been raised from the elements of the former two. The regiments' merger took place when a major formation reorganization was carried out in the Pakistan Army.[3]
Battalions of the Frontier Force Regiment have seen extensive wartime combat with neighbouring India during all of the Indo-Pakistani wars that have occurred since the Partition of India in 1947. Outside of the subcontinent, the regiment's elements have also served overseas, having been deployed to Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and to Somalia in Eastern Africa as part of the 1990s United Nations humanitarian peacekeeping force in Somalia. In the latter deployment, Frontier Force battalions participated in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.[7]
The battalions are divided under independent formations and are commanded by their formation commander. Training and record-keeping is undertaken by the regimental depot, which is usually directed by a brigadier. The regiment's highest-ranking officer is given the honorary title of Colonel-Commandant (usually for Lieutenant-Generals) or "Colonel-in-Chief" (for the Chief of Army Staff or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee).
- ^ a b "Frontier Force Regiment – Pakistan Army". www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ General Rob Lockhart (1949). "The Punjab Frontier Force: A century of service". The Asiatic Review. 45–46. London: London : Westminster Chamber: 667. OCLC 1780097. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ a b Mahmud, Babar (2002). "Pakistan: The Frontier Force Regiment". Orbat.com website. Ravi Rikhye. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008.
- ^ Arshad Qureshi, Hakeem (2002). The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier's Narrative. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-19-579778-7.
- ^ Kathryn Cramer: Google Earth Dynamic Overlay for Pakistan Now Available! (Plus "Home of the Piffers" and a Dragon Hunt)
- ^ "Frontier Force Regiment". Pakistan Army Infantry Regiments. GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Battle of Mogadishuwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).