Army Reserve Forces / Territorial Army (TA)
The Army Reserve Forces, formerly known as the Territorial Army (TA), formed the nation's second line of defense; it numbered an estimated 35,000 as of mid-1982. Plans to expand the reserves to a number equal to or greater than the regular army by 1990 had to be shelved in 1982 because of economic constraints. Reservists were volunteers who trained on weekends and at annual camps. Most units were raised in rural areas, and training took place in regular army camps in small towns. Since 1979 reserve officer training units have been in place in institutions of higher learning in the nation. Rank structure and military formations were similar to those found in the regular army.
The Army Reserve Force was intended to support the regular army and performs functions identical to it. Defense analysts in the early 1980s noted, however, that before the reserves could provide optimal combat support, there must be considerable improvement in training, the professional standards of reserve officers, and equipment supply and services. In addition to the reserves, there were also small militias known as the Local Defense Corps, organized in some remote villages to provide counterinsurgency support and intelligence.
The Territorial Army was the only fully organized reserve force in the Malaysian Armed Forces. The TA was a home guard force that was raised during the Japanese occupation. The members were called the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force (FMSVF) and their primary mission was to oppose and challenge the Japanese occupation forces. Intended to be a temporary organization, the unit was disbanded after the Japanese surrender. The unit received renewed interest in 1951 as a viable 'player' in the Emergency. General Briggs incorporated the home guard into his scheme of operations. In Emergency Directive No. 13, February 1951 Briggs laid out his use for the unit now labeled Home Guard, in what Briggs termed "administration of Chinese settlements". In October 1951 Emergency Directive No. 17 the Home Guard were divided into Stage I forces (simply watching/observing Chinese village activities), Stage II forces (augmenting the police for security operations), and Stage III forces(arming and assigning Home Guard to independent security missions).
During the height of the Emergency there were approximately 250,000 Home Guard. At the close of the Emergency, the Home Guard began to disband; however, instead of completely deactivating the force, the units were organized into reserve Infantry battalions and combat support battalions and grouped into the Territorial Army. In 1962, some of the 'best' units were federalized into combat ready attachments to the Reconnaissance Corps while a majority of the remainder became the Local Defense Corps (LDC).
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