Regiment Bloemspruit

Regiment Bloemspruit (Mangaung Regiment) is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit.

Regiment Bloemspruit
Regiment Bloemspruit emblem
Active1 January 1964 to present
CountrySouth Africa
Allegiance
Branch
TypeInfantry
RoleMotorised infantry
SizeOne battalion
Part ofSouth African Infantry Formation
Army Conventional Reserve
Garrison/HQBloemfontein
Motto(s)Wakker en trou (Awake and loyal)
Anniversaries1 January (Regimental Day)
Insignia
Company level Insignia
SA Motorised Infantry beret bar circa 1992
SA Motorised Infantry beret bar

History

Origin

1964: Regiment Bloemspruit with its HQ in Bloemfontein, was established on 1 January as the first Citizen Force Infantry Regiment in the then Orange Free State. The total strength of the Regiment at that stage was 15 members. The then Minister of Defence and later State President, the late Mr J.J. (Jim) Fouché, was actively involved in the establishment of the Regiment.[1]

Colours

The Regimental Colour was presented to the Regiment by the then State President Mr J.J. Fouché

SADF Regiment Bloemspruit Commemorative letter

1981 :On 29 January, the Freedom of the City was conferred on the Regiment by the City Council of Bloemfontein, which the unit exercised for the first time on 6 March 1982. The regiment served in the South African Border War in the 1970s and 1980s.

Amalgamation

1997: On 1 April, Regiment Louw Wepener (Bethlehem), Regiment De Wet (Kroonstad) and Regiment Dan Pienaar (Bloemfontein) were absorbed into Regiment Bloemspruit.

Regiment Bloemspruit post 1994 in the SANDF

Today the Regiment is still active and well with a total strength of more than 500 members. The motto of the Regiment is "Wakker en Trou", meaning Alert and Loyal. A traditional toast, only to be introduced at very special occasions and a traditional way of greeting (only between members of the Regiment) were introduced in 1994.

2006: Regiment Bloemspruit was deployed internally at Madimbo in the Limpopo Province as well as in the Eastern Cape with the swine fever outbreak.

2006: During April to June and January and February 2008 Regiment Bloemspruit participated in ATR/ACR (Army Territorial Reserve to Army Conventional Reserve) Conversion Training with Kimberly Regiment. The Regiment presented the penultimate ATR/ACR Conversion Course during January/February 2009.

2009: Bravo Company (B-Coy)under command of Maj Dawid Vos, was attached to 121 SA Infantry Battalion and successfully deployed on a Peace Keeping Mission to the Darfur Region of Sudan from October 2009 to May 2010.

Through Continuation and Formal Training the Regiment continually strives to provide an effective, professional combat ready force to the SA Army Infantry Formation.

With the allocation of Military Skills Development System (MSDS) members with a five-year Reserve Force obligation, the regiment has been continually rejuvenated.

Name change

In August 2019, 52 units of the Reserve Force had their names changed to reflect the diversity of the current SANDF.[2]

This unit would henceforth be called the Mangaung Regiment.

Officers Commanding
Leadership
From Honorary Colonel To
From Officer Commanding To
1964 Cmdt J.M. Wentzel c. 1966
1966 Cmdt J.A. van Huysteen c. 1968
1968 Cmdt I.M.H. Pieterse c. 1976
1976 Cmdt C.J. Horn c. 1982
1982 Cmdt H. McKay c. 1991
1991 Lt Col E. Horn c. nd
From Regimental Sergeant Major To
c. xxx xxx c. xxx

Regimental Sergeants Majors

The first Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) was WO1 A. Horn (1964–1969), followed by WO1 J.F. Fivaz (1969–1984) and WO1 K.J.H. van Zyl (1984-1996). The present RSM (since 1996) is Master Warrant Officer (MWO) C.J. De Bruyn.

Regimental Symbols

Previous Dress Insignia
SADF era Regiment Bloemspruit insignia

Current Dress Insignia
SANDF era Infantry Formation insignia
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References
  1. Englebrecht, Leon (17 June 2010). "Fact file: Regiment Bloemspruit". defenceweb.co.za. DefenceWeb. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  2. https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/new-reserve-force-unit-names/
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