Combat

General George Patton once said: "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men". He wasn't wrong. But there's more to being a combat soldier than fighting. Combat units often have to use their skills to stop other people from fighting.

The infantry are one of the key parts of the Army's combat arm. Most of the 32 Infantry Regiments in the regular Army recruit in their own part of the country, but it doesn't always mean that they're local regiments for local people. The Firepower and armour of Regiments such as the Household Cavalry, the Royal Armoured Corps and the Royal Artillery, play a vital role on the battlefield whilst the Army Air Corps and the recently formed Attack Helicopter Team make the Army's battlefield capability even stronger, ensuring that combat soldiers don't always have to be earthbound.www.armycombat.co.uk

• Infantry

  Most of the 32 Infantry Regiments have a strong regional identity that they maintain by recruiting locally, but others recruit nationally. Many have their own roles: some are used as Mechanised Infantry, armoured Infantry or even as air assault Infantry. No two regiments are the same.

• Household Cavalry

  Part of the Royal Armoured Corps, the Household Cavalry includes The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, the Army's two most senior Regiments. The H Cav itself has two functions: it guards the Queen on ceremonial occasions and acts as a reconnaissance unit on the battlefield.

• Royal Armoured Corps

  The RAC combines massive firepower and state-of -the-art technology with its most important asset, its frontline soldiers. Of its 12 regiments, six are equipped with Challenger main battle tanks armed with a hefty 120mm gun. The other four have fast armoured reconnaissance vehicles.

• Royal Artillery

  The Royal Regiment of Artillery, to give it its full name, is the largest single regiment in the Army and, with all the guns at its disposal, the loudest.

• Army Air Corps

  The AAC may have only 3500 personnel in its six regular regiments, but it incorporates some of the Army's newest technology in the shape of the Apache Longbow attack helicopter. The AAC'S jobs include destroying enemy armour, carrying out reconnaissance and giving other units logistical support.

Engineering

On D-Day they towed an entire harbour across the Channel underwater and rebuilt it on the French coast under enemy fire. Once the invasion got started, they cleared minefields, built bridges and followed the Army across Europe, fixing their vehicles and smoothing their path all the way to Berlin. If you're wondering who 'they' are, they're the Army's engineers. Times may have changed, but the job remains the same.

Engineering is about solving problems. And problems don't get any more extreme than those the Army has to deal with. Complicated electronic systems help the Army to be efficient but they can bring problems of their own. All vehicles rely on their electrics to get started, but some, like the Challenger tank, have weapons systems that need electrical power to work.

Engineers don't get much rest away from the battlefield, either.

Many engineers trades have close parallels in civilian life. So if you're armed with professionally recognised qualifications and years of experience when you decided it's finally time to move on, you should walk straight into your chosen trade in civvy street. www.armyengineering.co.uk

• Army Air Corps

  The AAC may have only 3500 personnel in its six regular regiments, but it incorporates some of the Army's newest technology in the shape of the Apache Longbow attack helicopter. The AAC'S jobs include destroying enemy armour, carrying out reconnaissance and giving other units logistical support.

• Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

  Maintenance and repair of all mechanical, electrical and electronic kit is the job of the REME. The basic unit is the Fitter Section of 12 REME soldiers which provides technical support to units in the front line.

• Royal Engineers

  With a mixture of 39 trades and specialisations represented in its ranks, the RE have the widest range of employment options in the Army. All soldiers are trained as Military Engineers - a combination of infantry skills and combat engineering - before specialising.

• Royal Corps of Signals

  The Royal Signals provides the Army with its sophisticated communications network and battle field information systems. Signals engineers are responsible for fault diagnosis and maintenance, as well as conducting electronic warfare operation