Standing Army

A standing army is a permanent, often professional army composed of full-time soldiers who may be career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled long term but activated only during wars or natural disasters, and from temporary armies raised from the civilian population only during a war or threat of war and disbanded once that threat has passed; standing armies tend to be better equipped, better trained and better prepared for emergencies, defensive deterrence and war than reserve or temporary forces, and the term itself dates from around 1603, although the institution it describes is much older.