The Jamaica Regiment was initially formed in 1954 as a unit on the
British Army colonial list. In 1958, the
Federation of the West Indies was founded, and the regiment passed from the control of the
War Office to the new Federation government, where it, and the other infantry regiments of the various Caribbean islands, were disbanded and reorganised into the
West India Regiment. This lasted only two years, before this was disbanded and each of the individual islands regained control over their own armies. Initially, the regiment consisted of the 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion (National Reserve); however, the increasing array of tasks that the regiment was called upon to perform led to it being stretched. So, in 1979, 3 companies and part of the HQ of the 1st Battalion were split and used to form the 2nd Battalion; this mirrored the form and functions of the 1st Battalion. In 1999, the 2nd Battalion had the honour of
mounting the guard at
Buckingham Palace. The 1st Battalion undertook this during a visit to the United Kingdom in July and August 2007. In 1983, the regiment participated in the
United States-led
invasion of Grenada. In 2019 the Jamaican government announced that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) would be expanded. As a result of this growth the Jamaica Regiment will fulfill two functions. Firstly, it will continue as a
"British-style" infantry regiment that is the spiritual home and repository of customs and traditions for a number of battalions that do not necessarily serve together operationally. Secondly, it will act as a brigade-level formation for four infantry battalions of the regiment as well as a combat support battalion. At the end of the planned growth, the Jamaica Regiment will consist of four regular infantry battalions (1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th), a Combat Support Battalion, and three reserve infantry battalions (3rd, 6th, and 9th). ==Organization==