The regiment has its origins in
fänikor raised in
Skaraborg County in the 16th century. The oldest preserved documents dealing with
fänikor and foot soldiers in Skaraborg County are from 1543. Of the
fänikor from
Västergötland and
Dalsland, in 1613 a
grand regiment of 3,000 men was formed. Sometime between 1621 and 1624, the grand regiment was permanently split into three smaller field regiments which formed the basis for Skaraborg Regiment,
Älvsborg Regiment and
Halland Regiment. Skaraborg Regiment got Bengt Pilefeldt as its first commander. The regiment was mentioned in the
Instrument of Government of 1634 as
Det Andre Wästgöthe Regemente, där under hörer Scharaborgz Lähn ("The second Västgöta regiment, which includes Skaraborg County"). The regiment was
allotted in 1684. It was
roterat (an old feudal method of
recruiting) with 1,200 numbers (soldiers) in Skaraborg County. From 1696 to 1913 the regiment trained on Axevalla heath. In 1913, it moved to new barracks in
Skövde. The regiment received an armored battalion in 1939 and was reorganized in 1942 into an armored regiment, giving it the name
Skaraborg Armoured Regiment (P 4). == Organisation ==