Permanent Active Militia (PAM) was the proper name of Canada's full-time professional land forces from the 19th century to 1940 when the Canadian Army was so designated.

The PAM, also known as the Permanent Force (PF), was in effect Canada's standing army, consisting of one regular infantry regiment and two cavalry regiments up until 1914. The PAM did not participate directly in the First World War; Canada's military contribution was the creation of a separate field force called the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Canadian Expeditionary Force

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...

 (CEF) into which volunteers (and later conscripts) were inducted for war service. The CEF was disbanded after the war.

The Otter Committee then reorganized Canada's post war military, expanding the PF to three infantry regiments and creating a system of perpetuations keeping the traditions of both the pre-war military and the CEF integrated in the Canadian military.

During the Second World War, the Permanent Force was renamed the Canadian Army (Active); it later became known as the Canadian Army Active Force, Canadian Army (Regular), and eventually as Force Mobile Command following Unification on February 1, 1968.

The counterpart to the PAM was the Non-Permanent Active Militia

Non-Permanent Active Militia

The Non-Permanent Active Militia was the name of Canada's part-time volunteer military force from the time of Confederation to 1940. The NPAM was composed of several dozen infantry battalions and cavalry regiments...

 which existed during the same time frame, composed of part-time volunteer soldiers, and replaced in 1940 by the Canadian Army (Reserve).

Equipment

• Lee-Enfield
  Lee-Enfield
  The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century...
  
  
  • Lee Enfield (SMLE) Mark III - 1916-1943
• M1911 pistol
• Smith & Wesson 2nd Model "Hand Ejector" Revolver
• Smith & Wesson "Military & Police"
  Smith & Wesson M&P
  The Smith & Wesson Model 10, previously known as the Smith & Wesson Military & Police or the Smith & Wesson Victory Model, is a .38-caliber revolver developed from the Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector Model of 1889. In production since 1899, it is a fixed-sight, six-shot handgun with a fluted...
  
   Revolver
• Lewis Machine Gun
  Lewis Gun
  The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
  
  
• C5 General Purpose Machine Gun
  M1919 Browning machine gun
  The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...
  
  
• Bren Light Machine Gun
  Bren
  The Bren, usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991...
  
  

See also

• Canadian Forces Primary Reserve
  Canadian Forces Primary Reserve
  The Primary Reserve is a reserve force of the Canadian Forces. It is the largest of the four sub-components of the CF reserves; those being the Primary Reserve, the Supplementary Reserve, the Canadian Rangers, and the Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service .The reserve force is...
  
  
• History of the Canadian Army
  History of the Canadian Army
  The Canadian Army as such originally only existed under that name from November 1940 to February 1968. However, the term has been traditionally applied to the ground forces of Canada's military from Confederation in 1867 to the present...
  
  
• Canadian Militia
  Canadian Militia
  The Canadian Militia was the traditional title for the land forces of Canada from before Confederation in 1867 to 1940 when it was renamed the Canadian Army.The Militia consisted of:* Permanent Active Militia* Non-Permanent Active Militia...
  
  
• Canadian Army

External links

• canadiansoldiers.com article on lineage of the Canadian Army