2nd / 14th Light Horse Regiment The 2nd / 14th Light Horse Regiment ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) is a regiment of the Australian Army and forms part of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps . The regiment was formed in 1952 though sentimentally traces its lineage to 1860 . Consequently , there was a claim that it was the oldest Australian Regular Army unit through the antecedent units 2nd Moreton Light Horse ( QMI ) and the 14th West Moreton Light Horse ( QMI ) and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2010 . It is equipped with ASLAV vehicles used in the armoured reconnaissance role . The regiment is assigned to 7th Brigade based in Brisbane . History . Formation . The lineage of what is now known as the Queensland Mounted Infantry is quite convoluted and less linear than sentiment would suggest . Initially after the Russian scare of the Crimean War when every state in Australia carried a paranoid belief that they were the secret targets of the Russian invasion fleet , the response was to establish militia units to confront this menace . In Queensland , this culminated in a group of enthusiastic horsemen creating the Queensland Mounted Rifles in 1860 with two troops formed at Brisbane and Ipswich . This experiment lasted until 1863 when numbers dropped off and the Brisbane troop was disbanded . The Ipswich troop was renamed the Queensland Light Horse in 1864 and remained so until it too suffered declining number and was disbanded in 1866 . The next round of enthusiasm followed the impetus of the Soudan War . New South Wales sent a contingent but Queensland ' s militia was so run down that nothing could be arranged to match the effort of the southern state . Embarrassment and enthusiasm led to the formation in 1885 of the Queensland Mounted Infantry . The underlying operational principle was autonomous recruitment catchment areas located at Moreton Bay , Bundaberg , Gympie , Mackay and Townsville . The Moreton Bay Mounted Infantry comprised two troops , Brisbane and Beenleigh . By 1897 this state - wide arrangement proved too cumbersome and expensive to maintain for a government that was almost bankrupt . All the disparate mounted units were re - designated as companies and amalgamated into one regiment called the Queensland Mounted Infantry ( QMI ) . Boer War , 1899 – 1902 . The Boer War ( 1899 – 1902 ) acted as the next stimulus to large scale recruitment . The QMI was reformed into four battalions which from thence forward , outlined the territorial divisions of the militia formation . From this the 1st Battalion , QMI , encompassing the Moreton Bay region was formed in 1900 . Its territorial boundaries remained consistent throughout its various permutations until disbandment in 1943 . Since the QMI was formed specifically for local defence , there were no legal provisions allowing the mobilisation of these units for overseas expeditionary service to South Africa . To overcome this hurdle , separate units were formed in Queensland which also bore the name QMI and initially the 1st QMI was recruited mostly from volunteers from the Militia . Three contingents consisting of four companies were raised exclusively through this method . However , the QMI that served in South Africa had no legal nor historical ties to the Militia QMI . The financial burden on such a government whose revenues were devastated by depression , drought and then Federation , could no longer afford to send men to South Africa while maintaining a partially paid Militia . To solve this problem , the Imperial Government pledged to fund " in toto " additional units raised in Queensland . After overcoming the problem of pay ( Imperial rates of pay for a private was 2 / 6d per day while the Australian pay was generally 5 / - per day , or double the Imperial rate ) which almost scuttled this scheme , three Bushmen contingents were raised and saw service in South Africa . Federation in 1901 brought with it a remodelling of the Australian defence forces on 1 July 1903 when this unit was given the name 13th ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) Australian Light Horse ( 13th ( QMI ) ALH ) . A re - organisation of Australian defences as a consequence of the 1910 Kitchener Report led to the creation of Military Districts . Queensland was designated as the 1st Military District . Military units renamed throughout Australia using Queensland as the beginning numbers and so the 13th ( QMI ) ALH became the 2nd ( QMI ) ALH . World War I , 1914 – 1918 . During World War I , Queensland raised three expeditionary Light Horse Regiments , they being the 2nd Light Horse Regiment , 5th Light Horse Regiment , and the composite 11th Light Horse Regiment whose " C " Squadron was raised in South Australia . These were raised as part of the Australian Imperial Force and so in no way had any connections with militia units of the same name . ( To avoid confusion , militia units retained the designation " Australian Light Horse ( ALH ) " while the AIF formations used " Light Horse Regiment ( LHR ) " . ) There was no connection between the Militia 2nd ( QMI ) ALH and the AIF 2nd LHR despite men from the 2nd ( QMI ) ALH enlisting in the 2nd LHR . Near the conclusion of the war , in July 1918 , it was felt that militia units could be renamed to retain the unit number in which most men served in the AIF . In Queensland , it was fortuitous that both the Militia catchment area of the 2nd ( QMI ) ALH and the AIF 2nd LHR matched , so no name change occurred as did with other Australian militia units . Inter bellum . Within Australia , post war budget cuts began to hit hard and by 1926 , all regiments were ordered to drop one squadron , and so they bore two rather than three squadrons . The much reduced unit in 1927 was renamed the 2nd ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) Moreton Light Horse . 14th ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) West Moreton Light Horse took the title " 14th " from the Regiment based in Townsville known as the 14th North Queensland Light Horse . This unit was converted from a mounted unit into an infantry formation during the 1926 reformation . The 14th ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) West Moreton Light Horse was a newly formed unit with its catchment area around the Brisbane region rather than Townsville and so had little connection to the erstwhile 14th in everything but name and function . Austerity hit even harder after the commencement of the Great Depression when there were cutbacks in personnel numbers and forced amalgamations of militia units . In Queensland , the 2nd ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) Moreton Light Horse and 14th ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) West Moreton Light Horse were combined in 1930 to form the 2nd / 14th Light Horse Regiment . The regiment remained this way until World War II . World War II , 1939 – 1945 . After the entry of the Japanese in the war , Australian homeland defences were hastily altered to meet the expected invasion . The 2nd / 14th LHR was given a reconnaissance role and renamed as the 2nd ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) Reconnaissance Battalion Moreton Light Horse . To give strength to the AIF , the unit was absorbed under its command structure and renamed the 2nd ( AIF ) Cavalry Regiment until it was disbanded in 1943 . In 1941 , the 14th LHR was hived off from Queensland and transferred to the New South Wales command from which a new unit was raised being called the 14th Light Horse ( Machine Gun ) Regiment . Later this unit was renamed as the 14th Motor Regiment in 1942 . On 8 May 1942 , it was absorbed into the 2nd / 4th Armoured Regiment thereby extinguishing both the regiment and name . Post - war . In 1949 , " A " Squadron , 2nd / 14th Queensland Mounted Infantry ( 2nd / 14th QMI ) was reformed as an armoured car squadron , before being increased to a full regiment in 1950 . In 1956 , it converted to an anti - tank unit , equipped initially with 6 - pounder and 17 - pounder guns , before receiving 120 mm anti - tank guns and recoilless rifles . In 1960 , " A " Squadron became part of the regular army , eventually being transferred to become " B " Squadron , 1st Cavalry Regiment in 1966 . At the same time , 2nd / 14th QMI was re - designated as a cavalry regiment , re - equipping with armoured vehicles . The regiment was reduced to a squadron in 1976 , before expanding again to a full regiment in 1980 , being renamed the 2nd / 14th Light Horse Regiment ( Queensland Mounted Infantry ) ( 2nd / 14th LHR ( QMI ) ) in 1981 , equipped with the M113 vehicle in the armoured support role . In 1986 , the regiment became an " integrated " unit consisting of Regular Army and Reserve soldiers . It converted to the reconnaissance role in 1992 , and was re - equipped with the ASLAV vehicle between 2001 – 2004 . In March 2005 the regiment became a completely regular unit to meet the Army ' s increased operational tempo . Since this date elements of the regiment have made a number of operational deployments . 2nd / 14th LHR ( QMI ) has contributed a number of SECDET rotations to Iraq . In 2006 , A Squadron was deployed to Iraq to serve as part of the third rotation of the Al Muthanna Task Group which became the first rotation of Overwatch Battle Group ( West ) . More recently the unit has contributed forces to the Australian Task Force in Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper . Individuals from 2nd / 14th LHR ( QMI ) are also used to round out 2nd Cavalry Regiment deployments and vice versa . On 8 October 2007 Trooper David Pearce was killed while on active service in Orūzgān Province , Afghanistan . He was the second Australian to be killed in Afghanistan . On 30 August 2012 Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic , 40 , from the Regiment was killed , ( along with Private Robert Poate , 23 , from 6th Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment ( 6 RAR ) and Sapper James Martin , 21 , from 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment ( 2 CER ) ) , by an Afghan National Army soldier in a ' green on blue ' incident at a patrol base north of Tarin Kowt . Battle honours . 2nd Light Horse Regiment Moreton Light Horse ( QMI ) 14th Light Horse Regiment West Moreton Light Horse ( QMI ) " * " denotes that the battle honour is emblazoned on the Guidons