North Staffordshire has a long tradition of service in the Militia, volunteer and later, territorial units of the Army. In the eighteenth century, during times of national emergency, several volunteer units sprang up locally.

The volunteers were subsequently formed into the Staffordshire Rifle Volunteers who, in 1883, became the First Volunteer Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment. The Territorial Army was set up in 1908 and the volunteers were renamed the 5th Territorial Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment.

The city today has several active T.A. units, but only one which can trace its ancestry directly back to the Staffordshire Rifle Volunteers — the Bucknall-based 'A' Company of the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Volunteers.

In 1959 the North Staffordshire and South Staffordshire Regiments united to form the Staffordshire Regiment. This fortress-like facade has for many years, served as a transport depot of the City Council's Works Department and currently (2008) houses an engineering company.