Associators

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Associators
A 1764 illustration of the Pennsylvania Associators assembling in Philadelphia after news of the Paxton Boys marching on the city
Active	1689-1784
Country	British America  United States
Allegiance	Great Britain  United States
Branch	colonial militia, independent volunteers, military association, refugees, partisans, (auxiliary troops)
Type	infantry, dragoons (mounted infantry), artillery
Size	company-regiment
Engagements	Maryland Protestant Rebellion (1689) King George's War (1744-1748) French and Indian War (1754-1763) American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maryland Colonial Governor Nehemiah Blakiston Colonel Stephen Blucke Captain Joseph Brant Colonel Tye Maryland Colonial Governor John Coode Brigadier General Oliver De Lancey Benjamin Franklin Brigadier General Cortlandt Skinner

Associators were members of 17th- and 18th-century volunteer military associations in the British American thirteen colonies and British Colony of Canada. These were more commonly known as Maryland Protestant, Pennsylvania, and American Patriot and British Loyalist colonial militias. But unlike militias, the associator military volunteers were exempt from regular mandatory military service. Other names used to describe associators were "Associations", "Associated", "Refugees", "Volunteers", and "Partisans".

The term Non-Associators was applied to American colonists who refused to support and sign "military association" charters. They were not affiliated with associators, or would choose instead, to pay a fine and suffer possible retaliation. During the American Revolutionary War, some associator units were said to operate more like, or were in fact loose-knit criminal gangs, taking advantage of the disruption of warfare.

The present-day U.S. Army 111th Infantry Regiment Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division is nicknamed the "Associators", helping to preserve the volunteer associators' ancestral legacy in Pennsylvania.