What is a Troop?

 
I have seen the transition! 

About three weeks ago, I read the second news article in which the word "troop" was used in the singular to mean "one soldier."

Originally, a troop was a group of armed men that fought on horseback, a cavalry unit.  This is opposed to a group of men mounted on horses to move rapidly about the field of battle but who would dismount and fight on foot -- dragoons or mounted infantry. 

A member of a troop of cavalry was a trooper (or horseman or cavalryman).  Since 1910 in the USA, a member of a troop can also be a Boy Scout; Girl Scouts came along shortly thereafter.

Somewhere along the line, the word "troops" came to be used to "our fighting men" as in "Support our troops!"  So, if "troops" were many soldiers, then it must follow a single soldier would be a "troop."

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