Somali Armed Forces

Military of Somalia
Military manpower
Military age	Officially 18 years of age
Availability	males age 18-49: 1,787,727 (2005)
Fit for military service	males age 18-49: 1,022,360 (2005)
Reaching military age annually	males: n/a
Active troops	200.000
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$43.28 million (2005 extrapolation)
Percent of GDP	0.9% (2005)

The Military of Somalia was, up until 1991, made up of the army, navy, air force, and air defense command. The outbreak of the Somali Civil War during that year led to the de facto dissolution of the national armed forces. However, efforts to re-establish a regular armed force by a re-constituted Somali federal government have made progress so far. The military of Somalia is now overseen by the TFG Ministry of Defense, a branch of Somalia's new Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that was formed in 2004. The Somaliland and Puntland regional governments maintain their own security and police forces.

History

Historically, Somali society accorded prestige to the warrior (waranle) and rewarded military prowess. Except for a man of religion (wadaad), and they were few in number, all Somali males were considered potential warriors.

File:Sultan3.JPG

Warsangali Sultanate cavalry in 1908.

Somalia's many Sultanates each maintained regular troops, with the Warsangali Sultanate and Dervish State, among others, employing cavalry in their battles against the imperialist European powers at the turn of the 20th century.

In Italian Somaliland, eight "Arab-Somali" infantry battalions and several irregular units of Italian officered "dubats" were established. These units served as frontier guards and police. There were also Somali artillery and zaptie (carabinieri) units forming part of the Italian Royal Corps of Colonial Troops from 1889 to 1941.

In 1914, the Somaliland Camel Corps was formed in the British Somaliland protectorate and saw service before, during, and after the Italian invasion of the territory during World War II.

At independence in 1960, Somalia possessed a small and lightly equipped army with officers trained in Britain, Egypt and Italy. After a military coup d'état in 1961, this force was expanded and modernized with the assistance of Russian and Cuban advisors.

File:Somali Military.JPG

The Somali-Soviet friendship and later partnership with the United States enabled Somalia to build the largest army in Africa.

The Somali National Army (SNA) was battle-tested in 1964 when the conflict with Ethiopia over the Somali-inhabited Ogaden erupted into warfare. On 16 June 1963, Somali guerrillas started an insurgency at Hodayo, in eastern Ethiopia, a watering place north of Werder, after Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie rejected their demand for self-government in the Ogaden. The Somali government initially refused to support the guerrilla forces, which eventually numbered about 3,000. However, in January 1964, after Ethiopia sent reinforcements to the Ogaden, Somali forces launched ground and air attacks across the border and started providing assistance to the guerrillas. The EAF responded with punitive strikes across its southwestern frontier against Feerfeer, northeast of Beledweyne and Galkacyo. On 6 March 1964, Somalia and Ethiopia agreed to a cease-fire. At the end of the month, the two sides signed an accord in Khartoum, Sudan, agreeing to withdraw their troops from the border, cease hostile propaganda, and start peace negotiations. Somalia also terminated its support of the guerrillas.

In 1969, during the power vacuum that followed the assassination of Somalia's second president, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, the military staged a coup on October 21, 1969 (the day after Shermarke's funeral), and took over office. Major General Mohamed Siad Barre,who then commanded the army, was installed as President of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC), the new government of Somalia. The country was renamed the Somali Democratic Republic, and Barre became the spokesman and leader of the new revolutionary government. In 1971, he announced the regime's intention to phase out military rule.

In July 1977, the Ogaden War broke out after Barre's government sought to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabited Ogaden region into a Pan-Somali Greater Somalia. The Somali national army invaded the Ogaden and was successful at first, capturing most of the territory. The invasion reached an abrupt end with the Soviet Union's sudden shift of support to Ethiopia, followed by almost the entire communist world siding with the latter. The Soviets halted their previous supplies to Barre's regime and increased the distribution of aid, weapons, and training to Ethiopia's newly-communist Derg regime. They also brought in around 15,000 Cuban troops to assist the Ethiopian military. By 1978, the Somali troops were ultimately pushed out of the Ogaden.

An aerial view of a Soviet-made Spoon Rest A (P-12) early warning radar unit, part of radar installation operated by Somali troops at the Berbera airport. The photo was taken during Exercise EASTERN WIND '83, the amphibious landing phase of Exercise BRIGHT STAR '83.

This shift in support by the Soviet Union motivated the Barre government to seek allies elsewhere. It eventually settled on Russia's Cold War arch-rival, the United States, which had been courting the Somali government for some time. Altogether, Somalia's initial friendship with the Soviet Union and later partnership with the United States enabled it to build the largest army in Africa.

This coincided with a consolidated effort by various clan-based rebel groups in the country -- most notably the Somali Salvation Democratic Front led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a decorated war hero and former colonel in the army, the Isaaq-led Somali National Movement (SNM), and General Mohammed Farah Aidid's United Somali Congress -- to destabilize the Barre regime, eventually succeeding in ousting it altogether in the ensuing Somali Civil War of 1991. The Military of Somalia subsequently disbanded, and various local warlords began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed.

However, in 2004, a new Somali government was formed. This Transitional Federal Government (TFG) led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who had since been elected President of Somalia, would include among its mandates the re-establishment of Somalia's Armed Forces. An agreement between the TFG and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to build a national military was reached "in principle" on September 5, 2006, but in practice, political disagreements scuttled talks scheduled for October 30 in Khartoum, Sudan. After the defeat of the ICU in December 2006–January 2007, another agreement was reached between the warlords and the government for the militias to be disarmed, and for former militia members to apply to join the army.

By 2009, a rebuilding Somalia had re-established its national army and police force, with a new navy and air force also in the process of being re-constituted.

Somali National Army (SNA)

History

A Somali soldier poses for a photograph during the multinational joint service exercise BRIGHT STAR '85.

0rganization

The army was organised into 12 divisions which controlled all of the following:

• 4 tank brigades,
• 45 mechanized and infantry brigades,
• 30 commando brigades,
• surface-to-air missile brigade,
• 20 artillery brigades, 30 field battalions, and
• an air defense battalion.

Ground Forces equipment

• Cadillac Gage Commando
• AK-47
• M-16
• AK-63
• SAR-80
• Centurion main battle tanks
• M47 Patton main battle tanks
• T-54/T-55 main battle tanks
• T-34 medium tanks
• M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks
• Panhard AML-90 armoured cars
• BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicles
• BTR-50 tracked armored personnel carriers
• BTR-40, BTR-60 and BTR-152 wheeled armored personnel carriers
• Fiat 6614/6616 armored personnel carriers
• BMR-600 wheeled APC
• BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles
• M198 155 mm towed howitzers

Air Defense Forces equipment

The Air Defense Forces consisted of 7 brigades.

KBM Kolomna 9K32 Strela-2 missile and canister.

The serviceability of the equipment is poor and status is unknown.

• SA-3 Goa surface-to-air missiles (not operational)
• SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles (not operational)
• Strela 2 portable surface-to-air missiles (operational status unknown)
• P-12
• P-15 Termit - coastal defense surface to surface missiles
• P-30
• P-35

New Army

On 20 June, 2005, the army chief of staff, General Isma’il Qasin Naji, announced his intention to establish a new Somali army. A projected 10,000 soldiers recruited from the northern Puntland region and the central areas of Somalia were to be based in the southern town of Beledweyne, while another 10,000 soldiers from the Juba and Shabelle regions would be based in Jowhar.

The military of Somalia received a major boost in April 2009 when various international donors at a UN-sponsored conference pledged over $250 million to help improve security in the country. Part of the funds are earmarked for an increased armed force of 6,000 members in addition to an augmented police force 10,000 men.

In June 2009, the Somali military also received 40 tonnes worth of arms and ammunition from the US government to assist it in combating the insurgency within southern Somalia.

A few months later in November 2009, the European Union announced its intention to train up to 2,000 Somali troops, which will complement other training missions and bring the total number of better-trained Somali soldiers to 6,000.

Somali Air Force

Main article: Somali Air Corps

History

Roundel of the Somali Air Corps.

The Somali Air Corps (SAC) was originally established with Italian aid in the early 1960s, emerging from the Italian "Corpo di Sicurezza della Somalia" while the country was under Italian and British administration, between 1950 and 1960. The most important pieces of its original equipment were eight North American F-51D Mustangs, Douglas C-47s and MiG 23s, which remained in service until 1968. The SAC operated most of its aircraft from bases near Mogadishu and Hargeisa and Galkacyo. Its mission was to support armed forces during wartime.

The SAC sometimes used Somali Airlines aircraft to ferry troops and supplies to war zones. It also had other modern fighter jets such as the MiG-15, MiG-21, MiG-17, and the ll-28. In addition, the SAC possibly employed the Mi-8, one of the world's most-produced helicopters used by over 50 countries. The Mi-8 is armed with rockets and anti-tank guided missiles, as well as a carrying capacity of twenty-four soldiers. The Somali Air Force also obtained a number of ex-Omani Air Force Hawker Hunters during the early 1980s.

New Air Force

The Somali government recently purchased two combat planes for the re-establishment of the Somali Air Force.

Somali Navy

Main article: Somali Navy

History

Prior to 1991, the Somali Navy participated in several joint exercises with the United States, Great Britain and Canada. It subsequently disbanded following the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia during that year.

Equipment

The Somali navy consisted of the following ships, along with various other warships.:

• Osa-II missile-armed fast attack craft (2)
• Mol PFT torpedo-armed fast attack craft (4)
• Polnocny class landing ship

New Navy

In June 2009, the Somali navy was re-established with a new commander appointed: Admiral Farah Omar Ahmed. Up to 500 marines are training in Mogadishu with their training expected to finish in December 2009. They are the first batch of a 5000 strong navy force.

Somali Police Force

Main article: Somali Police Force

History

In 1960, the British Somaliland Scouts joined with the Police Corps of Somalia to form a new Somali Police Force, which consisted of about 3,700 men. The authorities also organized approximately 1,000 of the force as the Darawishta Poliska, a mobile group used to keep peace between warring clans in the interior. Since then, the government has considered the SPF a part of the armed forces. It was not a branch of the SNA, however, and did not operate under the army's command structure. Until its dissolution in 1976, the Ministry of Interior oversaw the force's national commandant and his central command. After that date, the SPF came under the control of the presidential adviser on security affairs.

New Police Force

A new police force was recently re-established to maintain law and order. The first police academy to be built in Somalia for several years opened on December 20, 2005 at Armo, 100 kilometres south of Bosaso. The Somali police also has a criminal investigations department in Mogadishu.

Somali military ranks

• Private
• Corporal
• Lance Corporal
• Third Corporal
• Sergeant
• Inspector Third Class
• Inspector Second Class
• Chief Inspector

Officers

• Sub-Lieutenant
• Lieutenant
• Captain
• Major
• Lieutenant Colonel
• Colonel
• Brigadier General
• Major General
• Lieutenant General
• General

References

• Library of Congress Somalia Country Study 1992
• Somalia, 1980-1996 ACIG
• Somalia: Foreign Military Assistance SomaliNet
• "Weapons at War", a World Policy Institute Issue Brief by William D. Hartung, , May 1995, chapter III: Strengthening Potential Adversaries (12th paragraph), Somalia.

Template:Somalia  This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.