Jump to content

Armed Forces of Liberia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Buckshot06 (talk | contribs) at 14:11, 18 May 2009 (links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Armed Forces of Liberia
Current form1962
HeadquartersMonrovia
Leadership
Commander-in-ChiefPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Minister of DefenseBrownie Samukai
Command Officer in ChargeMajor General Suraj Alao Abdurrahman, Nigerian Army
Personnel
Conscriptionnone
Active personnel2,100 (August 2008)
Reserve personnelnone
Expenditure
Percent of GDP1.3% (2006 est.)
Industry
Foreign suppliers United States

The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) is the military of Liberia. Liberia's military was first constituted in 1908 as the Liberian Frontier Force, before becoming the AFL in 1962.[1] For most of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. By law, Liberia's president is the commander-in-chief of the AFL.[2]It is in the process of being reformed and retrained after being completely demobilised following the Second Liberian Civil War. The AFL currently consists of two infantry battalions, though the reconstitution of a coast guard and air wing is also planned.

History

Prewar

The Liberian Militia
Organisation of the Liberian Militia, according to the National Defense Law 1956[3] Two Divisional Headquarters

The modern Armed Forces of Liberia grew out of a home guard that was formed by the first black colonists from the United States. In 1908, this force was established on a permanent basis as the 500 strong Liberian Frontier Force (LFF). The LFF's original mission was which was “to patrol the border in the Hinterland [against British and French territorial ambitions] and to prevent disorders.”[4]

The LFF in its early years was frequently recruited by forced conscription. When despatched to the interior units often lived off the areas that they were pacifying, as a form of communal punishment. The Force's officers were drawn from either the coastal aristocracy or tribal elites. United States military assistance for the LFF began during World War II.[5]

The LFF was re-organised as the Armed Forces of Liberia under the Amended National Defense Law of 1956,[6] though other sources say 1962.[7] From this period, Liberia's armed forces consisted of the AFL and the Liberian Militia, whose ostensible structure is depicted at right. The regular AFL was not a high status force. 'It was a skeleton brigade of soldiers who were predominantly from the lower economic and social stratum of society. They were poorly paid, and had less than decent facilities for accommodation and care.'[8]

From before 1908 to 1980, the Liberian Militia served as a reserve for the armed forces.[9] By law every able-bodied male between the ages of 16 and 45 years was to serve in the militia.[10] This stricture was not enforced, however, and by the early 1970s the militia reported a strength of only some 4,000 poorly trained and ill-equipped men. In its later years, members of the militia met only quarterly for sparsely attended drill practice. The 1978 Annual Report of the Liberian Ministry of National Defense said that 'The various militia regiments, in accordance with the law, held quarterly parades. ...Furthermore, the entire Regiments were out in full strength during burial occasions.'[11] By the time it was disbanded, the militia was considered to be completely ineffective as a military force.

From 1952 onwards, Chiefs of Staff of the AFL included Maj. Gen. Alexander Harper (1952-54), Lt. Gen Abraham Jackson (1954-60), Albert T. White (1964-65), Lt. Gen. George T. Washington (late 1960s), Lt. Gen. Henry Johnson (1970-74), Lt. Gen. Franklin Smith, Lt. Gen. Henry Dubar (1980-1990), Brig. Gen. Charles Julu (c.1990), Lt. Col. Davis S. Brapoh, Lt. Gen. Hezekiah Bowen (later Minister of Defense), Lt. Gen. A.M.V. Doumuyah, Lt. Gen. Kalilu Abe Kromah, Lt. Gen. Prince C. Johnson, and Lt. Gen Kpenkpa Y. Konah (from 1999), who was succeeded in 2006 by a Nigerian Army Command Officer-in-Charge.[12]

Doe Regime

President Samuel Doe with United States Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger during a visit to Washington DC in 1982

The AFL became involved in politics when seventeen soldiers launched a coup on April 12, 1980. They found President William Tolbert sleeping in his office in the Executive Mansion and there they killed him. While then-Sergeant Thomas Quiwonkpa lead the plotters, it was the group led by Samuel Doe that found Tolbert in his office, and it was Doe, as a Master Sergeant the highest-ranking, who went on the radio the next day to announce the overthrow of the long-entrenched True Whig Party government.[13] Doe became Head of State and co-chair of the new People's Redemption Council government. Quiwonkpa became commander of the army and the other co-chair of the PRC. From 1980 onward, ethnic rivalry between Doe's Krahn, who he systematically promoted to positions of importance, and Quiwonkpa's Gio began to drive deepening divisions within the AFL and to hamper morale.[14]

In 1984 the AFL included the Liberian National Guard (LNG) Brigade and related units (6300 men), and the Liberian National Coast Guard (about 450 men). The important LNG Brigade was based at the Barclay Training Center (BTC) in Monrovia, and was composed of six infantry battalions, a military engineer battalion, a field artillery battalion, and a support battalion.[15] By this time the AFL was essentially the personal army of President Samuel Doe, who ruled as an autocrat during his time in office from 1986 to 1990. Three of the infantry units - the First Infantry Battalion, stationed at Camp Schieffelin, 35 miles east of Monrovia, the Second Infantry Battalion at Camp Todee in northern Montserrado County, and the Sixth Infantry Battalion at Bomi Hills - were tactical elements designed to operate against hostile forces. The other battalions, the Third Infantry Battalion based at the Barclay Training Centre in Monrovia, the Fourth Infantry Battalion at Zwedru in Grand Gedeh County, and the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Gbarnga in Bong County served mostly as providers of personnel for non-military duties. Soldiers in these units were used extensively as policemen, customs and immigration officials, and as tax collectors.

Charles Taylor invaded the country at Butuo in Nimba County on Christmas Eve 1989 with a force of around 150 men, initiating the First Liberian Civil War. Doe responded by sending two AFL battalions to Nimba in December 1989-January 1990,[16] under then-Colonel Hezekiah Bowen.[17] The Liberian government forces assumed that most of the Mano and Gio peoples in the Nimba region were supporting the rebels. They thus acted in a very brutal and scorched-earth fashion which quickly alienated the local people. Taylor's support rose rapidly, as the Mano and Gio flocked to his National Patriotic Front of Liberia seeking revenge. By May 1990 the AFL had been forced back to Gbarnga, still under the control of Bowen's troops, but they lost the town to a NPFL assault on 28 May 1990.

Taylor Regime

When Taylor finally took office in 1998, he ran down the Armed Forces, letting go 2,400-2,600 former personnel, many of whom were Krahn brought in by former President Doe, in December 1997-January 1998,[18] and building up instead the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police, and the Special Security Service. On November 19, 1999, Taylor named General Kpenkpah Konah as new chief of the armed forces and John Tarnue as head of the army.[19] Tarnue was later implicated in a land dispute in 1999, while acting as AFL commander.[20]

The International Crisis Group writes that the AFL was reduced practically to the point of non-existence by Fall 2001, by which time a total of 4,000 personnel had been retired.[21]

Konah was still acting as chief of staff in February 2003 as LURD rebels threatened Monrovia during the Second Liberian Civil War.[22]

Rebuilding the AFL

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf inspecting AFL soldiers on board USS Fort McHenry in 2008

Part 4 (Articles VI and VII) of the August 2003 Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the Second Liberian Civil War addressed security sector reform.[23] It declared that future recruits for the new AFL would be screened for their fitness for service as well as prior human rights violations, that the new force would be ethnically balanced and without political bias, and that the new force's mission would be to defend national sovereignty and in extremis respond to natural disasters.

By March 1, 2005, over a year after the war ended, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had disarmed and demobilized 103,018 people[24] who claimed to have fought for former president Charles Taylor or the two rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) or the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). That year most former AFL elements were concentrated at Camp Schiefflin, situated midway between Monrovia, Roberts International Airport and the American-owned Firestone Rubber Plantation in Harbel.[25] The previous AFL personnel were slowly retired with pensions.

In 2005, the United States provided funding for DynCorp International and Pacific Architects & Engineers, private military contractors, to train a new 4000-man Liberian military.[26] DynCorp was made responsible for individual training and PA&E unit training. The projected force strength was later reduced to 2000 men. DynCorp and the U.S. Embassy scrutinized the personnel for the new armed forces thoroughly. Recruits had to pass a literacy test, an aptitude test, a drug test and an HIV test, and their names and faces are put on posters which are distributed to try and make sure none have a history of war crimes or other human rights violations.[27] A new batch of 500 screened personnel started to arrive at the Camp Ware base at VOA Careysburg, inland from Monrovia, for initial training in early November 2007,[28] joining 608 others who had graduated earlier.[29] Much U.S. assistance has been poured into this effort: U.S. Foreign Military Assistance was US $2.9 million in 2005, $2.0 million in 2006, and $1.6 million in 2007.[30]

There appears to be some lack of coordination, at least according to the Wall Street Journal, between the Ministry of National Defense and DynCorp, who is training the new army.[31] The newspaper said in an August 2007 report:

Mr. Samukai also complains that he feels sidelined from the formation of an army that, as defense minister, he is supposed to oversee. Neither the State Department nor DynCorp will let him see the company's contract, for instance. And the U.S. insists that instead of talking directly to DynCorp managers, he go through Major Wyatt [chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia] on all matters related to the training.

Template:Liberia The Minister of Defense that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf appointed in early 2006 is well-regarded; IRIN said of Brownie Samukai in a January 2006 story:

Samukai is regarded as a safe pair of hands for the crucial Defence Ministry. As chief of police in the mid-1990s Samukai pioneered a rapid reaction force to crack down on armed robbery. Since fleeing Liberia when former warlord Charles Taylor came to power, Samukai has worked for the UN in East Timor and Tanzania.[32]

However, Samukai has been accused of misusing his power; there have been allegations that he has ordered soldiers to manhandle other senior Liberian government officials - the Comptroller General of the Ministry of Finance in August 2008.[33]

On January 11, 2008 a total 485 soldiers graduated from Initial Entry Training class 08-01. The addition of this third class of soldiers, consisting of 468 men and 17 women, raised the total strength of the AFL from 639 to 1,124. The graduation marked a significant milestone in the U.S.-led Security Sector Reform for National Defense program, as the total number of soldiers who have completed basic training exceeds 50% for the first time.[34] As the new Liberian force developed, UNMIL started winding down its initially 15,000 strong peacekeeping mission; by 2008 the force had been reduced to 11,000.

In the interim buildup period, President Johnson-Sirleaf decided that a Nigerian officer would act as the Command Officer-In-Charge of the new armed forces. Major General Suraj Alao Abdurrahman succeeded the previous incumbent, Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, in early June 2007; Lieutenant General Yusuf had been posted home to Nigeria to become Chief of Army Staff.[35] In mid July 2008, five reinstated AFL officers returned from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College after training there. These officers include Lt Cols. Sekou S. Sheriff, Boakai B. Kamara, Aaron T. Johnson, Daniel K. Moore and Major Andrew J. Wleh.[36] Subsequently Aaron T. Johnson was promoted to Colonel and confirmed by the Liberian Senate as Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFL, immediately subordinate to General Abdurrahman.[37]

Facility reconstruction has not been limited to VOA/Camp Ware and Schiefflin/EBK. The Chinese Government offered in 2006 to rebuild Camp Tubman in Gbarnga,[38] and the new facility was opened in April 2009. There is also a plan to rebuild Camp Todee in Bomi County.

Organisation

Ground forces

The Liberian ground forces currently consist of two infantry battalions and supporting units. The 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade, was formed on August 29, 2008, at the Barclay Training Center in Monrovia,[39] and the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade in December that year. Both battalions are currently based at the former Camp Schiefflin, which has now been renamed the Edward Beyan Kesselly Barracks, often known simply as 'EBK Barracks.'

The two battalions and supporting units are currently going through training and preparation for a assessment exercise, a modified US Army Readiness Training Evaluation Program (ARTEP) in late 2009 or early 2010, after which they will be declared initially operationally capable.[40] When declared operational, the 23rd Infantry Brigade will be commanded by a colonel with a headquarters of 113 personnel. Supporting units include a band platoon (40 members), engineer company (220 strong), Brigade Training Unit (162 strong), and military police company (105 strong).[41] The force is organised according to slightly modified United States Army practices, and uses U.S. doctrine.

Coast Guard

Department of the Army Country Studies for Liberia written in the 1960s confirm the existence of what was then the Liberian Coast Guard, which was still in operation in 1978, confirmed by the Annual Report. The Coast Guard, throughout the Tubman period, was little more than a few mostly unserviceable patrol craft manned by ill-trained personnel. Under Samuel Doe however the force was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of the The Liberian Navy Act Of 1986.[42] During the Taylor era, the Navy consisted of a couple of small patrol craft. One of the surviving patrol craft may have been captured and scuttled by MODEL rebels in Buchanan harbor in 2003.[citation needed] At some point later, the force may have been renamed the Coast Guard again; in any case, by 2005, it was no more than another of the many loose 'units' of fighters clamouring for postwar demobilisation and resettlement benefits. The Liberian Coast Guard will reform in 2009, according to the Liberian government.[43]

Air Wing

The Liberian Air Force (LAF) was formally dissolved in 2005 as part of the country's security sector reform (SSR) programme, though it had effectively ceased to exist, except perhaps in name, several years earlier. Currently, only the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) operates military aircraft in Liberia,[44] Mi-8s and Mi-24s based at Roberts International Airport.

Originally formed as the army aviation unit, and later the Air Reconnaissance Unit, which operated Cessna 172s,[45] the LAF was established by an Act of Legislature on 12 August, 1987.[44] Its statutory responsibilities were to: protect and defend the air space of the Republic of Liberia; protect lives and properties; provide air mobility for military and civil personnel; assist in search and rescue operations; undertake emergency operations; conduct reconnaissance patrols; participate in joint military operations and perform other duties as may be designated by the Ministry of Defense.[44] The LAF was headed by a Colonel in his capacity as Assistant Chief of Defense Staff for the Air Force and was mandated to do the following: to train personnel and develop doctrine; advise the Chief of Staff of the AFL on matters relating to the Air Force.[44]

As a result of the Civil War, all aircraft, equipment, materiel, and facilities belonging to the LAF were badly damaged, rendering the force inoperable.[44] During the Civil War the Taylor government made a variety of different air support arrangements; a seemingly inoperable Mil Mi-2 and Mil Mi-8, one in Anti-Terrorist Unit markings, could be seen at Spriggs Payne Airport in central Monrovia in mid 2005, apparently a hangover from the war.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Nelson, Harold D., ed., Liberia: A Country Study, Area Handbook Series (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1984).
  2. ^ Article 50, 1984 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia
  3. ^ National Defense Law 1956, § 70-A. Composition of the Armed Forces, via Thomas Jaye (compiler), Liberia's Security Sector Legislation, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, February 2008, p.66. Another reference to the 9th Regiment AFL is at [1]
  4. ^ Quoted in Aboagye and Rupiya, 2005, p.258
  5. ^ John Keegan, "World Armies" page 435, ISBN 0-333-17236-1
  6. ^ Brownie J. Samukai, Armed Forces Of Liberia: Reality Check For A New Military With A Redefined Constitutional Mission, February 17, 2004
  7. ^ Brief History Of The Armed Forces Of Liberia | NewLiberian.com
  8. ^ Samukai, 2004
  9. ^ Syrulwa Somah, PhD, Reorganizing the Liberian Military for External Defense & Internal Peacekeeping, A Speech Delivered at the African Methodist Episcopal University, Monrovia, Liberia, March 2005.
  10. ^ Liberia Country Study 1984, accessed via Globalsecurity.org, April 2008
  11. ^ Annual Report of the Ministry of National Defense to the Fourth Session of the Forty-Eighth Legislature of the Republic of Liberia, Year Ending December 31, 1978, accessed at New York Public Library, October 2007
  12. ^ [[Ministry of National Defense (Liberia), Armed Forces Today, Vol. 2, No.1, February 11, 2008, p.63
  13. ^ Stephen Ellis, The Mask of Anarchy, Hurst and Company, London, 2001, p.53
  14. ^ Ellis, 2001, p.56
  15. ^ US Library of Congress Country Study:Liberia via GlobalSecurity.org, Organization and Strength, accessed August 2007
  16. ^ Charles Hartung, 'Peacekeeping in Liberia: ECOMOG and the Struggle for Order,' Liberian Studies Journal, Volume XXX, No.2, 2005
  17. ^ Mark Hubard, The Liberian Civil War, p.115, 118-119. Then Lieutenant General Hezekiah Bowen was later mentioned in the Abuja Accords of 1996.
  18. ^ Adebayo, Liberia's Civil War, International Peace Academy, 2002, p.235
  19. ^ BBC [2], 19 November 1999
  20. ^ Liberian Truth and Reconcilation Commission, https://www.trcofliberia.org/news-1/press-releases/un-lutheran-massacres-victim-testify-1, accessed February 2009
  21. ^ ICG April 2002 on Liberia
  22. ^ Weekly anb02065.txt #6
  23. ^ Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 18 August 2003, reproduced by the United States Institute of Peace
  24. ^ National Commission on Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration, DDRR Consolidated Report Phase (Status of Disarmament and Demobilisation Activities as at 1/16/2005). 1,2 & 3, cited in Ebo, 2005. The UN Secretary-General's 6th Report on UNMIL, S/2005/177, dated March 17, 2005, paragraph 22, gives 101,495.
  25. ^ Location of the camp provided by GlobalSecurity.org, Camp Schiefflin, accessed mid September 2007. See also IRIN, LIBERIA: Soldiers refuse to quit camp needed for new army, 4 January 2006, mirrored at GlobalSecurity.org
  26. ^ IRINNEWS.org, ‘Liberia: US Hires Private Company to Train 4,000 strong military,’ Tuesday, February 15, 2005, UN OCHA, accessed at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/02/mil-050215-irin01.htm, April 25, 2009.
  27. ^ Michael M. Phillips, An Army unsullied by past Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2007
  28. ^ allAfrica.com: Liberia: New AFL Recruits Go Into Training (Page 1 of 1)
  29. ^ The Analyst Newspaper : Liberia : 2007
  30. ^ IISS Military Balance 2007, Routledge for the IISS, p.280
  31. ^ Michael M. Phillips, An Army unsuilled by past Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2007
  32. ^ IRIN, LIBERIA: Sirleaf unveils first members of new peacetime government, January 17, 2006
  33. ^ http://theinquirer.com.lr/news_details.php?recordID=5331
  34. ^ Lieutenant Colonel Wyatt, chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation, 11 January 2008. See also http://www.analystliberia.com/4_experts_in_for_angel_autopsy_jan14_08.html
  35. ^ Charles B. Yates, Liberia: Army Gets New Commander, The Inquirer (Monrovia), 11 June 2007 See also http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/liberia-gets-new-nigerian-chief-of-staff-2009011119309.html
  36. ^ New Liberian, Five Reinstated AFL Officers Complete Senior Leadership Training in Nigeria, July 16, 2008
  37. ^ Ministry of National Defense (Liberia), 'Profile of AFL Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS),' Armed Forces Today, Vol. 3, No. 1, February 11, 2009
  38. ^ AllAfrica, Liberia: Chinese to Build Camp Tubman, link verified April 2009, and AllAfrica, Liberia: GOL breaks ground for military barracks, July 2007
  39. ^ United States Africa Command, [3], accessed February 2009
  40. ^ United States Marine Corps, Diggin' In, March 2009
  41. ^ Template:PDFlink, pages 36-37
  42. ^ "Ellen Signs Anti-Corruption Act, Commissions Several Officials", The Inquirer (Monrovia), 22 August 2008
  43. ^ "Government Reactivates 2nd Battalion", The Inquirer (Monrovia), 22 December 2008.
  44. ^ a b c d e [www.mofliberia.org/budget0607.xls 2006/2007 Budget, Republic of Liberia
  45. ^ Andrade, John (1982). Militair 1982. London: Aviation Press Limited. ISBN 0-907898-01-7, p.147

Bibliography

  • Adedeji Ebo, The Challenges And Opportunities Of Security Sector Reform in post-conflict Liberia, Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, 2005
  • Brownie J. Samukai, Armed Forces Of Liberia: Reality Check For A New Military With A Redefined Constitutional Mission, February 17, 2004
  • Festus B Aboagye and Martin R Rupiya, PhD, Enhancing post-Conflict Democratic Governance through effective Security Sector Reform in Liberia, Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, RSA, 2005 (Chapter 11 of larger book)
  • International Crisis Group, Liberia: Staying Focused, Africa Report No. 36, 13 January 2006
  • Template:PDFlink by Sean McFate in Military Review, July-August 2007. Also in Template:PDFlink
  • Nelson, Harold D., ed., Liberia: A Country Study, Area Handbook Series (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1984).
  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Armed_Forces_of_Liberia&oldid=290716691"