Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force

Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force
guide
Commander in Chief de jure :	Governor General Rodney Williams
Commander in chief de facto :	Prime Minister Gaston Browne
Military Commander:	Colonel Sir Trevor Thomas
Headquarters:	Camp Blizzard, Coolidge
Armed forces:	- Antigua and Barbuda Regiment (since 1995) - Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force Coast Guard (since 1995) - Antigua and Barbuda National Cadet Corps (since 1966) - Service and Support Battalion / Unit
Military strength
Active soldiers:	about 270 (1998)
Conscription:
Eligibility for military service:
history
Founding:	1981 (1995)
Factual foundation:	1897

380X Defender of the ABDF Coast Guard

The Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force (ABDF; German  Defense Forces of Antigua and Barbuda ) are the armed forces of the state of Antigua and Barbuda and were founded when the state became independent on September 1, 1981. The headquarters are at Camp Blizzard in Coolidge . With 270 men (as of 2010), the ABDF is the smallest armed force of an independent state worldwide.

history

The armed forces go back in tradition to a volunteer unit founded in 1897, which was brought into being by sugar cane farmers to enforce their own interests and later to the Antigua Defense Force (ADF) and Barbuda Defense Force (BDF) until independence.

Since 1995, the ABDF has also been subordinate to the Coast Guard ( Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force Coast Guard - ABDF CG), which emerged from the naval unit of the police .

The US takes on an important part in national security policy. They maintained an air and naval base on Antigua since World War II . The naval base was abandoned in 1995 and now houses the headquarters of the ABDF. The license agreement for Antigua Air Station, located at St. John's International Airport, ran until 2008.

There is a cooperation with the Royal Saint Kitts and Nevis Defense Forces (SKNDF), the armed forces of the island state of St. Kitts and Nevis . Field training exercises (FTX) have been carried out several times with the US armed forces , most recently the multinational non-lethal weapons training Tradewinds 2011 with 21 nations.

The defense budget of Antigua and Barbuda is approximately four million dollars per year.

structure

In peacetime, the ABDF's units report to the Minister of Defense, currently Colonel Ivor Thomas. The Commander-in-Chief is the Prime Minister, currently Winston Baldwin Spencer , who is supported by a six-member National Security Council (NSC).

The armed forces are structured as follows:

• Antigua and Barbuda Regiment, founded in 1995 and consists of an infantry unit (First Battalion Antigua Barbuda Regiment - 1ABR) with four companies and a support unit (Support and Service Unit)
• Antigua and Barbuda Coast Guard (ABDF CG, Coast Guard ) and
• Antigua and Barbuda Cadet Corps, the Corps of Cadets (National Cadet Corps - ABDF).

Naval and air forces are not maintained. Women can serve in all units. With the exception of the Coast Guard, all units are stationed at Camp Blizzard, a former US Navy base. The Coast Guard is stationed in St. John's Harbor with its three small patrol boats .

tasks

The main tasks of the armed forces include ensuring internal security, combating drug smuggling , protecting fishing rights and preventing marine pollution, as well as rescue and disaster operations .

The Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force (RABPF) with around 600 police officers is an important element of the security of the island state alongside the armed forces.

Calls

• In 1982, 14 soldiers from the Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force participated in the invasion of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury .
• In 1990 12 peacekeeping soldiers were sent to Trinidad after a failed coup attempt .
• In 1995 soldiers took part in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti .
• 2007 on St. Vincent
• 2010 in Haiti

Web links

• Official website of the ABDF (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ For the development, structure and tasks of the armed forces, see Dion E. Phillips Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force: A Preliminary Look ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Eng.) (October 3, 2006) 
2. ^ The Caribbean. A Comparative Atlas of Defense in Latin America and Caribbean, 2010, p. 4.
3. ^ ABDF Coast Guard History
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (October 3, 2006)  
5. ↑ http://www.marines.mil/unit/marforsouth/Pages/ForcesfromUS,21nationsbeginTradewinds2011exerciseinAntiguaandBarbuda.aspx