Gambia Armed Forces

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Flag of The Gambia.svg Gambia Armed Forces
Military strength by person
Military age 18 years of age
available military capable population * total (men; ages 18–49: 311,025 women: ages 18–49: 316,214 (2005; estimate))
available population fit for military service * total (men: ages 18–49: 183,057 women: ages 18–49: 194,551 (2005; estimate))
active staff 800
Defense spending
Budget (2006) about 1.662 million US dollars
percentage of GNP (2006): 0.5%

The Gambia Armed Forces ( GAF , German  Gambian Armed Forces ), which have existed in their current form since the constitution was changed in 1996 , are the approximately 800 men (1900 according to other sources) military of the West African state of Gambia . They belong to the Gambian Ministry of Defense ( Ministry of Defense ) that the Office of the President , shall be the order Commander of the Armed Forces ( Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is). There is no conscription .

support

The Gambian armed forces received training and technical assistance, initially up to the coup of 1994, from British and later from Nigerian military. But the United States , China and Turkey also worked with the Gambian armed forces.

After 1994 the GAF worked with the military in Turkey and Libya .

Structure and equipment

Gambia Armed Forces is divided into:

The ranks in the National Army

The ranks in the army:

budget

year Expenditures
in US dollars 		Expenditure in%
or on GDP
1994 14 million (FY93 / 94)
1997 1.2 million (FY96 / 97) 2% (FY96 / 97)
2000 2.6 million (2001 est.)
2001 1.2 million 0.3%
2002 1.2 million 0.3%
2003 0.9 million 0.3%
2004 1 million 0.3%
2005 1.55 million 0.4%
2006 1.8448 million 0.5%

The share of government spending on defense is 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product (2006 estimate). This makes the Gambia one of the countries with the lowest military spending in the world.

history

At first, when independence from the United Kingdom was retained , an expensive professional army was foregone because the Gambian- Senegalese defense agreement of 1965 enabled Senegalese troops to provide assistance. There was only a 750-strong police force and half that number of field force .

Members of the Presidential Guard ride their horses in the evening

The defense agreement was also used in the averted coup on July 30, 1981. Subsequently, the paramilitary field force , which was partly involved in the coup, was disbanded and Gambia and Senegal signed a treaty which, among other things, provided for the unification of the armed forces in the Senegambia Confederation . The Gambia built a small army of initially 200 men, which includes army , navy and air force . There was also a 700-strong military police .

The confederation existed until September 30, 1989, when Gambia left the confederation. Senegalese troops had previously been withdrawn from Gambia.

In Liberia , Gambia is involved in an ECOWAS peacekeeping force led by the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) . When the Gambian soldiers returned from the Liberian civil war , there were violent protests over outstanding frontline allowances . The army commander resigned because of the protests and a Nigerian was appointed as his successor. A bilateral defense agreement was signed with Nigeria in early 1992.

On July 22, 1994, soldiers returning from service in Nigeria again demanded their frontline allowances. They were disarmed at the airport by their Nigerian officers , who were ready to receive President Dawda Jawaras . In Banjul , protests by the soldiers followed, they occupied the telecommunications center, the airport and other strategically important points. The 29-year-old Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, head of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC), dismissed Jawara and the rebels paralyzed all political activities. Jammeh declared himself President of the Republic.

The separate unit of the Gambia National Gendarmerie (GNG), sometimes called the Tactical Support Unit , was merged with the other units following the coup in 1994.

Calls

Parts of the armed forces have participated in numerous peace operations. For example, they were involved in the ECOWAS Monitoring Group and the AU- led African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).

Further participation in foreign assignments:

Personalities

Chief of Defense Staff ( Chief of Defense Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces, CDS )

Chief of Defense Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces
Term of office Official annotation
1999 to 2004 Colonel Baboucarr Jatta
2004 Vincent Jatta
from 2004 to? Lieutenant Colonel Assan Sarr
from? until 2006 Lieutenant Colonel Ndure Cham
from 2006 to 2009 Major General Lang Tombong Tamba
from 2009 to 2012 Lieutenant General Masaneh Kinteh
from July 2012 to 2017 Lieutenant General Ousman Badjie
from February 2017 to March 2020 Lieutenant General Masaneh Kinteh
from March 2020 Major General Yankuba Drammeh

Other personalities of the Gambian armed forces

Sports

The Armed Forces Football Club is also represented in the highest Gambian football class, the GFA League First Division . You won the championship in the 2002/03 season.

literature

  • Arnold Hughes, Harry A. Gailey: Historical dictionary of the Gambia (= African historical dictionaries. Vol. 79). Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD et al. a. 1999, ISBN 0-8108-3660-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e CIA World Factbook: Military section from the article on Gambia. September 30, 2007
  2. ^ A b c d e Arnold Hughes, Harry A. Gailey: Historical dictionary of the Gambia (= African historical dictionaries. Vol. 79). 3rd edition. Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD et al. a. 1999, ISBN 0-8108-3660-2
  3. ↑ Backgrounds: Gambia Defense ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. www.ncbuy.com Accessed September 30, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ncbuy.com
  4. ^ Republic of the Gambia: Office of the President . on www.qanet.gm (English), accessed April 17, 2017
  5. ↑ A photo of the Gambian Sukhoi Su-25, accessed September 30, 2007
  6. ↑ Su-25KM Scorpion Frogfoot A, accessed September 30, 2007
  7. ^ Gambia National Army / Gambia National Army. In: uniforminsignia.org. Retrieved February 9, 2017 (UK English).
  8. ↑ Ilona Hupe: Gambia. Small vacation paradise in West Africa. With trips to Senegal. The sophisticated companion for your trip to Gambia. Travel guide with current tips and information. 2nd updated edition. Hupe, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-932084-19-5
  9. ↑ a b Rosel Jahn: Gambia. Travel guide with regional studies. With a travel atlas (= Mai's Weltführer. Vol. 29). Mai, Dreieich 1997, ISBN 3-87936-239-4
  10. ↑ The Evolution and Conduct of ECOMOG Operations in West Africa ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2013 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. Mitikishe Maxwell Khobe  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iss.co.za
  11. ^ Jojo Cobbinah: Senegal, Gambia. Practical guide to the western tip of Africa. 3rd, updated, revised edition. Meyer, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-89859-103-4
  12. ↑ Gambia's FIRST FEMALE ARMY GENERAL DECORATED ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2013 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. The Daily Observer (online) May 12, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / observer.gm