Botswana Ground Force

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Botswana Ground Force
Flag of Botswana.svg
Active 1977–present
Country Botswana
Type Army
Size Active; c. 9,000 regular[1][2]
Part of Ministry of Defence, Justice, and Security
Website www.gov.bw
Commanders
Commander-in-chief President Ian Khama
Ceremonial chief Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire

The Botswana Ground Force is the army of the country of Botswana, and the land component of the Botswana Defence Force.

History

The Botswana Defence Force was raised in April 1977 by an Act of Parliament called the 'BDF Act NO 13 of 1977.[3] At its formation, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe (now retired and Vice President of the Republic of Botswana) became its first Commander. The current President of the Republic of Botswana, Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, then Brigadier, was the Deputy Commander. Unusually for an African military force, and chiefly attributable to its being founded after Botswana's independence, the Botswana Ground Force was not formed from colonial units formed by a colonising power, but rather were formed from the remains of the Botswana Mounted Police Unit, previously known as the Bechuanaland Mounted Police, a unit of the British South Africa Police.[4]

The contemporary roles of the Defence Force are broad for a conventional military, suggesting that the government of Botswana and the BDF subscribe to a wide view of ‘security’ and consider the Defence Force an appropriate agency for attaining much of it, an issue that has been discussed even in the BDF’s own internal media. It is expected that the BDF in general is meant to be an apolitical instrument of the state.[5]

The current stated mission of the Botswana Ground Force is:
To defend the country and provide for the security of Botswana, participate in external security cooperation activities, and contribute in domestic support operations, with the aim of:

  • Ensuring national securirty and stability
  • Protecting the people and their properties
  • Protecting the constitution of Botswana to guarantee the rule of law
  • Defending Botswana's territorial integrity on land and in the air
  • Preserving Botswana as a free, independent and sovereign state
  • Aiding civil authorities in domestic support operations
  • Strengthening Botswana's international relations by participating in regional and international security cooperation activities[6]

Structure and organisation

The commander-in-chief of the BGF is Ian Khama, the current President of Botswana. Answering to him are the Minister of Defence, Justice, and Security, Dikgakgamatso Seretse, and the Defence Council, and the Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire.

The various units of the Botswana Ground Force are as follows:

  • 1st Armoured Brigade (Gaborone)
  • 1st Infantry Brigade (mechanised brigade at Gaborone)
  • 2nd Infantry Brigade (motorized brigade at Francistown)
  • 3rd Infantry Brigade (motorized brigade at Ghanzi)
  • 1st Commando Regiment (Gaborone)
  • Four independent infantry battalions
  • Two armored-artillery brigades
  • One combat engineering regiment
  • 1 air defense battalion
  • Army river-wing (including diving unit)

Ranks and insignia

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Main article: Botswana military ranks and insignia

The BGF and the Botswana Air Force maintain the same rank system, which is loosely based on British or Commonwealth rank systems. The ranks are as follows:

Enlisted:

Officers:

Equipment and vehicles

The BDF uses a wide array of modern weapons and vehicles. Its suppliers are Russia and Western nations, including Israel, Switzerland, the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Small arms

Handguns

Assault rifles

Submachine guns

Machine guns

Anti materiel rifle

Armoured vehicles

Note: 54 Leopard 1A3 tanks were apparently under negotiation for purchase from the Netherlands in 1996, but the deal never went through and no tanks were delivered.[9]

Anti-tank weapons

Artillery

Anti-aircraft weapons

River-wing equipment

  • 2 × Boston Whaler Raider-class PCs (United States)[10]
  • 15 × Panther airboats (United States)[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ These vehicles were previously used by the Police Mobile Unit. Although 10 were originally operated, it is not known how many are currently in service.[1]
  2. ↑ There are also an unknown number of SA7b systems.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Otisitswe B Tiroyamodimo, Why is security a contested concept? Sethamo (Botswana Defence Force Newsletter), 37, December 2001, pp 9-11.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Sources

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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