| Ground Forces Command | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Country | Botswana |
| Type | Army |
| Size | 8,500 [1] |
| Part of | Botswana Defence Force |
| Website | www.online.bdf.org.bw |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief | President Duma Boko |
| Commander | Lieutenant General Placid Diratsagae Segokgo (DCO, PJM, DSM) |
| Deputy Commander | Major General Joseph Eno Seelo (DCO, PJM, UNOSOM, DSM, psc) |
The Botswana Ground Forces is the army of the country of Botswana, and the land component of the Botswana Defence Force.
The Botswana Defence Force was raised in April 1977 by an Act of Parliament called the 'BDF Act NO 13 of 1977. [2] At its formation, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe (retired and former Vice President of the Republic of Botswana (now deceased)) became its first Commander. The former 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. [3]
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. [4]
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:
The commander-in-chief of the BDF is Mokgweetsi Masisi, the current President of Botswana. Answering to him is Lieutenant General Placid Segokgo.
The various units of the Botswana Ground Force are as follows:
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:
The rank insignia of commissioned officers.
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Botswana Ground Force [6] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||||
| Lieutenant general | Major general | Brigadier | Colonel | Lieutenant colonel | Major | Captain | First lieutenant | Second lieutenant | ||||||||||||||||
The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.
| Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botswana Ground Force [6] |  |  |  |  |  |  | No insignia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warrant officer class 1 | Warrant officer class 2 | Staff sergeant | Sergeant | Corporal | Lance corporal | Private (or equivalent) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The BDF uses a wide array of modern weapons and vehicles. Its suppliers are Russia and Western nations, including Switzerland, the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
In 2016 the Ministry of Defence of Botswana ordered 45 Piranha 8×8 armoured vehicles made by General Dynamics Switzerland.[ citation needed ]
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces.
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Lieutenant general is a military rank used in many countries. The rank originates from the Old European System. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a captain general.
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In other countries, it is a non-commissioned rank.
Brigadier general or brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops.
Sergeant (Sgt) is a rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, serjeant, is used in The Rifles and other units that draw their heritage from the British light infantry. Its origin is the Latin serviens, 'one who serves', through the Old French term serjant.
Commander is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, this naval rank is termed as a frigate captain.
The Botswana Defence Force Air Arm is the air force of the Botswana Defence Force. The Air Arm was formed in 1977 and squadrons are designated with a Z, meaning "squadron".
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The military ranks of Finland are the military insignia used by the Finnish Defence Forces. The ranks incorporate features from the Swedish, German, and Russian armed forces. In addition, the system has some typically Finnish characteristics that are mostly due to the personnel structure of the Finnish Defence Forces. The ranks have official names in Finnish and Swedish languages and official English translations. The Swedish forms are used in all Swedish-language communications in Finland, e.g. in Swedish-speaking units of the Finnish Defence Force. The system of ranks in the Swedish Armed Forces is slightly different.
The military ranks of the Soviet Union were those introduced after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time the Imperial Russian Table of Ranks was abolished, as were the privileges of the pre-Soviet Russian nobility.
The Botswana Defence Force is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 Panther airboats and 2 Boston Whaler Raider class.
Mompati Sebogodi Merafhe was a Botswana politician who was Vice-President of Botswana from 2008 to 2012. He was a retired Lieutenant-General and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008.
Major is a Senior Officer rank in the Sri Lanka Army. The rank insignia for a major is the Sri Lankan emblem. It ranks below lieutenant colonel and above captain. The equivalent is Lieutenant-Commander in the Sri Lanka Navy and Squadron Leader in the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Seretse Khama Ian Khama is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, he entered politics and was Vice-President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008, then succeeded Festus Mogae as President on 1 April 2008. He won a full term in the 2009 election and was re-elected in October 2014.
Commandant is a military rank used in many - typically Francophone or Hispanophone - countries, where it is usually equivalent to the rank of major.
Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general.
The ranks and rank insignia of the Red Army and Red Navy between 1940 and 1943 were characterised by continuing reforms to the Soviet armed forces in the period immediately before Operation Barbarossa and the war of national survival following it. The Soviet suspicion of rank and rank badges as a bourgeois institution remained, but the increasing experience of Soviet forces, and the massive increase in manpower all played their part, including the creation of a number of new general officer ranks and the reintroduction of permanent enlisted ranks and ratings.
The Bophuthatswana Defence Force was established on 6 December 1977 from trainees of the South African Defence Force. It was the defence force of the Republic of Bophuthatswana, a nominally independent bantustan during the Apartheid era of South Africa.
The Ministry of Defence and Security of Botswana aims to provide safety, protection and promote human rights and rule of law via the implementation of pertinent policies and programming in order to achieve peace and tranquility. The ministry oversees the following departments: