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The South African Navy (SAN) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The role of the navy is to prepare for and to conduct naval operations in defence of the South African state, its citizens and interests and to carry out peacetime operations in support of other national objectives.
The South African Army is the ground warfare branch of South African National Defence Force. Its roots can be traced to its formation after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910. The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by Boer Commando (militia) forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies. It then fought as part of the wider British effort in World War II, but afterwards was cut off from its long-standing Commonwealth ties with the ascension to power of the National Party in South Africa in 1948. The army was involved in a long and bitter counter-insurgency campaign in Namibia from 1966 to 1990. It also played a key role in controlling sectarian political violence inside South Africa during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans of the Defence Department.
The South African Defence Force (SADF) comprised the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Force was officially succeeded by the SADF, which was established by the Defence Act of 1957. The SADF, in turn, was superseded by the South African National Defence Force in 1994.
The General Jan Smuts Regiment (GJSR) a mechanised infantry regiment of the South African Army formerly called the Regiment Westelike Provincie. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or a United States Army National Guard unit.
The South African Army Engineer Formation is the controlling entity of all South African Army military engineering units. The Formation is currently commanded by the General Officer Commanding (GOC); Brigadier General D.W. Nkosi, as of early 2013.
The Cape Garrison Artillery / Autshumato Anti- Aircraft Regiment (CGA) is a reserve force regiment of the South African Army Air Defence Artillery Formation. There have been two regiments of the name: one a coast artillery regiment, the other an anti-aircraft regiment. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit.
The Cape Colonial Forces (CCF) were the official defence organisation of the Cape Colony in South Africa. Established in 1855, they were taken over by the Union of South Africa in 1910, and disbanded when the Union Defence Forces were formed in 1912.
The South African Medical Service (SAMS) was a branch of the South African Defence Force (SADF). In 1994 when the SADF was merged with various other military and armed resistance forces as part of the post-apartheid reforms the SAMS became the South African Military Health Service of the South African National Defence Force. The SAMS operated three hospitals, 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria, 2 Military Hospital in Cape Town, and 3 Military Hospital in Bloemfontein. It also had three specialist institutes; the Institute for Aviation Medicine, the Institute for Maritime Medicine, and the Military Psychological Institute.
The Van Riebeeck Decoration, post-nominal letters DVR, is a South African military decoration for bravery which was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1952. It was awarded to officers for distinguished service in the field.
The Korea Medal is a military campaign medal which was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1953. It was awarded to volunteers of the Union Defence Forces for service in Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The Permanent Force Good Service Medal was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1961, when South Africa became a republic, to replace the Union Medal. It was awarded to Permanent Force members of the South African Defence Force for eighteen years of service and good conduct.
The Special Service Battalion (SSB) is a South African military unit formed on 1 May 1933 under the patronage of Oswald Pirow, Minister of Defence. The object was to give training to youths, between the ages of 17 and 23, who, in the wake of the 1929 depression, could find no suitable employment on leaving school.
The Cadet Corps Medal is a military medal which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1966. It could be awarded to officers in the School Cadet Corps for twenty years efficient service. A clasp could be awarded after 30 years qualifying service.
The Union Defence Force (UDF) was the military of South Africa from 1 July 1912, when the Defence Act took effect, two years after the creation of the Union of South Africa, until 1957 when it was reorganised and renamed the South African Defence Force.
The first South African military medal was a campaign medal, the South Africa Medal, instituted in 1854 by Queen Victoria, the Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, for award to officers and men of the Royal Navy and British Army who served on the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony between 1834 and 1853 during the Xhosa Wars.
The Union Medal was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1952. It was awarded to Permanent Force members of the South African Defence Force for eighteen years of service and good conduct.
The South African Infantry School is within the Army Base in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape. The Infantry School, now at Oudtshoorn, was established in November 1953, after a chequered career dating back to the South African Military School in Bloemfontein, established in 1912. It is the Infantry’s “centre of excellence” and offers a number of infantry-specific courses to regulars and Reservists.
The Citizen Force was a reserve component of the South African armed forces. It was established during the formation of the Union Defence Force (UDF) and reflected the UDF's mixed traditions, which drew on both the British model of a standing professional army as well as the Afrikaner model of a large citizen militia. The South African Defence Act of 1912 dictated that the UDF include a Permanent Force of career soldiers and a "Citizen Force" of volunteer reservists or conscripts mobilised during temporary crises.
References
- ↑ "A Brief History of the South African Defence Force (SADF) 1912 1994. Part1". Allexplore.com. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
- ↑ "South Africa-Early Development of the South African Military". Mongabay.com. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
- ↑ Library of Congress Country Studies: South Africa, Early Development of the South African Military, 1996