Development of Namibia's army was the fastest of the three arms of service. The first units of the Army were deployed as early as 1990. The Army was formed when the two former enemies South West African Territorial Force and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia were inducted after Namibia's independence into the newly created Namibian Defence Force.
Role
Wer'wolf MKII on parade in downtown Windhoek on 20 March 2015 during Namibia's Independence celebrations
The Ministry of Defence has outlined the Army policy as follows:
"The Army's principal roles will continue to be as already outlined in the defence policy. The Army will strive to maximise its operational effectiveness through the recruitment of the best young men and women who wish to pursue a military career, their effective training and employment. The Army's equipment priorities are improved troop-lift capacity (road and air); engineer, artillery, anti-tank and air defence and communication systems: the aim being to create a secure, integrated, efficient and cost-effective systems.""The Army will remain a well-disciplined and accountable, professional (all volunteer) force; it will include development of a Reserve; it will continue to train along the lines of other Commonwealth armies; it will train with other Namibian forces (such as the police) to rehearse plans for aid to the civil authorities, civil ministries and civil community; and it will promote a good public image and contribute to the communities in which it is based."[3]
Organisation
The Army is a hierarchical organisation, with the Army commander exercising overall command. The Army headquarters are located at Grootfontein military base,a former SADF logistics base. The Army has several thousand members. Senior Army officers also dominate staff positions at Defence Headquarters.
The Namibian Army had a convoy service on Namibia's Trans Caprivi Highway which runs from Otavi, Grootfontein, Rundu, Katima Mulilo until Ngoma border post on the Namibia and Botswana border. The convoy system ran twice daily between Bagani and Kongola in the then Caprivi region. The convoy system was run from 2000 till 2002.[4][5]
SADC deployments
Angola (Operation Mandume ya Ndemufayo) The Namibian Army also deployed troops to help fight UNITA insurgents active in and around the Kavango region. The operation codenamed Mandume ya Ndemufayo was a response to UNITA attacks on Namibian citizens. The Namibian cross-border pursuit operations were carried out with consent of the Angolan government.[6] At least two soldiers were killed in operation Mandume ya Ndemufayo.[7] In an operation between 30 January 2001 to 14 February 2001 an estimated 19 UNITA rebels were killed while various weaponry such as anti-tank and anti-personnel landmines, and assault rifles ranging from AK-47 and R-1s were recovered.[8] In a joint operation with the Angolan Armed Forces, the Namibian Defence Force in May 2001 helped dislodge UNITA from Mavinga in May 2001.[9]
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Operation Atlantic) The Namibian Army deployed a battle group during the Second Congo War that numbered about 2000 troops and consisted of Infantry, ArtillerySignals, and Air Force Detachments. The first commander of the battle group was Brigadier James Auala.[10][11] About 30 Namibian Serviceman died in the DRC operations.[12] The Operation was Code named Atlantic . The SADC coalition force commander was always a Zimbabwean and deputy force commander a Namibian, and the Chief of Staff was an Angolan.[13] 11 Namibian soldiers were held as prisoners of war in Rwanda, they were released in June 2000.[14] The soldiers were captured in April 1999 in the Lusambo area which is about 120 kilometers east of Mbuji-Mayi.[15] In January 2001 after Laurent-Désiré Kabila's death the Namibian army contingent was reinforced to not only provide security to Heads of States at the funeral but also to reinforce the SADC contingents in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.[16] Namibia was also the first foreign country to withdraw its troops and by September 2001 all Namibian soldiers had been withdrawn.[17] Seven soldiers who have been missing in action have since been declared dead. The seven had gone missing around the Deya River close to Kabalo, Deya-Katutu, and Lusambo areas.[18] 137 soldiers that had survived the encirclement during the siege of Ikela were presented with commendation medals.[19]
UN deployments
Ural fuel Truck
UNAMIC - The army deployed a company-sized unit to UNAMIC.[1]
For the peacekeeping operation in Liberia the Namibian Army contribution was known as Namibian Battalion (NAMBATT) and about 800 infantry troops per NAMBATT contingent were mustered to form a battalion for this operation. Troops were rotated and rotations numbered up to NAMBATT V. A NAMBATT contingent commanding officer stated his unit was to comprise "two Mot Inf Coys, two rifle companies, headquarters company, and fire support company while the battalion is equipped with 10 Wolf APC's, 12 Casspir APC's and 11 WER Wolf APC's".[20]
Unit structure
The standard operational units are structured according to the British commonwealth system:[21]
Based at the former OshiveloSADF training base, transformed into an army battle school. The commandant of the battle school is Colonel H. Mvula who succeeded Colonel Joel Kapala [34] as-off 6 January 2015, Colonel Kapala succeed Colonel Kashindi Eusebi Kashindi.[35]
The Army TTC offers training to army soldiers covering mechanics and electrical configurations of armaments, military weapons, and equipment[37]
School of Artillery
Based at the Oluno Military Base, the school is responsible for the training requirement of all soldiers specializing to become artillery gunners.[38] Lt Col Ambrosius Kwedhi is the commandant of the School.
Command Structure
Army commander
The position of Army commander is held by a commissioned officer with the rank of major general. The Army Commander exercises the overall command of the Army. The current Army commander is Major General Matheus Alueendo.
Vehicles of the Namibian Army are made up of a variety of suppliers including those from the former Soviet Union, Russia, Brazil, & South Africa. Some vehicles were donated by SWAPO, formerly a liberation movement which later became the ruling party of the country at independence, and SWATF, the security force of the then South West Africa administration. The army has received WZ523Infantry Fighting Vehicles from China which serve with mechanized infantry units. These vehicles are supplemented by the Namibian made Wolf series of MRAPs. South African made Casspirs are also in service which were inherited from the South-West Africa Territorial Force. To enhance mobility it was announced that the Army will receive the Agrale Marruá which appeared at the 25th Independence celebration parade in 2015 and are primarily used by the Namibian Special Forces.[44]
Army ranks are based on Commonwealth ranks. The highest rank in peace time a commissioned officer can attain in the army is major general. There may, however, be an exception when an army officer is appointed as Chief of the Defence Force, for which the individual will ascend to the lieutenant general. The highest rank an enlisted member can attain is warrant officer class 1.
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). digital.unam.na. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
1 2 Hussein Solomon (2004). Towards a Common Defence And Security Policy in the Southern African Development Community (2004ed.). Africa Institute of South Africa. p.91. ISBN978-0798301749.
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