Namibian Army

The Namibian Army is the Army of the Republic of Namibia and is part of the Namibian Defence Force.

History
Development of Namibia's army was faster than the other two arms of Service.The first units of the Army were deployed as early as 1990.The Army was formed when two enemies South West African Territorial Force and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia where inducted after Namibia's independence into the newly created Namibian Defence Force.

Role
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."

Organisation
The Army is a hierarchical organisation with the Army commander exercising overall command. The Army has several thousand members.The majority of whom are former combatants of Peoples Liberational Army of Namibia(PLAN).And a significant minority former members of SWATF

Local Operations
Caprivi Conflict

SADC deployments
Second Congo War

UN deployments
UNAMIC UNAVEM II UNMIL For the peacekeeping operation in Liberia the Namibian Army mustered about 800 infantry troops to form a battalion for this operation. The Namibian Battalion Commanding Officer stated his Unit to comprise of "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".

Unit Structure
The standard operational units are structured as according to the Brittish commonwealth system.:

Army Commander
The position of Army commander is held by an individual with the rank of Major General. The Army Commander exercises the overall command of the Army.The current Army commander is Major General Tomas Nopoudyuu Hamunyela As of April 2014 the Deputy Army Commander is Brigadier-General Frederick Siluzungila.
 * 1990-2000 Maj-Gen Solomon Huwala
 * 2000-2005 Maj-Gen Martin Shalli
 * 2005-2011 Maj-Gen Peter Nambundunga
 * 2011-2013 Maj-Gen John Mutwa
 * 2013-Current Maj-Gen Tomas Hamunyela

Army equipment
Small arms


 * AK-47
 * Type 56
 * AK-74
 * RPG-7

Ranks and Insignia
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 a Army officer is appointed as Chief of the Defence Force for which the individual which ascend to the Lieutenant General.The highest rank an enlisted member can attain is Warrant Officer Class 1.

General Officer Ranks

 * General
 * Lieutenant General
 * Major General
 * Brigadier General

Senior Officers

 * Colonel
 * Lieutenant Colonel
 * Major

Junior Officers

 * Captain
 * 1st Lieutenant
 * 2nd Lieutenant

Warrant Officers

 * Warrant Officer Class 1
 * Warrant Officer Class 2

Senior NCO's

 * Staff Sergeant
 * Sergeant

Junior NCO's

 * Corporal
 * Lance Corporal
 * Private