South West African Territorial Force
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The South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) was the forerunner of the Namibian Defence Force and was basically an extension or auxiliary of the South African Defence Force to combat the SWAPO insurgency. It was formed on 1 August 1980 from Southwest Africans serving as personnel in SADF units.
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[edit] Organization
It was part of the Department of Defence of SouthWest Africa. It was headed by an Administrator general who was always an SADF general. There was the SWATF/SADF Joint Committee for Planning, Liaison and Co-ordination. As a "joint" command the SWATF was responsible for logistics, finances and administration while the SADF was responsible for military operations. It was broadly divided along two lines:
[edit] Full Time Personnel
The full timers consisted of Permanent Force, volunteers of auxiliaries and national servicemen. Full timers manned the 8 full time battalions.
[edit] Part-Time Personnel
Part timers were a militia force called the Area Force which contained 27 multi-racial battalions and the Citizen Force which manned the Reaction Force Brigade of three motorized infantry battalion and a battalion sized Armored car Regiment, as well as 5 Field Artillery Batteries. These part time personnel could be activated on very short notice for active service.
[edit] Military Units
- SWATF General Headquarters
- Eight full-time battalions
- 31st Bushmen Battalion (became 201st Bn) HQ at Omega Base
- 33rd Eastern Caprivi Battalion (became 701st Battalion)
- 34th Karangoland Battalion (202nd Battalion)
- 35th Owamboland Battalion (become 101 Battalion) The Quick reaction force.
- 36th Bushman Battalion (became 203rd Battalion)
- 37th Kaokaland Battalion (became 102nd Battalion)
- 41st Multi-ethnic Windhoek Battalion (became 911st Battalion) (As 911 Battalion - it became known as "Swing Force" due to its ability to operate as a conventional unit or as a COIN unit.
- 61st Mechanized Battalion
- Reaction Force Brigade - The reaction force had a motorized brigade composed of three infantry battalions, an armoured car regiment, and an artillery battalion.
- Logistics Brigade
- SWA Military School at Okahandja for officers and NCS's
- 1st SWA Specialist Unit at Otavi - contains trackers, dogs, horses and dirtbikes.
- 2 SAI Bn Gp at Walvis Bay, Rooikop base - containing
- 43rd Field Artillery Battery contains 12 x 140 mm G2 Guns and
- D Squadron (Armoured with - Eland 60mm. Eland 90 mm, Ratel 90 mmm and Ratel 120 mm.
- Other Field Artillery units were deployed in the Operational area ( Ruacana ) as well.
Before Namibian independence in 1990, whites, Coloureds and Basters in that disputed territory had the same compulsory military service as in South Africa, and they sometimes served in SADF units in Namibia. In August 1980, the SADF established SWATF to counter the growing South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) insurgency, which had been fighting for independence since the 1960s. SWATF included some SADF units and local recruits; its commander, an SADF general, was both South-West Africa secretary of defence and general officer commanding South African army forces in the territory.
During the 1980s, the 3,000-strong SWAPOL Koevoet counterinsurgency force, composed mostly of Ovambo fighters commanded by white SADF officers, conducted anti-SWAPO operations in Namibia and earned a reputation for ruthlessness and brutality. Koevoet was largely disbanded after the territory achieved independence in 1990, and some of its members were transferred to the Namibian police force.
By 1987 SWATF was a 22,000-member militia, with a reaction force element and an area force. The reaction force had a motorized brigade composed of three infantry battalions and an armoured car regiment, and a standing force of six light infantry battalions with supporting units recruited and trained for service in specific regions, or among specific ethnic groups. The area force comprised twenty-six multiracial counterinsurgency forces. Additional specialized units of SWATF included engineers, signals personnel, mounted troops, a parachute battalion, and a commando squadron. Several other multiracial units performed territory-wide functions in South-West Africa. The army's ground forces in the mid-1980s fielded an imposing array of equipment, most of it produced in South Africa. Their arsenal includes tanks, armoured reconnaissance vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, and armoured personnel carriers. The army also has a wide array of artillery pieces, including towed and self-propelled heavy artillery, multiple-rocket-launcher systems, as well as mortars and antitank and air defence weapons.
