Luxembourg Army

The Luxembourg Army is the national military of Luxembourg (the Gendarmerie was merged into the Grand Ducal Police in 2000). It was formerly commanded by a colonel, but as of 2008 is commanded by a General; Luxembourg has no navy (the country is landlocked) or air force, although it does have aircraft. The army has been an all-volunteer force since 1967.^[1] It has a current strength of approximately 450 professional soldiers, about 340 enlisted recruits and 100 civilians, and a total budget of $369 million, or 0.9% of GDP. The army is under civilian control. The Commander-in-Chief is the Grand Duke, but day-to-day responsibility for defence matters is vested in the Minister for Defence, currently Jean-Marie Halsdorf in 2009 replacing Jean-Louis Schiltz (since February 23, 2006),^[2] under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration. The two highest-grade members of the Luxembourg Army are the Grand-Duke and the "Chef d'Etat Major" Gen Gaston Reinig. These are the two only generals in the army, the son of the Grand-Duke being a major.

Luxembourg has participated in the Eurocorps since 1994, has contributed troops to the UNPROFOR and IFOR missions in former Yugoslavia, and participates with a small contingent in the current NATO SFOR mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Luxembourg army is integrated into the Multinational Beluga Force under Belgian command. Luxembourg troops have also deployed to Afghanistan to support ISAF. Luxembourg has financially supported international peacekeeping missions during the 1991 Gulf War, in Rwanda and, more recently, Albania. The army also has participated in humanitarian relief missions such as setting up refugee camps for Kurds and providing emergency supplies to Albania.

Luxembourg Army

Luxembourgish soldiers during national day.

The army of Luxembourg has four main combat formations which come under the control of the Centre Militaire:

Compagnie A

Compagnie A is the first of two rifle companies - it forms the Luxembourg contingent of the Eurocorps. The company is organised into four platoons - there is the HQ platoon, an anti-tank platoon equipped with TOW, and a pair of rifle platoons.

Compagnie B

Compagnie B is the educational unit of the army, providing various educational courses for personnel to take in preparation for advancement. In order to attend L'Ecole de l'Armee, a soldier must have at least 18 months of service. The School is divided into two sections:

• Level B - this is open for all soldiers at the end of their first 18 months of service. Soldiers follow two six-month periods of tuition in both general and military based subjects prior to taking examinations. Upon gaining 75% pass marks, they can proceed to the next level.
• Level A - Level A is open to soldiers who have achieved the required passes at Level B, or who have gained the equivalent in civilian life prior to their enlistment. Soldiers do a single six-month period of tuition in the same subjects as Level B, but for longer each week.

Compagnie Commandement et Instruction

The Compagnie Commandement et Instruction is the main military training unit of the Luxembourg Army, with instruction given in:

• Basic soldiering
• Driving
• Physical training

The Company is also responsible for the army's Elite Sports Section - this is for sportsmen who choose to join the army. Following their basic training, they join the Section de Sports d'Elite de l'Armée (SSEA).

Compagnie D

Compagnie D is the second rifle company - it provides the Luxembourg contingent to NATO as the Luxembourg Reconnaissance Company of the AMF(L). As a rifle company, it mirrors Compagnie A in organisation, with HQ, anti-tank and rifle platoons.

Grades and insignia

Flag Officers

• General (there are two, the Grand-Duke wearing a sabre and a crown and the Chef d'Etat Major, wearing a sabre and a star)

Officers

• Colonel (a crown and three stars)
• Lieutenant-Colonel (a crown and two stars)
• Major (a crown and a star)
• Captain (three stars)
• First lieutenant (two stars)
• Lieutenant (one star)

Warrant Officer

• Warrant Officer (a red-yellow-red stripe)

Non-commissioned officers

• Adjudant-Major (three yellow chevrons, two yellow stripes and a little yellow circle in the center)
• Adjudant-Chief (three yellow chevrons and two yellow stripes)
• Adjudant (three yellow chevrons and one yellow stripe)
• Chief-Sergeant (three yellow chevrons)
• First sergeant (two yellow chevrons)
• Sergeant (one yellow chevron)

Career corporals

• First chief corporal (one yellow chevron, three red chevrons and one red stripe)
• Chief corporal (one yellow and three red chevrons)
• First corporal (one yellow and two red chevrons)
• Corporal (one yellow and one red chevron)

Volunteer soldiers

• First chief soldier (three red chevrons)
• Chief soldier (two red chevrons)
• First soldier (one red chevron)
• Soldier (no insignia)

Careers

Officer: Those who have completed high school will enter a special 13-week-basic training in the army as warrant officer, thus visiting the military officer school after for 4 years (normally in Brussels, Belgium), before becoming a lieutenant in the Luxembourg army.

NCO: Those who have completed five years of high school and have served a 3-year-term as voluntary soldier, will do a 9-month-stage in Lagland, Belgium, before becoming a sergeant in the Luxembourg army.

Career corporals: Those who haven't completed five years of high school may, after 3 years of service, become career corporals in the Luxembourg Army.

Equipment

Personal firearms

Steyr AUG A1.

Luxembourgish HMMWV on national day.

A NATO E-3 with the roundel of Luxembourg painted on its tail.

• Browning Hi-Power 9 mm pistol (Service pistol)
• Steyr AUG 5.56 mm rifle (Service rifle)
• Steyr AUG HBAR 5.56 mm automatic rifle
• FN MAG 7.62 mm machine-gun,
• M2 Browning Machine Gun .50 calibre

Anti-tank weapons and artillery

• M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW)
• BGM-71 TOW missiles
• 105 mm howitzer (bored up 25 pdr.) for ceremonial purposes

• HMMWV vehicles, armoured and unarmoured (including 42 armoured M1114 HMMWV)
• Mercedes Jeeps, 300D version. (1st generation Mercedes-Benz G-Class version)
• MAN 4T trucks
• MAN 4T trucks
• Dingo 2 45 ordered to be delievered 2010 first time shown on national day army parade^[3][4]

Aircraft

The government of Luxembourg has ordered 1 Airbus A400M transport aircraft in cooperation with the Belgian Air Component.

NATO acquired 18 E-3As and support equipment for a NATO air defense force. Since all aircraft must be registered with a certain country, the decision was made to register the 18 NATO AWACS planes with Luxembourg, because until that point Luxembourg did not have any air force. The first NATO E-3 was delivered in January 1982. Presently 17 NATO E-3As are in the inventory, since one NATO E-3 was lost in a crash. The 20 aircraft of the NATO AEW Force are all registered to Luxembourg, flown by NATO pilots, and based at the NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen:

• 3 NATO Trainer Cargo Aircraft (TCA), modified Boeing 707-320Cs^[5]
• 17 Boeing E-3A AWACS^[5]

Communications equipment

• HF: AN/GRC-106TA, VRC-620
• VHF: AN/GRC-160, AN/VRC-46, AN/PRC-77, PRC-613
• UHF: PRC-660T, URC-240T

Notable soldiers

Tessy Antony, born 1985, is among the more prominent former members of Luxembourg's military. From March to July 2004 she took part in a mission in Mitrovica, Former Yugoslavia as part of KFOR, the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo. In 2006 she married Prince Louis of Luxembourg, with whom she has two sons, Princes Noah and Gabriel. She is styled "Son Altesse Royale Princesse Tessy de Luxembourg", having attained an NCO rank before leaving the military.

Footnotes

External links

• Luxembourgian Army official website
• History of Luxembourg's Army

National armed forces of the Member States of the European Union Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom