| Senegalese Armed Forces |
|
|---|---|
| Service branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police (Sûreté Nationale) |
| Manpower | |
| Available for military service |
males age 15-49: 2,218,920 (2000 est.), age 18 |
| Fit for military service |
males age 15-49: 1,158,893 (2000 est.), age 18 |
| Reaching military age annually |
males: 109,381 (2000 est.) |
| Active personnel | 19,000 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | $68 million (FY97) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY97) |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers | France Russia |
| Related articles | |
| History | Mauritania–Senegal Border War Casamance conflict Guinea-Bissau Civil War Insurgency in the Maghreb 2008 invasion of Anjouan |
The Senegalese armed forces consist of about 19,000 well-trained and disciplined personnel in the army, air force, navy, and gendarmerie. The Senegalese military force receives most of its training, equipment, and support from France and the United States. Germany also provides support but on a smaller scale.
Military noninterference in political affairs has contributed to Senegal's stability since independence. Senegal has participated in many international and regional peacekeeping missions. Most recently, in 2000, Senegal sent a battalion to the Democratic Republic of Congo to participate in MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping mission, and agreed to deploy a United States-trained battalion to Sierra Leone to participate in UNAMSIL, another UN peacekeeping mission. (The training operation was designated Operation Focus Relief and involved U.S. Army Special Forces from 3rd Special Forces Group training a number of West African battalions, including Nigerian ones.)
Senegal intervened in the Guinea-Bissau civil war in 1998 at the request of former President Vieira.
A Senegalese contingent deployed on a peacekeeping mission to the Central African Republic in 1997, while in 1994, a battalion-sized force was sent to Rwanda to participate in the UN peacekeeping mission there.
In 1992 1,500 men were sent to the ECOMOG peacekeeping group in Liberia.
In 1991, Senegal was the only Sub-Saharan nation to send a contingent to participate in Operation Desert Storm.
In August 1981, the Senegalese military was invited into The Gambia by President Dawda Kairaba Jawara to put down a coup attempt. In August 1989, Senegalese-Gambian military cooperation, which began with the joint Senegalese-Gambian efforts during the 1981 coup attempt, ceased with the dissolution of the Senegambian Confederation.
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The four forces are the army, navy, air force and gandarmerie. The Army (Armée de Terre) is the leading force within the Senegalese armed forces and provides the chief of staff and the Inspecteur général des forces armées. Only the army and gendarmerie are important enough to have general officers, although the navy has been commanded by a flag officer in the past.
Since independence the army has gone through a large number of reorganisations. It currently consists of two divisions, the Operations Division and the Logistic Division. It has a strength of 9,000 soldiers. The army's heritage includes the prestigious Tirailleurs sénégalais.
Although the Senegalese air force is geared towards supporting it, the army maintains its own very small aviation branch, called the "Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre" (like the French army's equivalent), which consists of five light helicopters and two SA330 Puma transport helicopters.
The Gendarmerie is a military force which provides policing and security. It includes a Territorial Gendarmerie with general policing duties, and a Mobile Gendarmerie for special tasks and serious public disorder. The Senegalese gendarmerie evolved out of a French colonial Spahi detachment sent to Senegal in 1845. This detachment (which became today's Red Guard of Senegal) was the cadre around which the "Colonial Gendarmerie" was formed. On independence this became the National Gendarmerie. The commander is General Abdoulaye Fall (a different person from the current Armed Forces Chief of Staff of the same name), whose rank is Divisional General, and whose full job title is "High Commander of the Gendarmerie and Director of Military Justice".
The navy (marine), also known as the Armée de mer, is of small size and is commanded by a Ship-of-the-Line Captain. It is responsible for securing Senegal's atlantic coastline which is strategically located on the extreme west of the African continent. The navy was created in 1961.
The Navy is divided into three branches known as "groupings":
The air force (Armée de l'Air) is orientated towards providing support for ground forces and resembles an army aviation corps. It has no air-to-air combat aircraft, but possesses Mil Mi-24 gunship helicopters, transport helicopters and aeroplanes, and reconnaissance helicopters and aeroplanes. This small force is commanded by a colonel.
At the present time, there are seven military zones:[1]
Each zone comprises a garrison office which caters to military issues and a social service office. The IISS Military Balance listed four zones in 2007.
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[2] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aérospatiale SA 341 Gazelle | France | scout helicopter | SA 341 | 1 | |
| Aérospatiale AS 355Ecureuil | France | trainer helicopter | AS 355F1 | 2 | |
| Mil Mi-24 | Russia | attack helicopter | Mi-35 Hind | 2 | |
| Mil Mi-17 | Russia | transport helicopter | Mi-17 Hip | 2 | |
| Mil Mi-2 | Soviet Union | utility helicopter | Mi-2 | 2 | |
| Fokker F-27 Friendship | Netherlands | transport | F-27-400M | 6 | |
| Casa C-212 MPA[3] | Spain | Maritime Patrol Aircraft | C-212-200MPA | 1 | |
| Boeing 727 | United States | VIP | 727-200 | 1 | |
| CASA/IPTN CN-235 | Indonesia | VIP and troop transport | CN-235-220 | 2 | |
| Britten-Norman Islander | United Kingdom | utility | BN-2T | 1 | |
| Aérospatiale Magister | France | trainer | CM 170 | 4 | |
| Aérospatiale Epsilon | France | trainer | TB30 Epsilon | 2 |