| Land Component Composante terre / Landcomponent Landkomponente |
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A detachment of the 2nd/4th Regiment Mounted Rifles |
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| Active | 1830-2002: Army 2002-present: Land Component |
| Country | Belgium |
| Allegiance | Belgium |
| Size | 24,361 military personnel; 10,000 civilian personnel |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Major-General Eddy Testelmans |
The Land Component (French: Composante terre, Dutch: Landcomponent), formerly the Belgian Land Force, is the land-based branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Eddy Testelmans.
Ranks in use by the Belgian Army are listed at Military of Belgium.
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According to the Law of 16 August 1873, the army was to consist of:
Each battalion of 864 men was divided into four companies of 216 men.
N. B. : un escadron compte environ 130 chevaux
N. B. : une batterie compte 6 pièces d'artillerie
A major reorganisation of the army had been authorised by the government in 1912, providing for a total army of 350,000 men - 150,000 in the field forces, 130,000 in fortress garrisons and 70,000 reserves and auxiliaries. However, this reorganisation was nowhere near complete - it was planned for completion by 1926 - and only 117,000 men could be mobilised for the field forces, with the other branches equally deficient.
The Commander-in-Chief was King Albert I, with Lieutenant-General Chevalier de Selliers de Moranville as the Chief of the General Staff.
In addition, there were garrisons at Antwerp, Liège and Namur, each placed under the command of the local divisional commander.
Each division contained three mixed brigades (of two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment), one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, as well as various support units. Each infantry regiment contained three battalions, with one regiment in each brigade having a machine-gun company of six guns. An artillery regiment had three batteries of four guns.
The nominal strength of a division varied from 25,500 to 32,000 all ranks, with a total strength of eighteen infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, eighteen machine-guns, and forty-eight guns. Two divisions (the 2nd and 6th) each had an additional artillery regiment, for a total of sixty guns.
The Cavalry Division had two brigades of two regiments each, three horse artillery batteries, and a cyclist battalion, along with support units; it had a total strength of 4,500 all ranks with 12 guns, and was - in effect - little more than a reinforced brigade.
The Belgian Army stubbornly resisted during the early days of the war, with the army - around a tenth the size of the Germany Army - holding up the German offensive for nearly a month, giving their French and British allies time to strengthen for the Marne counteroffensive later in the year.
The Belgian Army was organized as follows in 1940. The King of Belgium was the commander in chief. There were 100,000 active duty personnel with army strength reaching 550,000 when mobilized. There were five corps, including three Active Army Corps (Infantry); Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege and later as follows:
The I Corps with the 1st, 4th, and 7th Infantry Divisions, the II Corps with the 6th, 11th, and 14th Infantry Divisions, the III Corps with the 1st Chasseurs Ardennais and the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions, the IV Corps with the 9th, 15th, and 18th 18th Infantry Divisions, and the V and VI Corps with three divisions each. Army Corps consisted of Corps Staff, two active and several reserve Infantry Divisions, Corps Artillery Regiment of 4 battalions of two batteries with 16 artillery pieces per battalion, and a Pioneer regiment.
The infantry divisions had a division staff and three infantry regiments each of 3,000 men. each regiment had 108 light machineguns, 52 heavy machineguns, nine heavy mortars or infantry gun howitzers, and six antitank guns.
There was also a cavalry Corps of two divisions.
Within the Free Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940–45, there was a land force formation, the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. During the Cold War, Belgium provided the I Belgian Corps (HQ Haelen Kaserne, Junkersdorf, Lindenthal (Cologne)), consisting in the 1980s of the 1st Division and 16th Mechanised Division (HQ Nehiem, FRG), to NATO's Allied Forces Central Europe for the defence of West Germany.[1]
After the end of the Cold War, forces were reduced. Initial planning in 1991 called for a Belgian-led corps with 2 or 4 Belgian brigades, a German brigade, and possibly a U.S. brigade.[2] However, by 1992 this plan was looking unlikely and in 1993 a single Belgian division with two brigades became part of the Eurocorps.[3]
The Land Component is organised using the concept of capacities, whereby units are gathered together according to their function and material. Within this framework, there are five capacities: the command capacity, the combat capacity, the support capacity, the services capacity and the training capacity.
The command capacity groups the following levels of command: COMOPSLAND (Operational Command of the Land Component), Medium Brigade at Leopoldsburg (formed from the 1st Mechanised Brigade in 2011) and Light Brigade (formerly the 7th Mechanised Brigade) at Marche-en-Famenne.
The combat capacity comprises the main fighting units of the Land Component. It consists of two Para-Commando battalions, the Special Forces Group and five infantry battalions. The infantry battalions are the Regiment Liberation - 5th of the Line, the Regiment Carabiniers Prince Baudouin - Grenadiers, the Regiment of Ardennes Rifles, the Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line and the 1st/3rd Lancers Regiment.
The support capacity is, as its name suggests, the support arm of the Land Component and comprises one reconnaissance units, a unit for information analysis, civilian-military cooperation and operational communication unit (known as the Information Operations Group or 17 Recce, based at Heverlee), one artillery unit and two engineer battalions. The reconnaissance unit is the Bataillon de Chasseurs à Cheval. The artillery unit is the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment. The engineer battalions are the 4th and the 11th Engineer Battalion.
The service capacity comprises communication and information systems (CIS) groups, three logistics battalions, the Military Police Group and the Military Detachment Palace of the Nation, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (known as DOVO in Dutch and SEDEE in French, the Movement Control Group and the training centres and camps. The three CIS groups are: the 4th, the 6th and the 10th Group CIS. The logistics battalions are: the 4th, the 18th and the 29th. The Belgian Military Police Group (Groupe Police Militaire / Groep Militaire Politie - Gp MP) is a joint force made up of about 200 personnel assigned to five detachments located around the country. The Military Police Group staff is located in the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the Brussels suburb of Evere. Alpha Detachment located at Evere covers the province of Flemish Brabant and the capital, Brussels. Bravo Detachment covers Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and Namur areas and is located at Nivelles. Charlie Detachment located at Marche-en-Famenne covers the Liege and Luxembourg areas. Delta Detachment covers the Limburg and Antwerp areas and is located at Leopoldsburg. Echo Detachment located at Lombardsijde covers West and East Flanders.
The training capacity comprises four departments: the Training Department Infantry at Arlon, the Training Department Armour-Cavalry at Leopoldsburg, the Training Department Artillery at Brasschaat and the Training Department Engineers at Namur.
Some of the regiments in the Land Component, such as the Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line, have names consisting of multiple elements. This is the result of a series of amalgamations which took place over the years. The Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line was created in 1993 as a result of the merger of the 12th Regiment of the Line Prince Leopold and the 13th Regiment of the Line.
There are two Brigades and they are organised as follows:
| Medium Brigade | Light Brigade |
| HQ Company "8/9 Linie" | HQ Company "4 Rgt. Commando" |
| Mechanized Inf. Rgt. "1/3 Lanciers" | Light Inf. Rgt. "12 Ligne Prince Léopold- 13 Ligne" |
| Mechanized Inf. Rgt. "Chasseurs Ardennais" | 2nd Commando Battalion |
| Mech. Inf. Rgt. "Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn- Grenadiers" | 3rd Paratroop Battalion |
| Mechanized Inf. Rgt. "Bevrijding- 5 Linie" | Special Forces Group |
The Belgian Army is currently undergoing a major re-equipment programme of most of its vehicles. The aim is to phase out all tracked vehicles in favour of wheeled vehicles. In 2010 all Leopard 1 tanks were transferred to Lebanon, except for 40 units which not have been sold yet, the tank units have been replaced by 24 Mowag Piranhas armed with a 90mm anti-tank gun. As of 2011 only the M113s remain in service, but will be due to be decommissioned by 2011. The overall transition will be complete by 2012.
| Model | Image | Type | Number | Dates | Builder | Details |
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| Mowag Piranha III | 8 × 8 Wheeled AFV | 242 | N/A | General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems | replacing the Leopard 1A5 main battle tank and the AIFV-B tracked infantry fighting vehicles | |
| Pandur | 6 × 6 Wheeled AFV | 60 | N/A | General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems Austria | replacing the AIFV-B and M113 tracked infantry fighting vehicles |
| Model | Image | Type | Number | Dates | Builder | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Dingo 2 | armoured reconnaissance vehicle | 220 | N/A | Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Germany | +132 options | |
| Iveco LMV 4 × 4 | Light Utility Vehicle | 960 | N/A | Iveco, Italy | lightly armoured utility vehicle replacing the Volkswagen Iltis | |
| M-Gator | Light Utility Vehicle/All Terrain Vehicle | N/A | N/A | Deere & Company, United States | 6x4 light utility buggy for medical evacuation | |
| JCB Groundhog | N/A | Light Utility Vehicle/All Terrain Vehicle | N/A | N/A | J. C. Bamford, United Kingdom | 4x4 light utility buggy for airborne units |
| BMW R 1150 RT | N/A | Military Police motorcycle | N/A | N/A | BMW Germany | Military Police motorcycle |
| Unimog U1350L | N/A | Light Utility Vehicle | N/A | N/A | Unimog, Germany | |
| Volvo Trucks N10 | N/A | Medium Logistic Vehicle, Wheeled | N/A | N/A | Volvo Trucks, Sweden | 10T 6x4 medium truck |
In addition a number of other light utility vehicles are used.
On 13 October 2009 the Belgian minister of Defence, De Crem, announced a new reorganization of the Belgian Armed Forces. According to the plans published on www.mil.be the new organization will be as follows [4] :
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