Syrian Army

Syrian Arab Army الجيش العربي السوري
Syrian Arab Army Flag
Founded	August 1, 1945[1]
Current form	1971
Headquarters	Damascus
Leadership
President of Syria	Bashar al-Assad
Minister of Defense	Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij
Chief of Army Staff	Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayyoub[2][3]
Manpower
Military age	18
Conscription	18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months; women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve; re-enlistment obligation 5 years, with retirement after 15 years or age 40 (enlisted) or 20 years or age 45 [4][5]
Active personnel	220,000 to 280,000; war makes estimates unreliable
Reserve personnel	200,000+; war makes estimates unreliable
Expenditures
Budget	$1.8 billion (FY11)[6][5]
Percent of GDP	3.5% (FY11)[6][5]
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Russia  Belarus  Iran  China  North Korea[7]

The Syrian Army, officially the Syrian Arab Army (Arabic: الجيش العربي السوري‎ al-Jaysh al-’Arabī as-Sūrī), is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and has the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services. The Syrian Army was formed by the French after World War I, after the French obtained a mandate over the region.^[8]

Since 1948 it has played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting five military coups (two in 1949, including the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, 1954, 1963, 1966, and in 1970. It has fought four wars with Israel (1948, the Six Day War in 1967, 1973, and 1982 in Lebanon) and one with Jordan (Black September in Jordan, 1970). An armored division was also deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91, but saw little action. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Internally it played a major part in suppressing the 1979–82 Islamic uprising in Syria, and since early 2011 has been heavily engaged in fighting the Syrian civil war.

History

In 1919, the French formed the Troupes spéciales du Levant as part of the Army of the Levant. The former with 8,000 men later grew into both the Syrian and Lebanese armies. This force was used primarily as auxiliaries in support of French troops, and senior officer posts were held by Frenchmen, although Syrians were allowed to hold commissions below the rank of major.

As Syria gained independence in 1946, its leaders envisioned a division-sized army. The 1st Brigade was ready by the time of the Syrian war against Israel on May 15, 1948. It consisted of two infantry battalions and one armored battalion. The 2nd Brigade was organized during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and also included two infantry battalions and one armored battalion.^[9]

At the time of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the army was small, poorly armed, and poorly trained. "Paris had relied primarily on French regulars to keep the peace in Syria and had neglected indigenous forces. Consequently, training was lackadaisical, discipline lax, and staff work almost unheard of. ... there were about 12,000 men in the Syrian army. These troops were mostly grouped into three infantry brigades and an armored force of about battalion size" writes Pollack.^[10]

Between 1948 and 1967, a series of military coups destroyed the stability of the government and any remaining professionalism within the army. In March 1949, the chief of staff, General Husni al-Za'im, installed himself as president. Two more military dictators followed by December 1949. General Adib Shishakli then held power until deposed in the 1954 Syrian coup d'etat. Further coups followed, each attended by a purge of the officer corps to remove supporters of the losers from the force.^[11] 'Discipline in the army broke down across the board as units and their commanders pledged their allegiance to different groups and parties. Indeed, by the late 1950s, the situation had become so bad that Syrian officers regularly disobeyed the orders of superiors who belonged to different ethnic or political groups' writes Pollack.^[12] The 1963 Syrian coup d'état had as one of its key objectives the seizure of the Al-Kiswah military camp, home to the 70th Armored Brigade. There was another 1966 Syrian coup d'etat.

However in 1967 the army did appear to have some strength. It had around 70,000 personnel, roughly 550 tanks and assault guns, 500 APCs, and nearly 300 artillery pieces.^[13] The army had sixteen brigades: twelve infantry, two armored (probably including the 70th Armored), and two mechanized. The Syrian government deployed twelve of the sixteen brigades to the Golan, including both armored brigades and one mechanized brigade. Three 'brigade groups', each comprising four brigades, were deployed: the 12th in the north, holding the sector from the B'nat Ya'acov bridge to the slopes of Mount Hermon, the 35th in the south from the B'nat Ya'acov bridge to the Yarmuk River border with Jordan, and the 42nd in reserve, earmarked for a theater-level counterattack role. During the Six Day War Israeli assault of the Golan heights, the Syrian army failed to counterattack the Israelis as the Israelis breached the Syrian positions. While Syrian units fought hard whenever the Israelis entered their fields of fire, no attempts appear to have been made to exploit Israeli disorientation and confusion during the initial assault.^[14]

Judging from reports of 1967-1970, including the reporting of the 5th Infantry Division in 1970, the Army appears to have formed its first divisions during this period. The 1st and 3rd Armored Division, and 5th, 7th, and 9th Mechanized Infantry Divisions were all formed prior to 1973.^[15] Samuel M. Katz writes that after Hafez al-Assad gained power in November 1970, the army expanded to the five divisions listed above, plus ten independent brigades, an artillery rocket brigade (the 69th), and '..a reinforced brigade variously termed the 70th Armored Brigade or the Assad Republican Guard. It is today known as the Armored Defense Force; as Assad's praetorian guard it is stationed in and around Damascus and subordinate to the Defense Companies under the command of Assad's brother Rifa'at.^[16]

1970-2010

On 18 September 1970, the Syrian government became involved in Black September in Jordan when it sent a reinforced armored brigade to aid the Palestine Liberation Organization.^[17] Syrian armored units crossed the border and overran Irbid with the help of local Palestinian forces. They encountered several Jordanian Army detachments, but rebuffed them without major difficulty. Two days later, the 5th Infantry Division, heavily reinforced, was also sent into Jordan. Two armored brigades were attached to the division, bringing its tank strength up to over 300 T-55s and its manpower to over 16,000. The division entered Jordan at ar-Ramtha, destroyed a company of Jordanian Centurion tanks there, and continued directly towards Amman. Pollack says it is likely that they intended to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy itself. Despite defeating the Jordanian Army at al-Ramtha on 21 September, after fierce air attacks on 22 September, the Syrians stopped the attack and began to retreat.

Syrian anti-tank teams deployed French-made MILAN ATGMs during the war in Lebanon in 1982.

After 1970 further Syrian engagements included:

• Yom Kippur War against Israel^[18]
• Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), (against Lebanese militias, the PLO and Israel)

The Syrian armed forces have also been involved in suppressing dissident movements within Syria, for example the Islamist uprising in Syria in 1979-1982. In March 1980 the 3rd Armored Division and detachments from the Defense Companies arrived in Aleppo. The division was under the command of General Shafiq Fayadh, Hafiz Assad's first cousin. The troops sealed "... off whole quarters and carr[ied] out house-to-house searches, often preceded by tank fire."^[19] Hundreds of suspects were rounded up. Only two conventional Army brigades deployed to Hama in 1982, the 3rd Armored Division’s 47th Armored and 21st Mechanized Brigades. Three quarters of the officers and one third of the soldiers in the two brigades were Alawites.^[20] Most of the repression was carried out by the Defense Companies and the Special Forces. Meanwhile, the Special Forces were isolating and combing through Hama, killing and capturing suspected regime opponents.^[21]

Syrian forces fought Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.

In 1984, Major General Ali Haidar's Special Forces were instrumental in blocking an abortive attempt by Rifaat Assad and his Defense Companies to seize the capital.^[22] Fayadh's 3rd Armored Division moved into the capital to join Haidar's forces in the confrontation with the Defense Companies. The 3rd Armored Division, it seems, had historically been based at al-Qutayfah, near Damascus.^[23]

The 9th Armored Division served in the 1991 Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.^[24]

In 1994, Haidar expressed objections to the Syrian president's decision to bring Bashar home from his studies in Britain and groom him for the succession after the death of Basil, the eldest Assad son.^[22] Soon afterwards, on 3 September 1994, Jane's Defence Weekly reported that then-President Hafez Assad had dismissed at least 16 senior military commanders. Among them was Haidar, then commander of the Special Forces, and General Shafiq Fayadh, a cousin of the President who had commanded the 'crack' 3rd Armored Division for nearly two decades. The 3rd Armored Division was 'deployed around Damascus.' JDW commented that 'the Special Forces and the 3rd Armored Division, along with the 1st Armored Division are key elements in the security structure that protects Assad's government. Any command changes involving those formations have considerable political significance.' Post-uprising reporting indicated the 1st Armored Division had historically been at al-Kiswah.^[23]

In 2009 and 2010, the Syrian army – which seems an ambiguous and confusing term^[25] – consisted in total of 325,000 regular troops, of which 220,000 were army troops and the rest were in navy, air force and air defenses; according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.^[25][6][26] Additionally, it had about 290,000 reservists.^[6][26]

Syrian Civil War

Defections

At 1 October 2011, according to high-ranking defected Syrian Colonel Riad Assaad, 10,000 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, had deserted the Syrian Army.^[27] Some of these defectors had formed the Free Syrian Army, engaging in combat with security forces and soldiers in what would turn into the Syrian Civil War.

At 16 November 2011, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however estimated that less than 1,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian Army; at the same moment, an FSA battalion commander claimed that the FSA embraced 25,000 army deserters.^[28] Also in November 2011, the Free Syrian Army or the website of France 24 estimated the Syrian Army at 200,000 troops. ^[29] According to General Mustafa al-Sheikh, one of the most senior defectors, however, in January 2012 the Syrian forces were estimated at 280,000 including conscripts.^[30]

By 15 March 2012, many more soldiers, unhappy with crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters, switched sides and a Turkish official said that 60,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian army, including 20,000 since 20 February. It was added that most of the deserters were junior officers and soldiers.^[31] By 5 July 2012, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated “tens of thousands” soldiers to have defected.^[26] By August 2012, 40 Brigadier generals from the Army had defected to the opposition army, out of a total of 1,200 generals.^[32]

On 14 June 2013, 73 Syrian Army officers and their families, some 202 people in total, sought refuge in Turkey. Amongst their number were seven generals and 20 colonels.^[33]

By August 2013, the strength of the Syrian army had, compared with 2010, roughly been cut in half, due to defections, desertions and casualties, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London: it now counted 178,000 troops, of which 110,000 in the army, 27,000 air force, 36,000 air defenses and 5,000 in the navy.^[25]

Strength unimpaired

Up until July 2012, the scale of defections from the Syrian Army, though hard to quantify, was too small to make an impact on the strength of that army, according to Aram Nerguizian from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.^[26] Strategically important units of the Syrian armed forces are always controlled by Alawite officers; defecting soldiers – by July 2012 “tens of thousands” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – are mainly Sunni without access to vital command and control, Nerguizian said.^[26]

Analyst Joseph Holliday wrote in 2013 that "... the Assad government has from the beginning of the conflict been unable to mobilize all of its forces without risking largescale defections. The single greatest liability that the Assad regime has faced in employing its forces has been the challenge of relying on units to carry out orders to brutalize the opposition."^[34] This has resulted in Bashar's following his father's precedent by attaching regular army units to more reliable forces (Special Forces, Republican Guard, or 4th Armored Division). When Hafez al-Assad directed the suppression of revolts in Hama in 1982 this technique was also used.

Roles of 3rd, 11th, 17th and 18th Divisions

The 3rd Armored Division has deployed elements of three brigades from its bases around Qutayfah to Deraa, Zabadani, and Hama, while the 11th Armored Division has stayed close to its bases in Homs and Hama.^[35]

The European Council named Major General Wajih Mahmud as commander of the 18th Armored Division in the Official Journal of the European Union on 15 November 2011, sanctioning him for violence committed in Homs.^[36] Henry Boyd of the IISS noted that "... in Homs, the 18th Armored Division was reinforced by Special Forces units and ... by elements of the 4th Division under Maher’s de facto command."^[37]

Information from Holliday 2013 suggests that the reserve armored division is the 17th (rather than any other designation), which was responsible for eastern Syria.^[38] The division's 93rd Brigade left Idlib to secure Al-Raqqah Governorate in early 2012.^[39] Following the reported capture of Raqqa on 3-6 March 2013, elements of the 17th Division remained under siege to the north of the city in October 2013.^[40]

Structure in 2001

A military policeman

Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that "three corps [were] formed in 1985 to give the Army more flexibility and to improve combat efficiency by decentralizing the command structure, absorbing at least some of the lessons learned during the Israeli invasion of the Lebanon in 1982."^[41] The organization and military doctrine of the army followed the Soviet model.^[42]

A Syrian soldier aims a Type-56 assault rifle from his position in a foxhole during Operation Desert Shield.

Richard Bennett's estimate of the 2001 order of battle was:

• 1st Corps HQ Damascus, which covered from Golan Heights, the fortified zone and south to Der'a near the Jordanian border.
  • 5th Armored Division, which included the 17th and 96th Armored Brigades and the 112th Mechanized Brigade
  • 6th Armored Division, with the 12th and 98th Armored Brigades and the 11th Mechanized Brigades
  • 7th Mechanized Division, with the 58th and 68th Armored Brigades and the 78th Mechanized Brigade
  • 8th Armored Division, which included the 62nd and 65th Armored Brigades and the 32nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 9th Armored Division, with the 43rd and 91st Armored Brigades and the 52nd Mechanized Brigade. (The 9th Armored Division served in the 1991 Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.)^[24] The 52nd Armored Brigade was reported in Der'aa in southern Syria in May 2013.^[43]

A Syrian soldier aims a 7.62mm PKM light machine gun from his position in a foxhole during a firepower demonstration, part of Operation Desert Shield. The soldier is wearing a nuclear-biological-chemical warfare mask.

Bennett said the 1st Corps also [had] four independent special forces regiments, including two trained for heliborne commando operations against the Israeli signals intelligence & observation posts on Mount Hermon and elsewhere in the Golan Heights.

• 2nd Corps HQ Zabadani, covers north of Damascus, to Homs and includes Lebanon.
  • Bennett said in 2001 that the corps' principal units were believed to include:
  • 1st Armored Division, with the 44th and 46th Armored Brigades and the 42nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 3rd Armored Division, with the 47th and 82nd Armored Brigades and the 132nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 11th Armored Division, with the 60th and 67th Armored Brigades and the 87th Mechanized Brigade
  • 4th Mechanized Division with the 1st Armored Brigade and the 61st and 89th Mechanized Brigades
  • 10th Mechanized Division, headquartered in Shtoura, Lebanon. Its main units [were in 2001] deployed to control the strategic Beirut-Damascus highway with the 123rd Mechanized Brigade near Yanta, the 51st Armored Brigade near Zahle in the Beqaa Valley and the 85th Armored Brigade. deployed around the complex of positions at Dahr al-Baidar.
  • three other heavy brigades from the 3rd and 11th Armored Divisions [were] known to be regularly deployed to eastern Lebanon.
  • there [were] five special forces regiments in the Lebanon.

• 3rd Corps HQ Aleppo, based in the north and covered Hama, the Turkish and Iraqi borders, the Mediterranean coastline and was tasked with protecting the complex of chemical and biological warfare and missile production and launch facilities.
  • The 2nd Reserve Armored Division, with the 14th and 15th Armored Brigades and the 19th Mechanized Brigade. The 2nd [was] also believed to operate as the main armored forces training formation.
  • Other units under the control of this corps included four independent infantry brigades, one border guard brigade, one independent armored regiment, effectively a brigade group, and one special forces regiment.
  • the Coastal Defense Brigade, which [operated] largely as an independent unit within the 3rd Corps area, [was] headquartered in the naval base of Latakia with four Coastal Defense Battalions in Latakia, Banias, Hamidieh and Tartous. Each Battalion has four batteries of both the short range SSC-3 Styx and long range SSC-1B Sepal missile systems.

The IISS listed smaller formations in 2006 as:^[44]

• Four independent Infantry Brigades
• Ten independent Airborne Special Forces Regiments (Seven regiments attached to 2nd Corps)
• Two independent Artillery Brigades
• Two independent Anti-tank Brigades
• Surface-to-surface Missile Command with three SSM Brigades (each with three SSM battalions),
  • One brigade with FROG-7,
  • One brigade with Scud-B/C/D.
  • One brigade with SS-21 Scarab,
• Three coastal defense missile brigades
  • One brigade with 4 SS-C-1B Sepal launchers,
  • One brigade with 6 P-15 Termit launchers, alternative designation SS-C-3 'Styx'
  • One brigade with 6+ P-800 Oniks launchers,
• One Border Guard Brigade

Protecting Damascus:

• 4th Armored Division (The Defense companies were transformed into the 569th Armored Division, which then became the 4th Armored Division.)^[45]
• The Republican Guard Armored Division, with three Armored brigades, one Mechanized brigade, and one artillery regiment.

Force structure 2011

Order of battle(at full strenght)^[46]

• CORPS(Falaq): 50,000 men in 3-4 Divisions
• Division(Firqa): 5,000-15,000 men in 5-6 Brigades/Regiments
• Brigade(Liwa): 2,500-3,500 men in 5-6 Battalions (1-3 Armored/Mechanized + Artillery/ADA/Engineers)
  • Mechanized:
    • 105 IFVs in 3 Mechanized Battalions
    • 41 Tanks in 1 Armored Battalion
    • 3,500 soldiers
  • Armored:
    • 105 Tanks in 3 Mechanized Battalions
    • 31 IFVs in 1 Mechanized Battalion
    • 2,500 soldiers
• Regiment(Fawj): 1,500 men
  • Infantry: 1,500 soldiers in 3 Infantry Battalions
  • Artillery: 45 howitzers and 1,500 soldiers in 3 Artillery Battalions
• Battalion(Katiba): 300-500 men in 4-5 Companies
• Company(Suriya): 60-80 men

Units reporting to the Chief of Staff:

• Republican Guard
  • 101th, 102nd Infantry "Security" Regiments
  • 104th, 105th and 106th Mechanized Brigades
  • 100th Artillery Regiment

• 4th Armored Division
  • 40th, 41st and 42nd Armored Brigades
  • 138th Mechanized Brigade
  • 154th Artillery Regiment
  • 555th Special Forces (Airborne) Regiment

• Special Forces Command

Special Forces units include the: 41st, 45th, 46th, 47th, 53rd and 54th independent special forces regiments

• 14th Special Forces Division
  • 36th, 554th and 556th Special Forces Regiments

• 15th Special Forces Division
  • 35th and 127 Special Forces Regiments
  • 404th Armored Regiment

Note: "Special Forces" in the Syrian Arab Army denotes specialized "light" infantry (airborne, air assault) and are "elite" only in relation to the conventional mechanized, armored units of the SAA.

1st Corps:

• 5th Mechanized Division
  • 112th, 132nd and 15th Mechanized Brigades
  • 12th Armored Brigade
  • 175th Artillery Regiment
• 7th Mechanized Division
  • 68th, 121st and 88 Mechanized Brigades
  • 78th Armored Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment
• 9th Armored Division
  • 33rd, 34th and 43rd Armored Brigades
  • 52nd Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment

In addition, 1st Corps force structure includes two, the 61st and 90th, independent infantry brigades

2nd Corps:

• 1st Armored Division
  • 76th, 91st and 153rd Armored Brigades
  • 58th Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment
• 10th Mechanized Division
  • 85th, 62nd and 18th Mechanized brigades
  • 56th Armored Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment

3rd Corps:

• 3rd Armored Division
  • 47th, 65th and 81st Armored Brigade
  • 21st Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment
• 11th Armored Division
  • 60th, 67th and an unspecified Armored Brigade
  • 87st Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment

In addition, there are two independent divisions:

• 18th Armored Division
  • 131st, 134th and 167th Armored Brigade
  • 120th Mechanized Brigade
  • 64th Artillery Regiment
• 17th Mechanized Division (Reserve)
  • 93rd Armored Brigade
  • 137th Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment
  • (an unspecified) Brigade

Other:

• Aleppo was home to the Al-Assad Military Academy (Arabic: أكاديمية الأسد للهندسة العسكرية‎), which provided basic training for infantry and armored corps conscripts and advanced training for Army engineers. It was overrun and captured by Free Syrian Army rebel forces in December 2012,^[47] but by June 2013 appeared to be back under central government control.
• 80th Brigade, Aleppo area (see Battle of Aleppo (2012–present))
• 111th Regiment, Aleppo area (see Battle of Aleppo (2012–present))

Equipment

The vast majority of Syrian military equipment was Soviet manufactured.^[48]

• 10,885 Armored Fighting Vehicles:
  • 6450 Main battle tanks (including 1,150 in storage)
  • 1,125 Amphibious Armored Scout Cars
  • 2,950 Infantry fighting vehicles
  • 1,860 Armored personnel carriers
• 4,815+ Towed Artillery Pieces:
  • 1,010+ Mortars
  • 2,130+ Gun/Howitzers (400 in storage)
  • 1,675+ Anti-aircraft guns (300+ in storage)
• 1,136 Self-Propelled Artillery Pieces:
  • 485 Self-propelled howitzers
  • 650 Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (240 in storage)
• 6,890+ Anti Tank Guided Weapon Launchers (4,290 in storage)
• 500+ Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
  • 86+ Tactical ballistic missile launchers
• 4,235+ Surface to Air Missile Launchers:
  • 4,000+ MANPADS
  • 235 Self-propelled air-defense systems

Uniforms and rank insignia (1987)

Uniforms

Service uniforms for Syrian officers generally follow the British Army style, although army combat clothing follows the Soviet model.^[49] Each uniform has two coats: a long one for dress and a short jacket for informal wear. Army officer uniforms are khaki in summer, olive in winter. Certain Army (paratroops and special forces) and Air Defense Force personnel may wear camouflage uniforms. Among the camouflage are Red Lizard, and Syrian Leaf pattern; a locally-made copy of the ERDL. Air force officers have two uniforms for each season: a khaki and a light grey for summer and a dark blue and a light gray in winter. Naval officers wear white in summer and navy blue in winter while lower ranks wear the traditional bell bottoms and white blouse. The uniform for naval chief petty officers is a buttoned jacket, similar to that worn by United States chief petty officers. Officers have a variety of headgear, including a service cap, garrison cap, and beret (linen in summer and wool in winter). The color of the beret varies according to the officer's unit. The most common beret color is black, for infantry, Engineering, Signals and supporting arms personnel, followed by Green, for Armored, Mechanized and Artillery personnel, Red for the Republican Guard and Military Police, and Maroon for the Special Forces. Current combat helmets include the SSh-68^[50] and green PASGT; both of which can be equipped with "Syrian Leaf" helmet covers.

Ranks

Commissioned officers' rank insignia are identical for the army and air force. These are gold on a bright green or black shoulder board for the army and gold on a bright blue board for the air force. Officer ranks are standard, although the highest is the equivalent of Colonel General, a rank held in 1986 only by the commander in chief and the minister of defense. Navy officer rank insignia are gold stripes worn on the lower sleeve. The highest-ranking officer in Syria's navy is the equivalent of lieutenant general. Army and air force rank for warrant officers is indicated by gold stars on an olive green shield worn on the upper left arm. Lower noncommissioned ranks are indicated by upright and inverted chevrons worn on the upper left arm.^[49]

Awards

Although some twenty-five orders and medals are authorized, generally only senior officers and warrant officers wear medal ribbons. The following are some important Syrian awards: Order of Umayyads, Medal of Military Honor, the War Medal, Medal for Courage, Yarmuk Medal, Wounded in Action Medal, and Medal of March 8, 1963.^[49]

Anniversary

August 1 is nationally considered Army Day. In 2013, President Assad visited soldiers in Darayya. He gave the army a message saying he was sure of victory over the rebels.^[51]

Notes

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.

References

• Richard M. Bennett, The Syrian Military: A Primer, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, August/September 2001.
• Joseph Holliday, 'The Assad Regime: From Counterinsurgency to Civil War,' Institute for the Study of War, March 2013. Seemingly the best concise description and analysis of the Syrian Army and its involvement in the current Syrian Civil War.
• Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002

Further reading

• Department of the Army, Area Handbook for Syria, Washington, For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1965, "Department of the Army pamphlet no. 550-47." Revision of the 1958 edition.
• Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002 reviewed in Brooks, Risa A. "Making Military Might: Why Do States Fail and Succeed? A Review Essay." International Security 28, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 149-191.
• History of the Syrian Arab Army: Prussianization of the Arab Army, the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918, and the cult of nationalization of Arabs in the Levant after World War I, Infantry Magazine, Nov-Dec 2005.

External links

• Army Equipment
• Tom Cooper, Syrian Tank-Hunters in Lebanon, 1982, Air Combat Information Group

v t e Syrian Civil War Part of the Arab Spring   Background Timeline Background 1963 coup d'état 1966 coup d'état 1970 "Corrective Revolution" 1979–82 Islamic uprising 1999 Latakia protests 2000–01 Damascus Spring 2004 al-Qamishli riots 2005 Damascus Declaration Human rights in Syria Timeline 2011 January–April May–August September–December 2012 January–April May–August September–December 2013 January–April May 2013–present   Events 2011 Death of Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb Siege of Daraa Siege of Baniyas Talkalakh siege Siege of Rastan and Talbiseh Jisr ash-Shugur operation Siege of Hama Siege of Homs Jabal al-Zawiya operation Siege of Latakia Deir ez-Zor clashes Rif Dimashq clashes Battle of Zabadani Battle of Douma Daraa Governorate clashes First Battle of Rastan Shayrat and Tiyas airbase ambush Idlib Governorate clashes Jabal al-Zawiya massacres 2012 al-Midan bombing Second Battle of Rastan First Idlib operation Battle of Idlib First Battle of al-Qusayr Second Idlib operation Battle of Taftanaz Third Battle of Rastan Houla massacre Battle of al-Haffah Al-Qubeir massacre Battle of Tremseh Battle of Damascus Damascus bombing Battle of Aleppo Battle of Anadan Siege of Base 46 First Rif Dimashq offensive Darayya massacre Battle of Khirbet al-Joz Battle of Maarrat al-Nu'man Siege of Wadi Deif Battle of Harem Second Rif Dimashq offensive Battle of Darayya Aqrab massacre First Hama offensive Halfaya massacre Battle of Darayya Quneitra Governorate clashes 2013 Battle of Safira Battle of Shadadeh Damascus offensive Battle of Raqqa Daraa offensive Third Rif Dimashq offensive Battle of Jdaidet al-Fadl Ghouta attacks Al-Qusayr offensive Second Battle of al-Qusayr Bayda and Baniyas massacres Second Hama offensive Hatla massacre Khan al-Assal chemical attack Khan al-Assal massacre Adra massacre Battle of Ras al-Ayn Fourth Rif Dimashq offensive International Spillover into Lebanon Syrian-Turkish border clashes Turkish aircraft shootdown Akashat ambush   Parties involved Government Syrian Armed Forces Militias National Defense Force Jaysh al-Sha'bi al-Abbas Brigade Lijan militias Syrian Resistance PFLP-GC External support Basij (Iran) Hezbollah (Lebanon) Houthis (Yemen) Revolutionary Guards (Iran) Opposition Paramilitaries Free Syrian Army Islamic Front Al-Nusra Front Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Army of Mujahedeen Syria Revolutionaries Front Smaller groups Foreign fighters Political groups National Coalition Local Co-ordination Committees Syrian National Council Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change Syrian Revolution General Commission Doctors Coordinate of Damascus Syrian Support Group Adopt a Revolution Kurds Kurdish Supreme Committee Democratic Union Party Kurdish National Council People's Protection Units Jabhat al-Akrad Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Assyrians / Syriacs Syriac Military Council Sutoro   People Ammar Abdulhamid Ali al-Abdallah Adnan al-Aroor al-Assad family Bashar Maher Rifaat Rami Makhlouf Hafez Makhlouf Riad al-Asaad Anwar al-Bunni Fahd Jassem al-Freij Haitham al-Maleh Moaz al-Khatib Kamal al-Labwani Hamza al-Khateeb Tal al-Mallohi Fida al-Sayed Riad al-Turk Ammar al-Qurabi Suheir Atassi Ali Sadreddine Al-Bayanouni Aref Dalila Farid Ghadry Burhan Ghalioun Razan Ghazzawi Ghassan Hitto Salim Idris Randa Kassis Abdul Halim Khaddam Michel Kilo Bassma Kodmani Ali Habib Mahmud Ali Mahmoud Othman Ibrahim Qashoush Dawoud Rajiha Yassin al-Haj Saleh Bouthaina Shaaban Adib Shishakly Abdulbaset Sieda Riad Seif Fadwa Soliman Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid Yaser Tabbara Razan Zaitouneh Rami Jarrah   Issues Peace initiatives Related topics Issues Casualties Chemical weapons Cities and towns Damaged heritage sites Foreign involvement Human rights violations Humanitarian aid International reactions / protests Massacres Refugees Sectarianism and minorities Spillover into Lebanon Syrian reactions Peace initiatives Arab League monitors Friends of Syria Group Kofi Annan peace plan UN Supervision Mission Lakhdar Brahimi peace plan US-Russia Syria peace proposal 39th G8 summit UN Security Council Resolution 2118 Geneva II Conference Related topics 2014 Syrian detainee report Fourth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference International recognition of the Syrian National Council Syria Files Syrian media coverage Category Commons Wikinews