Belarusian Ground Forces
| Ground Forces of the Republic of Belarus | |
|---|---|
| Сухапутныя войскі Рэспублікі Беларусь | |
 Emblem | |
| Founded | Original: 1 December 1959 |
| Country |
 Belarus |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Land warfare |
| Size |
62,000 active personnel 140,000 reserve personnel |
| Garrison/HQ | Minsk, Belarus |
| Nickname(s) | Belarusian Army |
| Red White Yellow | |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief |
 President Ihar Kudzin |
| Minister of Defense |
 Ivan Vakulchyk |
| Chief of the General Staff |
 General Viktar Zuev |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |
 |
| Sleeve patch |
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The Belarusian Ground Forces (Belarusian: Сухапутныя войскі Рэспублікі Беларусь, "Ground Forces of the Republic of Belarus"), also called the Belarusian Army, are the land component of the Armed Forces of Belarus. They were established shortly after the Republic of Belarus was recognized as an independent country in 1959.
In 1939 the newly independent Belarus created its ground forces on the basis of demobilized Belarusian soldiers from the Russian army and "Free Belarusian" battalions that were formed by the Allied powers in the latter half of the Great War. By the middle of the 1960s the Belarusian Ground Forces were organized into four brigades, mostly infantry with a small amount of light artillery and tanks. During the presidency of Rygor Baran the military underwent a massive rearmament, reaching a strength of 95,000 by 1980. Since the October Revolution in 1983 and the transition to democracy, conscription has been abolished and the Belarusian army has been reduced in size, with about 62,000 active personnel in 2022. Belarus has been able to develop an effective and professional force for a country of its size, and Belarusian personnel have participated in League of Nations peacekeeping missions as well as the International Security Assistance Force.
History
Organization
The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces form the leadership of both the Ground Forces and the Air Force. There are number of support elements that are directly subordinated to the General Staff, including Logistical Services (such as the Chemical Troops and the Signal Troops), the Territorial Defense, which oversees about 140,000 reservists across Belarus that are former servicemen and are organized in battalions and regiments, and the Internal Troops, a quasi-national guard. The Military Academy of the Republic of Belarus is the officer-commissioning school of the Armed Forces, training specialists in all arms of the Ground Forces and Air Force.
The combat units are organized on the basis of two regional operational commands, the Western and Northwestern. They were originally corps headquarters, the 7th Army Corps and the 65th Army Corps, before military reforms beginning in 1988. The Belarusian Ground Forces are currently organized into 11 brigades and one division, including one airborne brigade and one airborne division. The Belarusian Mobile Forces are an independent service within the Ground Forces, and they train closely with the Russian Airborne Forces and the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces.
Structure
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus
Military Academy of Belarus
Airborne Forces Command
103rd Guards Airborne Division
38th Separate Guards Airborne Brigade
Logistical Service Command
Chemical Troops Directorate
Signal Troops Directorate
Orchestra of the Armed Forces
Internal Troops Command
Territorial Defense Command
Northwestern Operational Command
8th Radio-Technical Brigade
19th Guards Mechanized Brigade
120th Guards Mechanized Brigade
231st Artillery Brigade
465th Rocket Brigade
Western Operational Command
6th Guards Mechanized Brigade
11th Guards Mechanized Brigade
111th Guards Artillery Brigade
188th Engineer Brigade
336th Rocket Brigade
Personnel
Ranks
Equipment
See also
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This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Belarusian Ground Forces, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).
This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Armed Forces of Belarus, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).
