The Botswana Ground Forces is the army of the country of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

, and the land component of the Botswana Defence Force.

History

The Botswana Defence Force was raised in April 1977 by an Act of Parliament called the 'BDF Act NO 13 of 1977. At its formation, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe (retired and former Vice President of the Republic of Botswana (now deceased)) became its first Commander. The former President of the Republic of Botswana,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Seretse Khama Ian Khama, then

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, was the Deputy Commander. Unusually for an African military force, and chiefly attributable to its being founded after Botswana's independence, the Botswana Ground Force was not formed from colonial units formed by a colonising power, but rather were formed from the remains of the Botswana Mounted Police Unit, previously known as the Bechuanaland Mounted Police, a unit of the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' Britis ...

. The contemporary roles of the Defence Force are broad for a conventional military, suggesting that the government of Botswana and the BDF subscribe to a wide view of ‘security’ and consider the Defence Force an appropriate agency for attaining much of it, an issue that has been discussed even in the BDF's own internal media. It is expected that the BDF in general is meant to be an apolitical instrument of the state. The current stated mission of the Botswana Ground Force is:
To defend the country and provide for the security of Botswana, participate in external security cooperation activities, and contribute in domestic support operations, with the aim of: * Ensuring national security and stability * Protecting the people and their properties * Protecting the constitution of Botswana to guarantee the rule of law * Defending Botswana's territorial integrity on land and in the air * Preserving Botswana as a free, independent and sovereign state * Aiding civil authorities in domestic support operations * Strengthening Botswana's international relations by participating in regional and international security cooperation activities

Structure and organisation

The commander-in-chief of the BDF is

Duma Boko Duma Gideon Boko (born 31 December 1969) is a Motswana politician and lawyer who is currently serving as the sixth President of Botswana since 1 November 2024 and as leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change since 2012. He served as Leader of ...

, the current President of Botswana. Answering to him is Lieutenant General Placid Segokgo. The various units of the Botswana Ground Force are as follows: * 1st Armoured Brigade (Gaborone) * 1st Infantry Brigade (mechanised brigade at Gaborone) * 2nd Infantry Brigade (motorized brigade at Francistown) * 3rd Infantry Brigade (motorized brigade at Ghanzi) * 1st Commando Regiment (Gaborone) * Four independent infantry battalions * Two armored-artillery brigades * One combat engineering regiment * 1 air defense battalion * Army river-wing (including diving unit)

Ranks and insignia

The BGF and the Botswana Air Force maintain the same rank system, which is loosely based on

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rank systems. The ranks are as follows: ;Commissioned officer ranks The rank insignia of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

s. ;Other ranks The rank insignia of

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s and enlisted personnel.

Equipment and vehicles

The BDF uses a wide array of modern weapons and vehicles. Its suppliers are

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and Western nations, including

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, the

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, the

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, and the

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. In 2016 the Ministry of Defence of Botswana ordered 45 Piranha 8×8 armoured vehicles made by General Dynamics Switzerland.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite news, last=Tiroyamodimo, first=Otitisitswe B., title=Why is security a contested concept?, newspaper=Sethamo (Botswana Defence Force Newsletter), date=December 2001

Ground Force Military units and formations established in 1977 1977 establishments in Botswana