His Majesty's Armed Forces (HMAF) is the military of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. It is composed of three operational components and two support elements (logistics and training groups). The mission of HMAF is to: "Defend the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Tonga". The HMAF is partially supported by defence co-operation agreements with Australia, the United States, China, India, and New Zealand. The co-operation aims at capacity development through training of HMAF personnel in leadership, academic and trades while support for infrastructure development is another part of the security co-operation. Since 2001, members of HMAF have supported the coalition of the willing in

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

, the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

in Afghanistan, and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.

History

The military history of Tonga extends from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to the present day, with Tonga participating in World War I,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the Afghan war, among other conflicts.

Components

The main elements of HMAF are: *His Majesty's Armed Forces HQ *Joint Force HQ * Tongan Land Force ** Tongan Royal Guards ** Royal Tongan Marines **Combined Logistics and Technical Support * Tongan Maritime Force *Training Command * Tongan Air Wing *Support Unit *Territorial Forces

Tongan Maritime Force

The Maritime Force is equipped with two Guardian-class patrol boats, provided by Australia under the Pacific Maritime Security Program, a tanker, a Landing Craft Mechanised and a motor boat, that is the royal yacht. Tongan Maritime Force performs patrol missions, occasionally dealing with border violations, at the Minerva Reef and Tonga's restricted fishing zones.

Royal Tongan Marines

The Royal Tongan Marine Infantry is organized as a single Battalion size group with a HQ and 3 Light Infantry Companies, based at Fua'amotu.

Tongan Royal Guards

The Tongan Royal Guards are a company size unit that are responsible for the security of His Majesty. The Royal Guard maintains a musical unit known as the Tonga Royal Corps of Musicians that serves as a

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

for different occasions.

Tongan Air Wing

On 4 May 1996 the Air Wing was created. A Beech 18 was taken into service. In 1999 a

Citabria The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility aircraft, utility and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aero ...

was obtained to help with training of the Beech 18.

International Defence Organisations

The HMAF is a member of the following international defence organisations: * Pacific Armies Management Seminar * Pacific Area Senior Officers Logistics Seminar * Western Pacific Naval Symposium *

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

* South Pacific Hydrographic Commission *

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Codification, where though Pacific Codification System, Tonga and Fiji are sponsored by Australia Tonga has an agreement to share "disaster response knowledge" with the United States Nevada National Guard.

Ranks

The ranks used by His Majesty's Armed Forces are similar to those used in other

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

armed forces.

Commanders

Until 2013, commanders were called Commander of the Tongan Defence Services. After 2013, they are now called Chief of the Defence Staff of the HMAF.

Equipment

Small arms

Vehicles

References

External links

*
Royal Tongan Marines are Camp Blue Diamond(Photo)

* Ted Harris

2004 {{His Majesty's Armed Forces (Tonga) Military of Tonga Military units and formations of the British Empire Tonga and the Commonwealth of Nations de:Tonga#Außenpolitik