Namibian Defence Force
The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establishes the NDF and defines its role and purpose as, " ... to defend the territory and national interests of Namibia". Namibia's military was born from the integration of the formerly belligerent People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), military wing of the South West African People's Organization, and the South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) – a security arm of the former South African administration. The British formulated the force integration plan and began training the NDF, which consisted of five battalions and a small headquarters element.[7] The United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (UNTAG)'s Kenyan infantry battalion remained in Namibia for three months after independence to assist in training the NDF and stabilize the north. Martin Shalli and Charles 'Ho Chi Minh' Namoloh were involved in the negotiations that allowed the Kenyan infantry battalion to remain for that period. PurposeThe main roles of the Namibian Defence Force are to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country by guarding against external aggression, both conventional and unconventional; prevent violation of Namibia's territorial integrity; and assist civil authorities in guarding and protecting government buildings and key installations as provided in the Defence Act.[8] Defence spending and percentage of GDP included $90 million in 1997/98, 2.6% of GDP. The 73.1 million figure in 2002 was 2.4% of GDP. These figures are almost certainly CIA World Factbook estimates. History Major General A W Dennis, CB, OBE (rtd), British Army, previously Director of Military Assistance Overseas, made the following comments on the initial phase in Namibia at a conference in Pretoria, South Africa on 6 August 1992:[9]
  Organization and structureThe Chief Of Defence Force is the highest-ranking officer and exercises overall executive command of the force. Service chiefs are two-star general officers, air officers and flag officers in command of their respective arms of service. The Departments are also led by Major General's such as the Joint Operations Department. The Directorates are led by one-star general officers, air officers and flag officers.
Chief of Defence Force  The Chief of the Defence Force (Namibia) is always a commissioned three star General/Air/Flag Officer from the officer corps. The first chief of the NDF was Lieutenant-General Dimo Hamaambo. He was previously the leader of PLAN. Lieutenant-General Solomon Huwala replaced Hamaambo as Chief of the NDF on Hamaambo's retirement. After Lieutenant-General Huwala retired in October 2006, Lieutenant General Martin Shalli headed the NDF.[11] President Hifikepunye Pohamba suspended Lieutenant-General Shalli from his post as Chief of Defence Force in 2009 over corruption allegations, dating back to the time when Shalli served as Namibia's High Commissioner to Zambia.[12] During the time of the suspension, Army Commander Major General Peter Nambundunga acted as Chief.[13] Shalli eventually retired in January 2011; the post of Chief of the NDF was given to Lieutenant General Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah.[14] Lieutenant Gen Ndaitwah served until 31 December 2013 when the NDF Chief's position was given to Lieutenant Gen John Mutwa.[1]
NDF Sergeant Major NDF Sergeant Major is the highest appointment a Non-Commissioned Officer may receive. Duties of the NDF Sergeant Major include making sure that discipline, drills, dressing code, performance standards, and morale of the non-commissioned officers are maintained.[15] Previous Sergeant Majors are:
Joint Operations Directorate The Joint Operations Directorate is the only directorate headed by a two-star Flag/Air/General Officer. Its role is to coordinate and conduct combined Operations and implement plans and doctrines in the force. The first Director of Operation in 1990 was Brigadier General Martin Shalli. Defence Health ServicesThe Force's Defence Health Services provides medical services to service personnel, it operates sick bays at all bases and units as well the military hospitals. Logistics DirectorateThe Logistics Directorate is responsible for supplying material to the force. The first Director for Logistics was Colonel Peter Nambundunga Defence Inspectorate.jpg) The Defence Inspector General's Directorate is responsible for maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the Force. It also investigates both internal and external complaints. Namibian Defence Force ranksNDF ranks are based on the Commonwealth rank structure. There is no approved four-star general rank in the NDF. The Chief of Defence Force is a singular appointment that comes with an elevation to the rank of lieutenant general for an Army officer, air marshal for an Air Force officer and vice admiral for a Navy officer. Arms of services commanders i.e. Army, Air Force and Navy commanders, have the rank of major general, air vice marshal and rear admiral. The rank of brigadier has also been transformed into brigadier general. Directorate heads are always brigadier generals, i.e. the Chief of Staff for Defence Intelligence.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Appointments[17]
Army The Landward Arm of service for the Defence force is the Namibian Army, it is also the largest of the NDF's service branches. Air ForceThe Aerial Warfare branch is small but was bolstered with deliveries of some fighter jets in 2006 and 2008. NavyDevelopment of the Maritime Warfare Branch has been slow, and the force was only formally established in 2004, 14 years after independence. Today, it numbers over 1100 personnel and deploys a small number of lightly armed patrol vessels. Extensive Brazilian aid assisted in its development. Joint Headquarters.jpg) The Joint Headquarters is an Arm of Service level institution in the Defence Force and is created by the Minister of Defence in terms of section 13 of the Defence Act.[18] Training institutionsArmy Battle SchoolSituated at the Oshivelo Army base, the school offers units and battle groups to test their combat fighting skills in conventional and non-conventional warfare.[19] The school also offers courses such as:
Army Technical Training CentreEstablished in 2011 the technical centre imparts students with knowledge repair and maintaining army systems and installations.[20] The centre was commissioned on 27 February 2015. Namibian Defence Force Training EstablishmentThe Namibian Defence Force Training Establishment is the main training and academic unit of the Namibian Defence Force.It consist of 7 Schools offering training in different fields including Medical, Signals, Logistics,Intelligence amongst others. Training and teaching in the institution ranges from Basic Military Training to Vocational training. Namibia Command and Staff College The Namibia Command and Staff College offers the Junior Staff Course (JSC) and the Senior Command and Staff Course (SCSC).[21] It provides staff training to prepare students for staff appointments.[22] Parachute Training SchoolThe force's parachute airborne school is based at the Grootfontein Air Force Base. Here students from all service branches are training to qualify as Parachute specialists. The school was set up with help from the South African private military parachute training company Chute Systems which is training Namibia's airborne forces and associated staff e.g. parachute riggers.[23] Naval Training School Established on 22 November 2009, the Naval Training School was commissioned by President Hage Geingob on 22 July 2016. It is administratively divided into two sections, the Sailors Training Wing and the Marine Training Wing. It offers the following courses:
School of Air Power StudiesThe School of Air Power Studies is run in conjunction with the Namibia Aviation Training Academy, which trains pilots and technicians. School of Military ScienceThe School of Military Science, run in conjunction with the University of Namibia, offers officers in the Defence force qualifications ranging from Bachelor of Science Honors degrees in the field of nautical, Army and Aeronautical, to a post-graduate diploma in Security and Strategic studies, and a Master of Arts in Security and Strategic Studies (MA-SSS).  See alsoReferencesNotes
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