Armed Forces of Liberia
Encyclopedia
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces
of the Republic of Liberia. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was retitled in 1956. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States
. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.
For most of the Cold War
, the AFL saw little action, apart from a reinforced company group which was sent to ONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
in the 1960s. This changed with the advent of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989. The AFL became entangled in the conflict, which lasted from 1989 to 1996–97, and then the Second Liberian Civil War
, which lasted from 1999 to 2003.
The AFL is in the process of being reformed and retrained after being completely demobilized following the second civil war. The AFL currently consists of two infantry battalions, and a small Liberian National Coast Guard, which is being reformed. The Liberian Government has requested that a Nigerian Army officer serve as head of the military during the transitional period.
that was formed by the first black colonists from the United States. The militia was first formed when in August 1822 an attack was feared on Cape Mesurado
(where Monrovia
now is) and the agent of the settlements directed the mobilization of all "able-bodied males into a militia and declared martial law." By 1846, the size of the militia had grown to two regiments.
In 1900, Liberian men between the ages of sixteen and fifty were considered liable for military service. The navy consisted only of two small gunboats.
On February 6, 1908, the militia was established on a permanent basis as the 500-strong Liberian Frontier Force (LFF). The LFF's original mission was "to patrol the border in the Hinterland [against British and French territorial ambitions] and to prevent disorders." The LFF was initially placed under the command of a British officer, who was quickly replaced after he complained the Force was not being properly paid. In 1912, the United States established military ties with Liberia by sending some five black American officers to help reorganize the force. The LFF in its early years was frequently recruited by inducing men from the interior forcibly. When dispatched to the interior to quell tribal unrest, units often lived off the areas that they were pacifying, as a form of communal punishment. The Force's officers were drawn from either the coastal aristocracy or tribal elites.
and World War II
, but the only troops dispatched overseas were a few individuals to France during World War I, and Liberian volunteers under the command of the United States during World War II. United States military assistance for the LFF began during World War II, when funding provided by the United States allowed an increase in the Force's strength to around 1,500. The armed forces came to rely almost exclusively on American assistance in terms of training, with non-US training "tend[ing] to be brief and uninspired [with little] accomplished other than some desultory close-order drill." U.S. forces also established an officer candidate school during the later part of the war, using instructors selected from the American troops in the country. The school conducted two courses and graduated nearly 300 new officers. Just under twenty years later in 1964, the group still made up over 50% of the officer corps of the AFL.
in Monrovia and the Booker Washington Institute in Kakata
. By 1978 the program had been redesignated the Army Student Training Program (ASTP) and had a total of 46 students at the University of Liberia, the Booker Washington Institute, and three smaller institutions. However it was not until the late 1960s that the Tubman Military Academy was established in Todee, upper Montserrado County, as an officer training facility.
The LFF was re-named as the Armed Forces of Liberia under the Amended National Defense Law of 1956, though other sources say 1962, which appears to have been the date the land force became the Liberian National Guard. From this period, Liberia's armed forces consisted of the Liberian National Guard, the Liberian Militia, whose ostensible structure is depicted above, and the Liberian Coast Guard. Until 1980, by law every able-bodied male between the ages of 16 and 45 years was to serve in the militia, though this stipulation was not enforced.
The National Guard was not a high status force: "It was a skeleton brigade of soldiers who were predominantly from the lower economic and social stratum of society. They were poorly paid, and had less than decent facilities for accommodation and care." Despite this, a Liberian company, designated the Reinforced Security Company, was contributed to the United Nations Operation in the Congo
in the early 1960s. Six rotations were made. The 1964 US Army Area Handbook described the company's actions as "...After a poor start, the performance of the contingent improved steadily; the last company, which returned home in May 1963, had performed creditably and, by its conduct and appearance, gave the impression of being a well-trained and disciplined military organization." In 1964 the US Army Area Handbook described the National Guard as 3,000 strong with a headquarters company, the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion in Monrovia, three infantry battalions and one engineer battalion (which was newly formed at Camp Naama in 1962 and only had one company organized). The three infantry battalions were the 1st Infantry Battalion, at Camp Schiefflin, situated on the airport road between Monrovia
and Roberts International Airport
, the 2nd Infantry Battalion, HQ at Barclay Training Center (BTC), Monrovia, and the 3rd Infantry Battalion, HQ at Baworobo, Maryland County
.
By 1978, the LNG Brigade had been established and the Brigade was described as comprising a Headquarters and Headquarters Company
at the Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion on Capitol Hill, Monrovia, the Engineer Battalion and the First Field Artillery Battalion (both at Camp Jackson, Naama) two tactical combat battalions (the First Infantry Battalion, at Schiefflin and the Second Infantry Battalion which in the intervening period had moved from the BTC to Camp Tolbert, Todee) and three non-tactical battalions, tasked with providing guard services to government officials, tax collection, and 'other non-military duties'. The Third Infantry Battalion covered Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, and Grand Bassa counties from BTC; the Fourth Infantry Battalion covered Grand Gedeh, Sinoe County
and Maryland counties from Camp Whisnant, Zwedru
; and the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Gbarnga
. Other field units of the brigade were the Armoured Unit, at Camp Ram Rod, Paynesward City (possibly Paynesville
), Monrovia
), and the Bella Yella Special Detachment, Camp Bella Yella, Lofa
. The Service Support Battalion was located at BTC, and comprised the Medical Company, the Brigade Band, the Brigade Special Unit (a parade unit) and the Military Police Unit. Also at BTC was the Logistical Command, consisting of a depot, arsenal (whose location had been declared unsafe), the AFL Quartermaster Corps, and the AFL Transportation Company. Strength was reported to be 4,822 in 1978.
While militia service was compulsory by law for all eligible males, the law was only enforced in a lax manner. From the mid 1960s, and in its later years, members of the militia met only quarterly for sparsely attended drill practice. Estimates of men enrolled over the years vary. The 1964 US Army Area Handbook said that "some 20,000 men are estimated to be enrolled." The IISS estimated militia numbers at 5,000 in 1967 and 6,000 in 1970. By the early 1970s the militia reported a strength of only some 4,000 poorly trained and ill-equipped men. The 1978 Annual Report of the Liberian Ministry of National Defense said that "The various militia regiments, in accordance with the law, held quarterly parades. ...Furthermore, the entire Regiments were out in full strength during burial occasions." By the time it was disbanded in 1980, the militia was considered to be completely ineffective as a military force.
The armed forces' third arm, the Liberian National Coast Guard, was established in 1959. The Coast Guard, throughout the Tubman period, was little more than a few sometimes unserviceable patrol craft manned by ill-trained personnel, though its training improved in the 1980s to the point where it was considered the best trained of the armed services.
From 1952 onwards, Chiefs of Staff of the AFL included Major General Alexander Harper (1952–54), Lieutenant General Abraham Jackson (1954–60), Albert T. White (1964–65), Lieutenant General George T. Washington (late 1960s), Lieutenant General Henry Johnson (1970–74), Lieutenant General Franklin Smith, and Lieutenant General Henry Dubar (1980–1990).
When William Tolbert replaced the long-serving William Tubman
as President in 1971, he retired more than 400 aging soldiers. Sawyer comments that "retired soldiers were replaced by young recruits from urban areas, many of whom were then poorly trained at the Tubman Military Academy. This development dramatically changed the character of the military in Liberia." (Samuel Doe
was among this group.) Amos Sawyer
also comments that "recruitment of such individuals for the military was part of Tolbert's efforts to replace aging, illiterate soldiers with younger, literate men who were capable of absorbing technical and professional training."
led the plotters, it was the group led by Samuel Doe that found Tolbert in his office, and it was Doe, as a master sergeant the highest ranking of the group, who went on the radio the next day to announce the overthrow of the long-entrenched True Whig Party government. Doe became Head of State and co-chair of the new People's Redemption Council
government. Quiwonkpa became commander of the army and the other co-chair of the PRC. (In the aftermath of the coup, the title of LNG Brigade commanding general was confusingly changed to commanding general of the AFL, reporting to the chief of staff, and it was this position that Quiwonkpa inherited.) Henry Dubar (who had helped recruit Doe personally years before) was promoted in one leap from captain to lieutenant general as Chief of Staff. From 1980 onward, Doe's systematic promotion of Krahn
to sensitive posts in the government and military, began to drive deepening divisions within the AFL, among others with Quiwonkpa's Gio
, and to hamper morale.
The launch of Doe's coup meant that Major William Jarbo, another soldier with political ambitions who was said to have excellent connections to U.S. security officials, had had his takeover plans forestalled. He tried to escape abroad but was hunted down and killed by the new government. The junta started to split in 1983, with Doe telling Quiwonkpa that he was planning to move Quiwonkpa from command of the army to a position as secretary-general of the People's Redemption Council
. Unhappy with this proposed change, Quiwonkpa fled into exile in late 1983, along with his aide-de-camp
Prince Johnson
.
In 1984 the AFL included the Liberian National Guard (LNG) Brigade and related units (6,300 men), and the Liberian National Coast Guard (about 450 men). The brigade, formed between 1964 and 1978, was based at the Barclay Training Center (BTC) in Monrovia
, and was composed of six infantry
battalion
s, a military engineer
battalion (which circa 1974 under the command of Colonel Robert M. Blamo completed an airstrip at Belefania Town), a field artillery
battalion (the First Field Artillery Battalion, reportedly at Camp Naama in Bong County
) and a support battalion. Three of the infantry units—the First Infantry Battalion, stationed at Camp Schieffelin, the Second Infantry Battalion at Camp Todee in northern Montserrado County
, and the Sixth Infantry Battalion at Bomi Hills—were tactical elements designed to operate against hostile forces. The other battalions, the Third Infantry Battalion based at the Barclay Training Centre in Monrovia, the Fourth Infantry Battalion at Zwedru
in Grand Gedeh County
, and the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Gbarnga
in Bong County
served mostly as providers of personnel for non-military duties. Soldiers in these units were used extensively as policemen, customs and immigration officials, and as tax collectors.
In the aftermath of the rigged elections of 1985, which Doe manipulated to solidify his power, Quiwonkpa returned from his U.S. exile to enter Liberia from Sierra Leone. On 12 November 1985 he entered Monrovia with a group of dissident soldiers, took over the national Liberia Broadcasting System
radio station and announced that the 'National Patriotic Forces of Liberia' had seized power. Adekeye says that Quiwonkpa erred in 'fail[ing] to establish control over the country's communications system and resisted a frontal attack on the Executive Mansion.' These mistakes allowed Doe the time to rally the Krahn-dominated Executive Mansion Guard and 1st Infantry Battalion from Camp Schiefflin to reestablished control. Quiwonkpa was captured, killed, and mutilated, his body being dismembered and parts eaten. In the aftermath of the attempted coup, purges took place in Monrovia and in Nimba County
, Quiwonkpa's home, against those who had rejoiced after the coup announcement. As many as 1,500 people may have been killed. The AFL was purged of Gio soldiers.
Under Samuel Doe the Coast Guard was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of the The Liberian Navy Act of 1986. In 1985 the Aviation Unit, established at some point between 1964 and 1985, operated three fixed-wing aircraft from Spriggs Payne Airport
in Monrovia, including Cessna 172
s. Their duties included reconnaissance and transport of light cargo and VIPs. An Aviation Unit aircraft crashed at Spriggs-Payne in 1984.
The Liberian Air Force was established from the Aviation Unit by an Act of Legislature on 12 August 1987. Its statutory responsibilities were to: protect and defend the air space of the Republic of Liberia; protect lives and properties; provide air mobility for military and civil personnel; assist in search and rescue operations; undertake emergency operations; conduct reconnaissance patrols; participate in joint military operations and perform other duties as may be designated by the Ministry of Defense. The LAF was to be headed by a colonel in his capacity as Assistant Chief of Defense Staff for the Air Force and was mandated to do the following: to train personnel and develop doctrine; advise the Chief of Staff of the AFL on matters relating to the Air Force.
on Christmas Eve 1989 with a force of around 150 men, initiating the First Liberian Civil War. Doe responded by sending two AFL battalions to Nimba in December 1989 – January 1990, under then-Colonel Hezekiah Bowen
. The Liberian government forces assumed that most of the Mano and Gio peoples in the Nimba region were supporting the rebels. They thus acted in a very brutal and scorched-earth fashion which quickly alienated the local people. Taylor's support rose rapidly, as the Mano and Gio flocked to his National Patriotic Front of Liberia
seeking revenge. Many government soldiers deserted, some to join the NPFL. The inability of the AFL to make any headway was one of the reasons why Doe changed his field commander in the area five times in the first six months of the war. Field commanders apparently included Brigadier General Edward Smith.http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-03-08-photojournalist-gregory-stemn-on-living-and-documenting-the-war-in-liberia By May 1990 the AFL had been forced back to Gbarnga
, still under the control of Bowen's troops, but they lost the town to a NPFL assault by the end of May 1990, at which time the NPFL also captured Buchanan
on the coast. The NPFL had now gathered an estimated 10,000 fighters while the AFL, splintering, could only summon 2,000.
The revolt reached Monrovia by July 1990, and General Dubar left the country for exile in the United States. In place of Dubar, Brigadier General Charles Julu, former commander of the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion, was appointed Chief of Staff. Two Liberian Coast Guard vessels were sunk in the battles for the city. The NPFL had been distributing weapons to Gio civilians after it arrived in Nimba, where many were very interested in taking their revenge on the government after Doe had punished Nimba country for its support of Quiwonkpa in 1983 and 1985. By July 1990 the government began to distribute weapons to civilians in turn, to Krahn and Mandingo who wished to protect themselves. These hastily enlisted civilians became known as '1990 soldiers.' A '1990 soldier' which the President had personally picked, Tailey Yonbu, led a massacre of refugees, mostly Gio and Mandingo civilians, on the night of 29/30 July 1990 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Sinkor, Monrovia. Some 600 were killed. Because of the previous ethnic purges carried out by Doe's forces, the conflict took on characteristics of an ethnic pogrom.
In August 1990 the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) despatched a peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, to Liberia. The force arrived at the Freeport of Monrovia on 24 August 1990, landing from Nigerian and Ghanaian vessels. By the time ECOMOG arrived, Prince Johnson's INPFL and Taylor's NPFL were fighting on the outside bounds of the port. A series of peacemaking conferences in regional capitals followed. There were meetings in Bamako in November 1990, Lome in January 1991, and Yamoussoukro in June–October 1991. But the first seven peace conferences, including the Yamoussoukro I-IV processes and the Carter Center negotiation leading to the Cotonou Accords, failed due to lack of agreement between the warring factions. The NPFL launched an assault on Monrovia in 1992, which they named 'Operation Octapus.' The civil war lasted until the Abuja Accords of August 1996.
The AFL was confined to an enclave around the capital during the conflict, and did not play a significant part in the fighting. Elections in July 1997 finally brought Taylor to power. Under the accords, which led to a break in fighting in 1996 and the Liberian general election, 1997, ECOMOG was to retrain a new national army based on fair ethnic and geographical representation. Yet Taylor denied ECOMOG any role in the restructuring of the AFL, and the force eventually left Liberia by the end of 1998.
During the 1990–99 period, Chiefs of Staff included Lieutenant Colonel Davis S. Brapoh, Lieutenant General Hezekiah Bowen (later Minister of Defense), Lieutenant General A.M.V. Doumuyah, and Lieutenant General Kalilu Abe Kromah, appointed during the interim rule of the Council of State in 1996, who was chief of staff from May 1996 to April 1997. Following Kromah, Lieutenant General Prince C. Johnson was appointed, who died in October 1999 following a car accident.
Instead Taylor ran down the Armed Forces, letting go 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were Krahn
brought in by former President Doe, in December 1997 – January 1998, and building up instead the Anti-Terrorist Unit
(ATU), the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police
, and the Special Security Service. On November 19, 1999, Taylor named General Kpenkpah Konah as the new Chief of Staff of the AFL (where he would stay until 2006) and John Tarnue
as head of the army. Tarnue was later implicated in a land dispute in 1999, while acting as AFL commander. The International Crisis Group
writes that the AFL was reduced practically to the point of non-existence by Fall 2001, by which time a total of 4,000 personnel had been retired. The Second Liberian Civil War
, originated in clashes in April 1999 but was not a major threat to Taylor until 2000–01. However on the government side the AFL played only a minor role; irregular ex National Patriotic Front of Liberia
militias backed by more privileged Taylor partisans such as the Anti-Terrorist Unit
saw most of the fighting.
As a result of the Civil War
, all aircraft, equipment, materiel, and facilities belonging to the Liberian Air Force were badly damaged, rendering the force inoperable. During the Civil War the Taylor government made a variety of different air support arrangements; a seemingly inoperable Mil Mi-2
and Mil Mi-8
, one in Anti-Terrorist Unit
markings, could be seen at Spriggs Payne Airport
in central Monrovia in mid 2005, apparently a hangover from the war. Meanwhile during the Taylor era, the Navy consisted of a couple of small patrol craft. However, on shore, both late 1990s and 2005 sources indicate the Navy included the 2nd Naval District, Buchanan
, the 3rd Naval District, Greenville
, and the 4th Naval District, Harper
.
By March 1, 2005, over a year after the war ended, the United Nations Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) had disarmed and demobilized 103,018 people who claimed to have fought for former president Charles Taylor or the two rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(LURD) or the Movement for Democracy in Liberia
(MODEL). That year most former AFL elements were concentrated at Camp Schiefflin. The previous AFL personnel, including those of the Navy and Air Force, were slowly retired with pensions obtained by the MND and international partners from a number of international donors.
In 2005, the United States provided funding for DynCorp International
and Pacific Architects & Engineers, private military contractors, to train a new 4,000-man Liberian military. DynCorp was made responsible for individual training and PA&E unit training. The projected force strength was later reduced to 2000 men. DynCorp and the U.S. Embassy scrutinized the personnel for the new armed forces thoroughly. Recruits had to pass a literacy test, an aptitude test, a drug test and an HIV test, and their names and faces are put on posters which are distributed to try and make sure none have a history of war crimes or other human rights violations. A new batch of 500 screened personnel started to arrive at the Camp Ware base at VOA Careysburg, inland from Monrovia, for initial training in early November 2007, joining 608 others who had graduated earlier.
The Minister of Defense that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appointed in early 2006 is well regarded; IRIN said of Brownie Samukai
in a January 2006 story:
There appears to be some lack of coordination, at least according to the Wall Street Journal, between the Ministry of National Defense
and DynCorp, who is training the new army. The newspaper said in an August 2007 report:
Whether well regarded or not, Samukai has been accused of misusing his power; there have been allegations that he has ordered soldiers to manhandle other senior Liberian government officials—the Comptroller General of the Ministry of Finance in August 2008.
On January 11, 2008 a total 485 soldiers graduated from Initial Entry Training class 08-01. The addition of this third class of soldiers, consisting of 468 men and 17 women, raised the total strength of the AFL from 639 to 1,124. As the new Liberian force developed, UNMIL started winding down its initially 15,000 strong peacekeeping mission; by 2008 the force had been reduced to 11,000.
In the interim buildup period, President Johnson-Sirleaf decided that a Nigerian officer would act as the Command Officer-In-Charge of the new armed forces. Major General Suraj Alao Abdurrahman succeeded the previous incumbent, Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, in early June 2007; Lieutenant General Yusuf had been posted home to Nigeria to become Chief of Army Staff. Luka had succeeded the previous Liberian Chief of Staff, Kpenkpa Y. Konah, in 2006. In mid July 2008, five reinstated AFL officers returned from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College after training there. These officers include Lt Cols. Sekou S. Sheriff, Boakai B. Kamara, Aaron T. Johnson, Daniel K. Moore and Major Andrew J. Wleh. Subsequently Aaron T. Johnson was promoted to colonel and confirmed by the Liberian Senate as Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFL, immediately subordinate to General Abdurrahman. A number of the current senior AFL officers have been drawn from the ranks of the previous 1993–94 Interim Government of National Unity paramilitary police force, the 'Black Berets.'
Facility reconstruction has not been limited to VOA/Camp Ware and Schiefflin/EBK. The Chinese Government offered in 2006 to rebuild Camp Tubman in Gbarnga
, and the new facility was opened in April 2009. There is also a plan to rebuild Camp Todee in Todee District
, upper Montserrado. The Barclay Training Center (BTC) was handed back to the Government of Liberia on July 31, 2009 at a ceremony attended by the Minister for National Defense and the United States Ambassador after four years of management by DynCorp.
In October 2009 a State Partnership Program
relationship was begun between the AFL and the U.S. state of Michigan's Michigan National Guard
.
Of the other large number of security agencies, plans exist as of mid 2008 at least to dissolve the Ministry of National Security, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The 2009-2010 budget appears to indicate however that this consolidation has not taken place.
, and the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade in December that year. Both battalions are currently based at the former Camp Schiefflin, which has now been renamed the Edward Beyan Kesselly Barracks, often known simply as 'EBK Barracks.' As a result of the concentration of troops at EBK, the camp is overcrowded, and disturbances among the soldiers have occurred. As of mid 2009, the Ministry of Defense is attempting to alleviate the problem by relocating some personnel to Camp Tubman in Gbarnga.
The two battalions and supporting units went through training and preparation for an assessment exercise, a modified US Army Readiness Training Evaluation Program (ARTEP), which was held in late 2009. When declared operational, the 23rd Infantry Brigade was planned to be commanded by a colonel
with a headquarters of 113 personnel. Supporting units were to include a band platoon (40 members), engineer company (220 strong), Brigade Training Unit (162 strong, now retitled the Armed Forces Training Command, located at Camp Ware under Major Wleh), and a military police company (105 strong).
The force operates according to slightly modified United States Army
practices, and uses U.S. doctrine.
As of December 2010, a Logistics Command is being established within the AFL, taking the same name as a pre-Civil War AFL formation.
The Coast Guard was reactivated on the 53rd Armed Forces Day on February 11, 2010, with an initial strength of 40 personnel who had been trained in the United States. A United States Coast Guard
officer is now serving at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia supporting efforts to reestablish the Liberian Coast Guard.
A detachment from SeaBee
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion
7, based at Naval Station Rota, Spain, constructed a United States Africa Command
-funded AFL Coast Guard boat ramp and a concrete perimeter wall for the Coast Guard, which was handed over to the AFL in December 2010. In February 2011, the United States turned over two donated USCG Defender class boat
s to the Coast Guard.
The Liberian Air Force (LAF) was founded in 1970 with the delivery of three Cessna U-17C light aircraft. The airforce was expanded in the 1980's with the delivery of more Cessna aircraft with three 172s, a 206, 207 and two single engined turboprop 208s. In 1989 two refurbished DHC-4 Caribou, a single Piper Aztec light twin and three IAI Arava STOL twins were delivered. The Civil started in 1990 saw most of the airforce destroyed on the ground or in crashes. The Liberian Air Force (LAF) was formally dissolved in 2005 as part of the armed forces demobilization programme, though it had effectively ceased to exist many years earlier. Currently, only the United Nations Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) operates military aircraft in Liberia, Mi-8s and Mi-24s based at Roberts International Airport
.
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
of the Republic of Liberia. Founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, the military was retitled in 1956. For virtually all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.
For most of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the AFL saw little action, apart from a reinforced company group which was sent to ONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
in the 1960s. This changed with the advent of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989. The AFL became entangled in the conflict, which lasted from 1989 to 1996–97, and then the Second Liberian Civil War
Second Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
, which lasted from 1999 to 2003.
The AFL is in the process of being reformed and retrained after being completely demobilized following the second civil war. The AFL currently consists of two infantry battalions, and a small Liberian National Coast Guard, which is being reformed. The Liberian Government has requested that a Nigerian Army officer serve as head of the military during the transitional period.
Legal standing
The New National Defense Act of 2008 was approved on August 21, 2008. It repeals the National Defense Act of 1956, the Coast Guard Act of 1959, and the Liberian Navy Act of 1986. The duties and functions of the AFL are officially stated as follows:- Section 2.3(a): The primary mission of the AFL shall be to defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Liberia, including land, air and maritime territory, against external aggressions, insurgency, terrorism and encroachment. In addition thereto the AFL shall respond to natural disasters and engage in other civic works as may be required or directed.
- Section 2.3(b): The AFL shall also participate in international peacekeeping peace enforcement and other by the UNUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, the AUAfrican UnionThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
, ECOWASEconomic Community of West African StatesThe Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region....
, MRUMano River UnionThe Mano River Union is an international association established in 1973 between Liberia and Sierra Leone. In 1980, Guinea joined the union. The goal of the Union was to foster economic cooperation among the countries...
, and/or all international institutions of which Liberia may be a member. All such activities shall be undertaken only upon authorization of the President of Liberia with the consent of the Legislature. - Section 2.3(c): The AFL shall provide command, communications, logistical, medical, transportation, and humanitarian support to the civil authority in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, outbreak of disease, or epidemic. Such assistance shall be authorized by the President of Liberia.
- Section 2.3(d): The AFL shall assist civil authorities in search, rescue, and saving of life on land, sea, or air; such assistance shall be authorized by the President for immediate response by specialized search and rescue units in conjunction with other Government Ministries and Agencies.
- Section 2.3(e): The duties of the AFL in peacetime shall include support to the national law enforcement agencies when such support is requested and approved by the President. Such support shall include exchange of information, personnel training, and mobilization and deployment of security contingents. At no time during peacetime however, shall the AFL engage in law enforcement within Liberia, such function being the prerogative of the Liberia National Police and other law enforcement agencies. Notwithstanding, the Military Police of the AFL may, on request of the Ministry of Justice made to the Ministry of National Defense, and approved by the President of Liberia, provide assistance to these law enforcement agencies as determined by prevailing situations. The AFL shall intervene only as a last resort, when the threat exceeds the capability of the law enforcement agencies to respond.
- Section 2.5: Standards of Conduct for the Armed Forces of Liberia: Members of the AFL shall perform their duties at all times in accordance with democratic values and human rights. They shall perform their duties in a non-partisan manner, obey all lawful orders and commands from their superior officers in ways that command citizen respect and confidence and contribute towards the maintenance and promotion of the respect for the rule of law.
History
The modern Armed Forces of Liberia grew out of a militiaMilitia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
that was formed by the first black colonists from the United States. The militia was first formed when in August 1822 an attack was feared on Cape Mesurado
Cape Mesurado
Cape Mesurado is a headland on the coast of Liberia near the capital Monrovia and the mouth of the Saint Paul River. It was named Cape Mesurado by Portuguese sailors in the 1560s...
(where Monrovia
Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
now is) and the agent of the settlements directed the mobilization of all "able-bodied males into a militia and declared martial law." By 1846, the size of the militia had grown to two regiments.
In 1900, Liberian men between the ages of sixteen and fifty were considered liable for military service. The navy consisted only of two small gunboats.
On February 6, 1908, the militia was established on a permanent basis as the 500-strong Liberian Frontier Force (LFF). The LFF's original mission was "to patrol the border in the Hinterland [against British and French territorial ambitions] and to prevent disorders." The LFF was initially placed under the command of a British officer, who was quickly replaced after he complained the Force was not being properly paid. In 1912, the United States established military ties with Liberia by sending some five black American officers to help reorganize the force. The LFF in its early years was frequently recruited by inducing men from the interior forcibly. When dispatched to the interior to quell tribal unrest, units often lived off the areas that they were pacifying, as a form of communal punishment. The Force's officers were drawn from either the coastal aristocracy or tribal elites.
World Wars
Liberia joined the Allies in both World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but the only troops dispatched overseas were a few individuals to France during World War I, and Liberian volunteers under the command of the United States during World War II. United States military assistance for the LFF began during World War II, when funding provided by the United States allowed an increase in the Force's strength to around 1,500. The armed forces came to rely almost exclusively on American assistance in terms of training, with non-US training "tend[ing] to be brief and uninspired [with little] accomplished other than some desultory close-order drill." U.S. forces also established an officer candidate school during the later part of the war, using instructors selected from the American troops in the country. The school conducted two courses and graduated nearly 300 new officers. Just under twenty years later in 1964, the group still made up over 50% of the officer corps of the AFL.
1945-1980
From 1945 to 1964, the officers appointed were nearly all college graduates. From 1951, there was a US military mission based in Liberia to assist in training the AFL. A Reserve Officers' Training Corps was established in 1956 with units at the University of LiberiaUniversity of Liberia
The University of Liberia is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the school opened in 1863 as Liberia College and became a university in 1951. The school is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning...
in Monrovia and the Booker Washington Institute in Kakata
Kakata
Kakata is the capital city of Liberia's Margibi County and is located in Kakata District.As of the 2008 census, Kakata has a population of 33945. Of this, 16501 were male and 17444 female; it is the fifth most populous urban area in Liberia....
. By 1978 the program had been redesignated the Army Student Training Program (ASTP) and had a total of 46 students at the University of Liberia, the Booker Washington Institute, and three smaller institutions. However it was not until the late 1960s that the Tubman Military Academy was established in Todee, upper Montserrado County, as an officer training facility.
The LFF was re-named as the Armed Forces of Liberia under the Amended National Defense Law of 1956, though other sources say 1962, which appears to have been the date the land force became the Liberian National Guard. From this period, Liberia's armed forces consisted of the Liberian National Guard, the Liberian Militia, whose ostensible structure is depicted above, and the Liberian Coast Guard. Until 1980, by law every able-bodied male between the ages of 16 and 45 years was to serve in the militia, though this stipulation was not enforced.
The National Guard was not a high status force: "It was a skeleton brigade of soldiers who were predominantly from the lower economic and social stratum of society. They were poorly paid, and had less than decent facilities for accommodation and care." Despite this, a Liberian company, designated the Reinforced Security Company, was contributed to the United Nations Operation in the Congo
United Nations Operation in the Congo
Opération des Nations unies au Congo, abbreviated ONUC, was a United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo that was established after United Nations Security Council Resolution 143 of July 14, 1960...
in the early 1960s. Six rotations were made. The 1964 US Army Area Handbook described the company's actions as "...After a poor start, the performance of the contingent improved steadily; the last company, which returned home in May 1963, had performed creditably and, by its conduct and appearance, gave the impression of being a well-trained and disciplined military organization." In 1964 the US Army Area Handbook described the National Guard as 3,000 strong with a headquarters company, the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion in Monrovia, three infantry battalions and one engineer battalion (which was newly formed at Camp Naama in 1962 and only had one company organized). The three infantry battalions were the 1st Infantry Battalion, at Camp Schiefflin, situated on the airport road between Monrovia
Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
and Roberts International Airport
Roberts International Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 5 March 1967: Varig flight 837, a Douglas DC-8-33 registration PP-PEA flying from Rome-Fiumicino to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão via Roberts International Airport, caught fire after a mistaken approach to Monrovia, missing the threshold of the runway by 6,023 ft...
, the 2nd Infantry Battalion, HQ at Barclay Training Center (BTC), Monrovia, and the 3rd Infantry Battalion, HQ at Baworobo, Maryland County
Maryland County
Maryland County is a county in the southeastern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has two districts. Harper serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...
.
By 1978, the LNG Brigade had been established and the Brigade was described as comprising a Headquarters and Headquarters Company
Headquarters and Headquarters Company
In United States Army units, a headquarters and headquarters company is a company sized military unit, found at the battalion level and higher. In identifying a specific headquarters unit, it is usually referred to by its abbreviation as an HHC...
at the Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion on Capitol Hill, Monrovia, the Engineer Battalion and the First Field Artillery Battalion (both at Camp Jackson, Naama) two tactical combat battalions (the First Infantry Battalion, at Schiefflin and the Second Infantry Battalion which in the intervening period had moved from the BTC to Camp Tolbert, Todee) and three non-tactical battalions, tasked with providing guard services to government officials, tax collection, and 'other non-military duties'. The Third Infantry Battalion covered Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, and Grand Bassa counties from BTC; the Fourth Infantry Battalion covered Grand Gedeh, Sinoe County
Sinoe County
Sinoe is one of Liberia's 15 counties and it has 17 districts. Greenville is the county's capital.As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 104,932, making it one of the least populous counties in Liberia....
and Maryland counties from Camp Whisnant, Zwedru
Zwedru
Zwedru is the capital of Grand Gedeh County, one of the 15 counties in the West African country of Liberia. Zwedru is located in Tchien District of Grand Gedeh County, near the Cavalla River in the country's southeastern region and near the border with Côte d'Ivoire. It is located 350 miles...
; and the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Gbarnga
Gbarnga
Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. Bong County is one of the over 13 political subdivisions of Liberia known as counties. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia...
. Other field units of the brigade were the Armoured Unit, at Camp Ram Rod, Paynesward City (possibly Paynesville
Paynesville, Liberia
Paynesville is a suburb east of Monrovia, located in Liberia. Paynesville was the location of the Paynesville Omega Transmitter, the highest structure of Africa, until the tower's demolition in 2011. It is also known for the Redlight Market commercial district, one of the largest market areas in...
), Monrovia
Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
), and the Bella Yella Special Detachment, Camp Bella Yella, Lofa
Lofa County
Lofa is a county in the northernmost portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Voinjama serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...
. The Service Support Battalion was located at BTC, and comprised the Medical Company, the Brigade Band, the Brigade Special Unit (a parade unit) and the Military Police Unit. Also at BTC was the Logistical Command, consisting of a depot, arsenal (whose location had been declared unsafe), the AFL Quartermaster Corps, and the AFL Transportation Company. Strength was reported to be 4,822 in 1978.
While militia service was compulsory by law for all eligible males, the law was only enforced in a lax manner. From the mid 1960s, and in its later years, members of the militia met only quarterly for sparsely attended drill practice. Estimates of men enrolled over the years vary. The 1964 US Army Area Handbook said that "some 20,000 men are estimated to be enrolled." The IISS estimated militia numbers at 5,000 in 1967 and 6,000 in 1970. By the early 1970s the militia reported a strength of only some 4,000 poorly trained and ill-equipped men. The 1978 Annual Report of the Liberian Ministry of National Defense said that "The various militia regiments, in accordance with the law, held quarterly parades. ...Furthermore, the entire Regiments were out in full strength during burial occasions." By the time it was disbanded in 1980, the militia was considered to be completely ineffective as a military force.
The armed forces' third arm, the Liberian National Coast Guard, was established in 1959. The Coast Guard, throughout the Tubman period, was little more than a few sometimes unserviceable patrol craft manned by ill-trained personnel, though its training improved in the 1980s to the point where it was considered the best trained of the armed services.
From 1952 onwards, Chiefs of Staff of the AFL included Major General Alexander Harper (1952–54), Lieutenant General Abraham Jackson (1954–60), Albert T. White (1964–65), Lieutenant General George T. Washington (late 1960s), Lieutenant General Henry Johnson (1970–74), Lieutenant General Franklin Smith, and Lieutenant General Henry Dubar (1980–1990).
When William Tolbert replaced the long-serving William Tubman
William Tubman
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971....
as President in 1971, he retired more than 400 aging soldiers. Sawyer comments that "retired soldiers were replaced by young recruits from urban areas, many of whom were then poorly trained at the Tubman Military Academy. This development dramatically changed the character of the military in Liberia." (Samuel Doe
Samuel Doe
Samuel Kanyon Doe was the 21st President of Liberia, serving from 1986 until his assassination in 1990. He had previously served as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council from 1980 to 1986. He was the first indigenous head of state in Liberian history.Doe was a part of a rural tribe in inland...
was among this group.) Amos Sawyer
Amos Sawyer
Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer was the President of the Interim Government of National Unity in Liberia . Sawyer was born to Abel Sawyer and Sarah Sawyer in 1945, of Sarpo ethnicity; his siblings include Joe Sawyer; the Sawyers were a prominent family in Sinoe County...
also comments that "recruitment of such individuals for the military was part of Tolbert's efforts to replace aging, illiterate soldiers with younger, literate men who were capable of absorbing technical and professional training."
Doe era
The AFL became involved in politics when seventeen soldiers launched a coup on April 12, 1980. The group was made up of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, two staff sergeants, four sergeants, eight corporals, and two privates. They found President Tolbert sleeping in his office in the Executive Mansion and there they killed him. While then-Sergeant Thomas QuiwonkpaThomas Quiwonkpa
Thomas Quiwonkpa, a Gio from Nimba County, was a Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia and founder of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia....
led the plotters, it was the group led by Samuel Doe that found Tolbert in his office, and it was Doe, as a master sergeant the highest ranking of the group, who went on the radio the next day to announce the overthrow of the long-entrenched True Whig Party government. Doe became Head of State and co-chair of the new People's Redemption Council
People's Redemption Council
The People's Redemption Council was a military regime that governed Liberia during the early 1980s. It was established after the military coup of April 12, 1980, in which Samuel Doe, who served as chairman of the Council, seized power. Apart from Doe, the Council consisted of 17 soldiers...
government. Quiwonkpa became commander of the army and the other co-chair of the PRC. (In the aftermath of the coup, the title of LNG Brigade commanding general was confusingly changed to commanding general of the AFL, reporting to the chief of staff, and it was this position that Quiwonkpa inherited.) Henry Dubar (who had helped recruit Doe personally years before) was promoted in one leap from captain to lieutenant general as Chief of Staff. From 1980 onward, Doe's systematic promotion of Krahn
Krahn
Krahn is an ethnic group of Liberia; it is also the language traditionally spoken by these people.- History :The Krahn Arrived in the area known as Ivory Coast and Liberia from Northern Africa shortly before the slaves trade. Most of these people were taken as slaves to the United States and the...
to sensitive posts in the government and military, began to drive deepening divisions within the AFL, among others with Quiwonkpa's Gio
Gio Tribe
The Gio or Dan people is an ethnic group in north-eastern Liberia and in Côte d'Ivoire. The Dan are an ethnic group located in the West African countries of Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. There are approximately 350,000 members of the group, united by the Dan language, a Mande language...
, and to hamper morale.
"... Military discipline was an early casualty of the coup. The revolt had been an enlisted men's affair, and one of the first instructions broadcast over the radio had ordered soldiers not to obey their officers. Over four years later, according to observers, the reluctance of most officers to impose discipline had combined with the unwillingness of more than a few enlisted men to accept it."
The launch of Doe's coup meant that Major William Jarbo, another soldier with political ambitions who was said to have excellent connections to U.S. security officials, had had his takeover plans forestalled. He tried to escape abroad but was hunted down and killed by the new government. The junta started to split in 1983, with Doe telling Quiwonkpa that he was planning to move Quiwonkpa from command of the army to a position as secretary-general of the People's Redemption Council
People's Redemption Council
The People's Redemption Council was a military regime that governed Liberia during the early 1980s. It was established after the military coup of April 12, 1980, in which Samuel Doe, who served as chairman of the Council, seized power. Apart from Doe, the Council consisted of 17 soldiers...
. Unhappy with this proposed change, Quiwonkpa fled into exile in late 1983, along with his aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
Prince Johnson
Prince Johnson
Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician and the current Senior Senator from Nimba County."Prince" is a common given name for males in Liberia, rather than a royal title...
.
In 1984 the AFL included the Liberian National Guard (LNG) Brigade and related units (6,300 men), and the Liberian National Coast Guard (about 450 men). The brigade, formed between 1964 and 1978, was based at the Barclay Training Center (BTC) in Monrovia
Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
, and was composed of six infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s, a military engineer
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
battalion (which circa 1974 under the command of Colonel Robert M. Blamo completed an airstrip at Belefania Town), a field artillery
Field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....
battalion (the First Field Artillery Battalion, reportedly at Camp Naama in Bong County
Bong County
Bong is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has twelve districts. Gbarnga serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...
) and a support battalion. Three of the infantry units—the First Infantry Battalion, stationed at Camp Schieffelin, the Second Infantry Battalion at Camp Todee in northern Montserrado County
Montserrado County
Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Bensonville serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the smallest...
, and the Sixth Infantry Battalion at Bomi Hills—were tactical elements designed to operate against hostile forces. The other battalions, the Third Infantry Battalion based at the Barclay Training Centre in Monrovia, the Fourth Infantry Battalion at Zwedru
Zwedru
Zwedru is the capital of Grand Gedeh County, one of the 15 counties in the West African country of Liberia. Zwedru is located in Tchien District of Grand Gedeh County, near the Cavalla River in the country's southeastern region and near the border with Côte d'Ivoire. It is located 350 miles...
in Grand Gedeh County
Grand Gedeh County
Grand Gedeh is a county in the eastern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has three districts. Zwedru serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...
, and the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Gbarnga
Gbarnga
Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. Bong County is one of the over 13 political subdivisions of Liberia known as counties. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia...
in Bong County
Bong County
Bong is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has twelve districts. Gbarnga serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring...
served mostly as providers of personnel for non-military duties. Soldiers in these units were used extensively as policemen, customs and immigration officials, and as tax collectors.
In the aftermath of the rigged elections of 1985, which Doe manipulated to solidify his power, Quiwonkpa returned from his U.S. exile to enter Liberia from Sierra Leone. On 12 November 1985 he entered Monrovia with a group of dissident soldiers, took over the national Liberia Broadcasting System
Liberia Broadcasting System
The Liberia Broadcasting System is a state-owned radio network in Liberia. Founded as the Eternal Love Broadcasting Corporation in 1960, the network was owned and operated by Rediffusion, London until 1968, when management passed to the Government of Liberia. The network began broadcasting...
radio station and announced that the 'National Patriotic Forces of Liberia' had seized power. Adekeye says that Quiwonkpa erred in 'fail[ing] to establish control over the country's communications system and resisted a frontal attack on the Executive Mansion.' These mistakes allowed Doe the time to rally the Krahn-dominated Executive Mansion Guard and 1st Infantry Battalion from Camp Schiefflin to reestablished control. Quiwonkpa was captured, killed, and mutilated, his body being dismembered and parts eaten. In the aftermath of the attempted coup, purges took place in Monrovia and in Nimba County
Nimba County
Nimba is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Sanniquellie serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the largest in the nation...
, Quiwonkpa's home, against those who had rejoiced after the coup announcement. As many as 1,500 people may have been killed. The AFL was purged of Gio soldiers.
Under Samuel Doe the Coast Guard was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of the The Liberian Navy Act of 1986. In 1985 the Aviation Unit, established at some point between 1964 and 1985, operated three fixed-wing aircraft from Spriggs Payne Airport
Spriggs Payne Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 10 June 1978, Vickers Viscount 9G-AGL of West African Air Cargo was damaged beyond economic repair when the undercarriage collapsed on landing.-External links:* at GlobalSecurity.org...
in Monrovia, including Cessna 172
Cessna 172
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing fixed-wing aircraft. First flown in 1955 and still in production, more Cessna 172s have been built than any other aircraft.-Design and development:...
s. Their duties included reconnaissance and transport of light cargo and VIPs. An Aviation Unit aircraft crashed at Spriggs-Payne in 1984.
The Liberian Air Force was established from the Aviation Unit by an Act of Legislature on 12 August 1987. Its statutory responsibilities were to: protect and defend the air space of the Republic of Liberia; protect lives and properties; provide air mobility for military and civil personnel; assist in search and rescue operations; undertake emergency operations; conduct reconnaissance patrols; participate in joint military operations and perform other duties as may be designated by the Ministry of Defense. The LAF was to be headed by a colonel in his capacity as Assistant Chief of Defense Staff for the Air Force and was mandated to do the following: to train personnel and develop doctrine; advise the Chief of Staff of the AFL on matters relating to the Air Force.
First Liberian Civil War
Charles Taylor invaded the country at Butuo in Nimba CountyNimba County
Nimba is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Sanniquellie serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the largest in the nation...
on Christmas Eve 1989 with a force of around 150 men, initiating the First Liberian Civil War. Doe responded by sending two AFL battalions to Nimba in December 1989 – January 1990, under then-Colonel Hezekiah Bowen
Hezekiah Bowen
John Hezekiah Bowen was an officer of the Armed Forces of Liberia.Bowen joined the AFL in 1969.Bowen joined the Officer Candidate School at the Military Academy in Todee in March 1971 and graduated in October 1971...
. The Liberian government forces assumed that most of the Mano and Gio peoples in the Nimba region were supporting the rebels. They thus acted in a very brutal and scorched-earth fashion which quickly alienated the local people. Taylor's support rose rapidly, as the Mano and Gio flocked to his National Patriotic Front of Liberia
National Patriotic Front of Liberia
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia was a rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996.-Leadership:...
seeking revenge. Many government soldiers deserted, some to join the NPFL. The inability of the AFL to make any headway was one of the reasons why Doe changed his field commander in the area five times in the first six months of the war. Field commanders apparently included Brigadier General Edward Smith.http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-03-08-photojournalist-gregory-stemn-on-living-and-documenting-the-war-in-liberia By May 1990 the AFL had been forced back to Gbarnga
Gbarnga
Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. Bong County is one of the over 13 political subdivisions of Liberia known as counties. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia...
, still under the control of Bowen's troops, but they lost the town to a NPFL assault by the end of May 1990, at which time the NPFL also captured Buchanan
Buchanan, Liberia
Buchanan is the third largest city in Liberia, lying on Waterhouse Bay, part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is referred to as Gbezohn in the local Bassa language. As of the 2008 census, Buchanan has a population of 34,270. Of this, 16,984 were male and 17,286 female....
on the coast. The NPFL had now gathered an estimated 10,000 fighters while the AFL, splintering, could only summon 2,000.
The revolt reached Monrovia by July 1990, and General Dubar left the country for exile in the United States. In place of Dubar, Brigadier General Charles Julu, former commander of the Executive Mansion Guard Battalion, was appointed Chief of Staff. Two Liberian Coast Guard vessels were sunk in the battles for the city. The NPFL had been distributing weapons to Gio civilians after it arrived in Nimba, where many were very interested in taking their revenge on the government after Doe had punished Nimba country for its support of Quiwonkpa in 1983 and 1985. By July 1990 the government began to distribute weapons to civilians in turn, to Krahn and Mandingo who wished to protect themselves. These hastily enlisted civilians became known as '1990 soldiers.' A '1990 soldier' which the President had personally picked, Tailey Yonbu, led a massacre of refugees, mostly Gio and Mandingo civilians, on the night of 29/30 July 1990 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Sinkor, Monrovia. Some 600 were killed. Because of the previous ethnic purges carried out by Doe's forces, the conflict took on characteristics of an ethnic pogrom.
In August 1990 the Economic Community of West African States
Economic Community of West African States
The Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region....
(ECOWAS) despatched a peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, to Liberia. The force arrived at the Freeport of Monrovia on 24 August 1990, landing from Nigerian and Ghanaian vessels. By the time ECOMOG arrived, Prince Johnson's INPFL and Taylor's NPFL were fighting on the outside bounds of the port. A series of peacemaking conferences in regional capitals followed. There were meetings in Bamako in November 1990, Lome in January 1991, and Yamoussoukro in June–October 1991. But the first seven peace conferences, including the Yamoussoukro I-IV processes and the Carter Center negotiation leading to the Cotonou Accords, failed due to lack of agreement between the warring factions. The NPFL launched an assault on Monrovia in 1992, which they named 'Operation Octapus.' The civil war lasted until the Abuja Accords of August 1996.
The AFL was confined to an enclave around the capital during the conflict, and did not play a significant part in the fighting. Elections in July 1997 finally brought Taylor to power. Under the accords, which led to a break in fighting in 1996 and the Liberian general election, 1997, ECOMOG was to retrain a new national army based on fair ethnic and geographical representation. Yet Taylor denied ECOMOG any role in the restructuring of the AFL, and the force eventually left Liberia by the end of 1998.
During the 1990–99 period, Chiefs of Staff included Lieutenant Colonel Davis S. Brapoh, Lieutenant General Hezekiah Bowen (later Minister of Defense), Lieutenant General A.M.V. Doumuyah, and Lieutenant General Kalilu Abe Kromah, appointed during the interim rule of the Council of State in 1996, who was chief of staff from May 1996 to April 1997. Following Kromah, Lieutenant General Prince C. Johnson was appointed, who died in October 1999 following a car accident.
Taylor regime
Shortly after the induction of Taylor as elected president of Liberia in August 1997, the Ministry of National Defense determined that the strength of the AFL had risen during the war from 6,500 to 14,981 service members. To begin demobilization, the AFL Chief of Staff published Special Orders #1 on January 1, 1998, demobilizing and retiring 2,250 personnel. The demobilization process was delayed and badly managed, and only on April 22, 1998 did payments began to be issued to the demobilizing personnel, without prior explanation of what exactly the payments represented. Demonstrations and protests by the demobilized personnel eventually led to a riot in which three died on May 5, 1998. As a result, Taylor authorised the formation of a commission to submit recommendations on how the AFL should be reorganized. The commission, led by Blamoh Nelson, Director of the Cabinet, submitted its report on December 17, 1998, recommending a 6,000-strong armed forces (5,160 Army, 600 Navy, and 240 Air Force) but the proposal was never implemented.Instead Taylor ran down the Armed Forces, letting go 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were Krahn
Krahn
Krahn is an ethnic group of Liberia; it is also the language traditionally spoken by these people.- History :The Krahn Arrived in the area known as Ivory Coast and Liberia from Northern Africa shortly before the slaves trade. Most of these people were taken as slaves to the United States and the...
brought in by former President Doe, in December 1997 – January 1998, and building up instead the Anti-Terrorist Unit
Anti-Terrorist Unit (Liberia)
The Anti-Terrorist Unit , also known as the Anti-Terrorist Brigade, was a paramilitary force of the government of Liberia, established by then-President Charles Taylor in 1997-98. Chuckie Taylor, Charles Taylor's son, served as commander of the force for a period...
(ATU), the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police
Law enforcement in Liberia
The Liberian National Police is the national police force in Liberia.The Liberian National Police have 844 officers spread across 33 stations in Montserrado County, which contains the capital Monrovia, as of October 2007. Additionally, the National Police Training Academy is in Montserrado County...
, and the Special Security Service. On November 19, 1999, Taylor named General Kpenkpah Konah as the new Chief of Staff of the AFL (where he would stay until 2006) and John Tarnue
John Tarnue
Brigadier John S. Tarnue is a former Liberian military officer. Tarnue was the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia from 1999-2003...
as head of the army. Tarnue was later implicated in a land dispute in 1999, while acting as AFL commander. The International Crisis Group
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world through field-based analyses and high-level advocacy.-History:...
writes that the AFL was reduced practically to the point of non-existence by Fall 2001, by which time a total of 4,000 personnel had been retired. The Second Liberian Civil War
Second Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
, originated in clashes in April 1999 but was not a major threat to Taylor until 2000–01. However on the government side the AFL played only a minor role; irregular ex National Patriotic Front of Liberia
National Patriotic Front of Liberia
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia was a rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996.-Leadership:...
militias backed by more privileged Taylor partisans such as the Anti-Terrorist Unit
Anti-Terrorist Unit (Liberia)
The Anti-Terrorist Unit , also known as the Anti-Terrorist Brigade, was a paramilitary force of the government of Liberia, established by then-President Charles Taylor in 1997-98. Chuckie Taylor, Charles Taylor's son, served as commander of the force for a period...
saw most of the fighting.
As a result of the Civil War
Second Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
, all aircraft, equipment, materiel, and facilities belonging to the Liberian Air Force were badly damaged, rendering the force inoperable. During the Civil War the Taylor government made a variety of different air support arrangements; a seemingly inoperable Mil Mi-2
Mil Mi-2
The Mil Mi-2 is a small, lightly armored transport helicopter that could also provide close air support when armed with 57 mm rockets and a 23 mm cannon.-Design and development:...
and Mil Mi-8
Mil Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship. The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter, and is used by over 50 countries. Russia is the largest operator of the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter....
, one in Anti-Terrorist Unit
Anti-Terrorist Unit (Liberia)
The Anti-Terrorist Unit , also known as the Anti-Terrorist Brigade, was a paramilitary force of the government of Liberia, established by then-President Charles Taylor in 1997-98. Chuckie Taylor, Charles Taylor's son, served as commander of the force for a period...
markings, could be seen at Spriggs Payne Airport
Spriggs Payne Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 10 June 1978, Vickers Viscount 9G-AGL of West African Air Cargo was damaged beyond economic repair when the undercarriage collapsed on landing.-External links:* at GlobalSecurity.org...
in central Monrovia in mid 2005, apparently a hangover from the war. Meanwhile during the Taylor era, the Navy consisted of a couple of small patrol craft. However, on shore, both late 1990s and 2005 sources indicate the Navy included the 2nd Naval District, Buchanan
Buchanan, Liberia
Buchanan is the third largest city in Liberia, lying on Waterhouse Bay, part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is referred to as Gbezohn in the local Bassa language. As of the 2008 census, Buchanan has a population of 34,270. Of this, 16,984 were male and 17,286 female....
, the 3rd Naval District, Greenville
Greenville, Liberia
Greenville, also known as Sinoe, is the capital of Sinoe County in southeastern Liberia and lies on a lagoon near the Sinoe River and the Atlantic Ocean...
, and the 4th Naval District, Harper
Harper, Liberia
Harper, situated on Cape Palmas, is the capital of Maryland County in Liberia. It is a coastal town situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Hoffman River. Harper is Liberia's 11th largest town, with a population of 17,837....
.
Rebuilding the AFL
Part 4 (Articles VI and VII) of the August 2003 Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the Second Liberian Civil War addressed security sector reform. It declared that future recruits for the new AFL would be screened for their fitness for service as well as prior human rights violations, that the new force would be ethnically balanced and without political bias, and that the new force's mission would be to defend national sovereignty and "in extremis" respond to natural disasters.By March 1, 2005, over a year after the war ended, the United Nations Mission in Liberia
United Nations Mission in Liberia
The United Nations Mission in Liberia is a peace-keeping force established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War....
(UNMIL) had disarmed and demobilized 103,018 people who claimed to have fought for former president Charles Taylor or the two rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
The Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy was a rebel group in Liberia that was active from 1999 until after the peace accords that ended the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003...
(LURD) or the Movement for Democracy in Liberia
Movement for Democracy in Liberia
The Movement for Democracy in Liberia was a rebel group in Liberia that became active in March 2003, launching attacks from Côte d'Ivoire...
(MODEL). That year most former AFL elements were concentrated at Camp Schiefflin. The previous AFL personnel, including those of the Navy and Air Force, were slowly retired with pensions obtained by the MND and international partners from a number of international donors.
In 2005, the United States provided funding for DynCorp International
DynCorp International
DynCorp International is a United States-based private military contractor. Begun as an aviation company, the company now also provides air operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training and support, contingency operations, security, and operations and...
and Pacific Architects & Engineers, private military contractors, to train a new 4,000-man Liberian military. DynCorp was made responsible for individual training and PA&E unit training. The projected force strength was later reduced to 2000 men. DynCorp and the U.S. Embassy scrutinized the personnel for the new armed forces thoroughly. Recruits had to pass a literacy test, an aptitude test, a drug test and an HIV test, and their names and faces are put on posters which are distributed to try and make sure none have a history of war crimes or other human rights violations. A new batch of 500 screened personnel started to arrive at the Camp Ware base at VOA Careysburg, inland from Monrovia, for initial training in early November 2007, joining 608 others who had graduated earlier.
The Minister of Defense that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appointed in early 2006 is well regarded; IRIN said of Brownie Samukai
Brownie Samukai
Brownie Samukai is the Minister of National Defence of Liberia. He took office on January 16, 2006, as part of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Cabinet....
in a January 2006 story:
Samukai is regarded as a safe pair of hands for the crucial Defence Ministry. As chief of police in the mid-1990s Samukai pioneered a rapid reaction force to crack down on armed robbery. Since fleeing Liberia when former warlord Charles Taylor came to power, Samukai has worked for the UN in East Timor and Tanzania.
There appears to be some lack of coordination, at least according to the Wall Street Journal, between the Ministry of National Defense
Ministry of National Defense (Liberia)
The Ministry of National Defense is the government ministry responsible for the maintenance of the national defense and the governance of the military of Liberia, the Armed Forces of Liberia. The current Minister of National Defense is Hon. Brownie J. Samukai. Dionysius Sebwe is the current...
and DynCorp, who is training the new army. The newspaper said in an August 2007 report:
Mr. Samukai also complains that he feels sidelined from the formation of an army that, as defense minister, he is supposed to oversee. Neither the State Department nor DynCorp will let him see the company's contract, for instance. And the U.S. insists that instead of talking directly to DynCorp managers, he go through Major Wyatt [chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia] on all matters related to the training.
Whether well regarded or not, Samukai has been accused of misusing his power; there have been allegations that he has ordered soldiers to manhandle other senior Liberian government officials—the Comptroller General of the Ministry of Finance in August 2008.
On January 11, 2008 a total 485 soldiers graduated from Initial Entry Training class 08-01. The addition of this third class of soldiers, consisting of 468 men and 17 women, raised the total strength of the AFL from 639 to 1,124. As the new Liberian force developed, UNMIL started winding down its initially 15,000 strong peacekeeping mission; by 2008 the force had been reduced to 11,000.
In the interim buildup period, President Johnson-Sirleaf decided that a Nigerian officer would act as the Command Officer-In-Charge of the new armed forces. Major General Suraj Alao Abdurrahman succeeded the previous incumbent, Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, in early June 2007; Lieutenant General Yusuf had been posted home to Nigeria to become Chief of Army Staff. Luka had succeeded the previous Liberian Chief of Staff, Kpenkpa Y. Konah, in 2006. In mid July 2008, five reinstated AFL officers returned from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College after training there. These officers include Lt Cols. Sekou S. Sheriff, Boakai B. Kamara, Aaron T. Johnson, Daniel K. Moore and Major Andrew J. Wleh. Subsequently Aaron T. Johnson was promoted to colonel and confirmed by the Liberian Senate as Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFL, immediately subordinate to General Abdurrahman. A number of the current senior AFL officers have been drawn from the ranks of the previous 1993–94 Interim Government of National Unity paramilitary police force, the 'Black Berets.'
Facility reconstruction has not been limited to VOA/Camp Ware and Schiefflin/EBK. The Chinese Government offered in 2006 to rebuild Camp Tubman in Gbarnga
Gbarnga
Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. Bong County is one of the over 13 political subdivisions of Liberia known as counties. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia...
, and the new facility was opened in April 2009. There is also a plan to rebuild Camp Todee in Todee District
Todee District
Todee District is one of four districts located in Montserrado County, Liberia. There was a former Armed Forces of Liberia base there housing the Tubman Military Academy and Second Infantry Battalion in 1984 and there have been some discussion post-2003 of rebuilding the base....
, upper Montserrado. The Barclay Training Center (BTC) was handed back to the Government of Liberia on July 31, 2009 at a ceremony attended by the Minister for National Defense and the United States Ambassador after four years of management by DynCorp.
In October 2009 a State Partnership Program
State Partnership Program
The National Guard State Partnership Program was established in 1993 in response to the radically changed political-military situation following the collapse of Communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union....
relationship was begun between the AFL and the U.S. state of Michigan's Michigan National Guard
Michigan National Guard
The Michigan National Guard consists of the Michigan Army National Guard and the Michigan Air National Guard.-Units:Michigan Army National Guard units include:* Joint Forces Headquarters, Lansing, MI* 177th Military Police Brigade, Taylor, MI...
.
Of the other large number of security agencies, plans exist as of mid 2008 at least to dissolve the Ministry of National Security, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The 2009-2010 budget appears to indicate however that this consolidation has not taken place.
Organization
The Liberian ground forces currently consist of two infantry battalions and supporting units. The 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade, was formed on August 29, 2008, at the Barclay Training Center in MonroviaMonrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
, and the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade in December that year. Both battalions are currently based at the former Camp Schiefflin, which has now been renamed the Edward Beyan Kesselly Barracks, often known simply as 'EBK Barracks.' As a result of the concentration of troops at EBK, the camp is overcrowded, and disturbances among the soldiers have occurred. As of mid 2009, the Ministry of Defense is attempting to alleviate the problem by relocating some personnel to Camp Tubman in Gbarnga.
The two battalions and supporting units went through training and preparation for an assessment exercise, a modified US Army Readiness Training Evaluation Program (ARTEP), which was held in late 2009. When declared operational, the 23rd Infantry Brigade was planned to be commanded by a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
with a headquarters of 113 personnel. Supporting units were to include a band platoon (40 members), engineer company (220 strong), Brigade Training Unit (162 strong, now retitled the Armed Forces Training Command, located at Camp Ware under Major Wleh), and a military police company (105 strong).
The force operates according to slightly modified United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
practices, and uses U.S. doctrine.
"..The first battalion started the United States Army Training and Evaluation Programme, which it will complete in September [2009], while the second battalion will complete the programme in December [2009]. At that time, the United States contractors currently training and equipping the force will hand over to the Ministry of National DefenseMinistry of National Defense (Liberia)The Ministry of National Defense is the government ministry responsible for the maintenance of the national defense and the governance of the military of Liberia, the Armed Forces of Liberia. The current Minister of National Defense is Hon. Brownie J. Samukai. Dionysius Sebwe is the current...
, which will assume responsibility for training and standing up the new army. The United States has indicated that it plans to assign as many as 60 United States serving military personnel to continue mentoring the Armed Forces of Liberia, beginning in January 2010."
As of December 2010, a Logistics Command is being established within the AFL, taking the same name as a pre-Civil War AFL formation.
The Coast Guard was reactivated on the 53rd Armed Forces Day on February 11, 2010, with an initial strength of 40 personnel who had been trained in the United States. A United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
officer is now serving at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia supporting efforts to reestablish the Liberian Coast Guard.
A detachment from SeaBee
Seabee
Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion
There are 9 active-duty Naval Mobile Construction Battalions — known as C.B.'s — in the United States Navy, split between the east and west coasts...
7, based at Naval Station Rota, Spain, constructed a United States Africa Command
United States Africa Command
The United States Africa Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all...
-funded AFL Coast Guard boat ramp and a concrete perimeter wall for the Coast Guard, which was handed over to the AFL in December 2010. In February 2011, the United States turned over two donated USCG Defender class boat
USCG Defender class boat
The Defender-class boat, also called Response Boat – Small and Response Boat – Homeland Security , is a standard boat introduced by the United States Coast Guard in 2002...
s to the Coast Guard.
The Liberian Air Force (LAF) was founded in 1970 with the delivery of three Cessna U-17C light aircraft. The airforce was expanded in the 1980's with the delivery of more Cessna aircraft with three 172s, a 206, 207 and two single engined turboprop 208s. In 1989 two refurbished DHC-4 Caribou, a single Piper Aztec light twin and three IAI Arava STOL twins were delivered. The Civil started in 1990 saw most of the airforce destroyed on the ground or in crashes. The Liberian Air Force (LAF) was formally dissolved in 2005 as part of the armed forces demobilization programme, though it had effectively ceased to exist many years earlier. Currently, only the United Nations Mission in Liberia
United Nations Mission in Liberia
The United Nations Mission in Liberia is a peace-keeping force established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War....
(UNMIL) operates military aircraft in Liberia, Mi-8s and Mi-24s based at Roberts International Airport
Roberts International Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 5 March 1967: Varig flight 837, a Douglas DC-8-33 registration PP-PEA flying from Rome-Fiumicino to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão via Roberts International Airport, caught fire after a mistaken approach to Monrovia, missing the threshold of the runway by 6,023 ft...
.
Further reading
- Bekoe, Dorina, and Parajon, Christina, Security Sector Reform in Liberia: Domestic Considerations and the Way Forward, United States Institute of Peace, April 2007
- Global Witness, Taylor-made: The Pivotal Role of Liberia's Forests and Flag of Convenience in Regional Conflict, September 2001
- McFate, Sean, Military Review, July–August 2007.