National Armed Forces will increase to 70 thousand!

[Three Moons]

30 thousand troops and 40 thousand Police Officers:

Somali Leaders Agree to Increase Troop Numbers​

The leaders have agreed the number of national armed forces to be at least 30,000 soldiers and at least 40,000 police personnel, according to the agreement obtained by VOA Somali.

https://www.voanews.com/amp/somali-leaders-agree-to-increase-troop-numbers/7012152.html

 

[ila-soco]

This doesn’t mean much without proper training and professionalism. I think a few military schools to draw recruits from would be nice

 

[Three Moons]

This doesn’t mean much without proper training and professionalism. I think a few military schools to draw recruits from would be nice

There are two NATO calibre training schools at TURKSOM and Balidoogle Airport. Another one is being built in the vicinity of Mogadishu. Add to that the thousands of officers being trained in Turkey and the foundation to built one of the most professional militaries on the continent is there. The major obstacle was the lack of conventional military systems like winged aircraft, helicopters, tanks, ships and radar technology but that will no longer be an issue.

Türkiye hails UN decision to lift Somalia arms embargo​

Ankara 'will continue to stand by the people of Somalia and support Somalia in this new era,' Foreign Ministry says​

 

[mohamedismail]

We need to get it up to 80k as the final goal. 80k soldiers is the estimate of what is needed to comfortably keep raas kambooni ilaa raas Caseyr under control.

That should be our goal. But every increase in soldiers will be good.

 

[Emir of Zayla]

30 thousand troops and 40 thousand Police Officers:

Somali Leaders Agree to Increase Troop Numbers​

View attachment 305943

The leaders have agreed the number of national armed forces to be at least 30,000 soldiers and at least 40,000 police personnel, according to the agreement obtained by VOA Somali.

https://www.voanews.com/amp/somali-leaders-agree-to-increase-troop-numbers/7012152.html

They should recruit unemployed young men into the army. Easy income, job and respect from everyone.

 

[Three Moons]

We need to get it up to 80k as the final goal. 80k soldiers is the estimate of what is needed to comfortably keep raas kambooni ilaa raas Caseyr under control.

The budget would have to be pushed to $5 billion first, which is a low estimate to what Somalia could generate internally with a good tax-system. A 5% transaction tax on the mobile money industry alone could yield $1.6 billion extra for the State based on 2018 figures, though starting with a 1% tax would be less disruptive.

A strong national police force is still the best solution for Somalia and internal stability. 80k standing Army is not necessary, the prewar military that brought the Ethiopian empire to its knees and put fear in the hearts of the wider region was only 30 to 40k.

Ideally the country would have a 30k standing military, 50k reserves (who continue civilian life as military trained engineers, architects, police-officers, industrial park managers, captains of container ships, airlines pilots, instructors, etc) 5k border guards, and a 40k Police Force consisting of officers with a navy blue or grey version of the Haramcad uniform;

 

[GaradShabeel]

The budget would have to be pushed to $5 billion first, which is a low estimate to what Somalia could generate internally with a good tax-system. A 5% transaction tax on the mobile money industry alone could yield $1.6 billion extra for the State based on 2018 figures, though starting with a 1% tax would be less disruptive.

A strong national police force is still the best solution for Somalia and internal stability. 80k standing Army is not necessary, the prewar military that brought the Ethiopian empire to its knees and put fear in the hearts of the wider region was only 30 to 40k.

Ideally the country would have a 30k standing military, 50k reserves (who continue civilian life as military trained engineers, architects, police-officers, industrial park managers, captains of container ships, airlines pilots, instructors, etc) 5k border guards, and a 40k Police Force consisting of officers with a navy blue or grey version of the Haramcad uniform;

View attachment 305962

A Somali army with 30k active soldiers is too small. Being equipped in the event of war with Ethiopia is one thing, but these armed forces should primarily be deployed permanently in every region AS have had some type of control, to prevent them from falling back. Therefore, we need 50k at the bare minimum.

 

[Nin123]

We need at minimum 1000 tanks cause our land is flat no natural barrier like Ethiopia. Perhaps buy North Korean tanks and armoured vehicles it will be cheap asf

 

[Three Moons]

A Somali army with 30k active soldiers is too small. Being equipped in the event of war with Ethiopia is one thing, but these armed forces should primarily be deployed permanently in every region AS have had some type of control, to prevent them from falling back. Therefore, we need 50k at the bare minimum.

That is a governance issue, which is why a massive well-resourced police force active in the community of each village, town and city is more suitable for lasting stability than a large military presence. Have you never wondered how China and India could govern billions of people on such huge swathes of land? Their police forces are larger than their militaries.

 

[Haragwaafi]

Is the army or military even unified and organized so that it can carry its responsibilities ?? Because having different elite forces and soldiers trained by other foreign countries will lead to major disputes among the officers and that's something that Somalia should be ready for it and try to avoid that happening.

 

[Three Moons]

We need at minimum 1000 tanks cause our land is flat no natural barrier like Ethiopia. Perhaps buy North Korean tanks and armoured vehicles it will be cheap asf

No, 50 Turkish drones would annihilate a 1000 tanks, just look at the recent Azerbaijan-Armenian War. The Armenians didn’t stand a chance.

Somalia is in a great position to initiate an even greater military cooperation pact with Turkey that would make the Armed Forces truly a top-5 contender in Africa within a decade.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

30 thousand troops and 40 thousand Police Officers:

Somali Leaders Agree to Increase Troop Numbers​

View attachment 305943

The leaders have agreed the number of national armed forces to be at least 30,000 soldiers and at least 40,000 police personnel, according to the agreement obtained by VOA Somali.

https://www.voanews.com/amp/somali-leaders-agree-to-increase-troop-numbers/7012152.html

Forget about training, equipping, or feeding them, how do you pay their salaries? Say, 300$ a soldier is 288 million p.a. And to put in the right context, and in perspective, the 2023 annual budget for the whole Fed. gov't was 283 million.

 

[Aiman12]

Forget about training, equipping, or feeding them, how do you pay their salaries? Say, 300$ a soldier is 288 million p.a. And to put in the right context, and in perspective, the 2023 annual budget for the whole Fed. gov't was 283 million.

Where did you pull 283 million from? The budget in 2022 was almost a billion and its guaranteed to be over that in 2023 even though 80% of that is from foreign aid

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Where did you pull 283 million from? The budget in 2022 was almost a billion and its guaranteed to be over that in 2023 even though 80% of that is from foreign aid

Projected revenue for 2023.

 

[Aiman12]

Projected revenue for 2023.

then you forgot to add in foreign aid and donations

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

then you forgot to add in foreign aid and donations
View attachment 305979

Grants and donations are temporal, and earmarked for specific functions. Projected revenue, not even actual, which tends to fluctuate, is what one must consider.

 

[Three Moons]

Forget about training, equipping, or feeding them, how do you pay their salaries? Say, 300$ a soldier is 288 million p.a. And to put in the right context, and in perspective, the 2023 annual budget for the whole Fed. gov't was 283 million.

Somalia now eyes IMF funding as budget goes past $1bn mark​

Somalia now eyes IMF funding as budget goes past $1bn mark | The East African

$288 million is chicken change. The Somali airspace fees could cover that if more carriers were given permission to fly over.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Somalia now eyes IMF funding as budget goes past $1bn mark​

Somalia now eyes IMF funding as budget goes past $1bn mark | The East African

So, we are building a national army purely based upon potential loans, which might, or might be awarded to an insolvent nation?

By the way, any future loans shall be tied to specific projects.

Now tell me, how are we to pay the salaries of a large army? Forget about heavy weapons, training, healthcare, rations etc.

 

[Three Moons]

So, we are building a national army purely based upon potential loans, which might, or might be awarded to an insolvent nation?

By the way, any future loans shall be tied to projects.

Turning the National Armed Forces into a professional and well-equipped force is a ‘project’ in of itself, which will directly open up multiple streams of government revenue in the mining, energy, telecom, agricultural, maritime, aviation and fisheries sectors where the current 35% of domestically raised revenues of a 1 billion budget can be raised to 50% over time and then 70% and eventually 100% of the budget through domestic sources.

 

[Bazed]

We need competent and loyal commanders at the helm of the new somali military. I suggest the most senior officers and those known by their comrades for leadership potential. In the meantime we'll be sending recruits to overseas training. Perhaps there should be a mandatory conscription service for adult men, where they'll be stationed in mew regions of Somalia and will work there.