Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: How big is the South African army?
The role of the Army was fundamentally changed by the upheavals of the early 1990s and after 1994 the Army became part of the new South African National Defence Force. It is now becoming increasingly involved in peacekeeping efforts in southern Africa, often as part of wider African Union operations. The Army is composed of roughly 40,100 regular uniformed personnel, augmented by 12,300 reserve force personnel. The rank/age structure of the army, which deteriorated desperately during the 1990s, is greatly improving through the Military Skills Development (MSDS) voluntary national service system. Through this system, young healthy members are being inducted into the regular and reserve forces every year.
Approximately 242 languages are spoken in the country, but only four have the status of national languages: Kituba ("Kikongo ya leta"), Lingala, Tshiluba, and Swahili. Although some people speak these regional, or trade languages as first languages, most of the population speak them as a second language after their own tribal language. Lingala was the official language of the colonial army, the "Force Publique", under Belgian colonial rule, and remains to this day the predominant language in the armed forces. Since the recent rebellions, a good part of the army in the East also uses Swahili where it is prevalent.
In the fall of 2018, Army Strategy for the next ten years was articulated. The strategy listed four Lines of Effort to be implemented:
Before General Schoomaker's tenure, the Army was organized around large, mostly mechanized divisions, of around 15,000 soldiers each, with the aim of being able to fight two major theatres simultaneously. Under the new plan, the Army would be organized around modular brigades of 3,000–4,000 soldiers each, with the aim of being able to deploy continuously in different parts of the world, and effectively organizing the Army closer to the way it fights. An additional 30,000 soldiers were recruited as a short-term measure to assist in the structural changes, although a permanent end-strength change was not expected because of fears of future funding cuts, forcing the Army to pay for the additional personnel from procurement and readiness accounts. Up to 60% of the defense budget is spent on personnel and an extra 10,000 soldiers would cost US$1.4 billion annually.
In 2007, the government of Uganda claimed that the LRA had only 500 or 1,000 soldiers in total, but other sources estimated that there could have been as many as 3,000 soldiers, along with about 1,500 women and children. By 2011, unofficial estimates were in the range of 300 to 400 combatants, with more than half believed to be abductees. The soldiers are organized into independent squads of 10 or 20 soldiers. By early 2012, the LRA had been reduced to a force of between 200 and 250 fighters, according to Ugandan defence minister Crispus Kiyonga. Abou Moussa, the UN envoy in the region, said in March 2012 that the LRA was believed to have dwindled to between 200 and 700 followers but still remained a threat: "The most important thing is that no matter how little the LRA may be, it still constitutes a danger [as] they continue to attack and create havoc."
Air Force Base Swartkop is South Africa's oldest air force base and houses the South African Air Force Museum. It is managed as part of AFB Waterkloof and houses one of the three branches of the South African Air Force Museum. The name of the air force base, "Swartkop" means "Black hill" in Afrikaans.
Rhodesia is equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. It was a landlocked country in southern Africa, lying between latitudes 15° and 23°S, and longitudes 25° and 34°E. It was bordered by South Africa to the south, the Bechuanaland Protectorate (later Botswana) to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east and northeast. Its northwest corner is roughly from South West Africa (present-day Namibia), South Africa, nearly forming a four-nation quadripoint. Most of the country is elevated, consisting of a central plateau (high veld) stretching from the southwest northwards with altitudes between . The country's extreme east is mountainous, this area being known as the Eastern Highlands, with Mount Inyangani as the highest point at .
In 1899, when war threatened between the Transvaal and Britain, many in English-Canada expected Canada to fight alongside the "mother country" while in French-Canada were equally opposed. Colonel Sam Hughes, a millionaire Conservative MP and militia officer offered at his own expense to raise a regiment to fight in South Africa, an offer that appalled Hutton, who realized Hughes's proposal offered Laurier an excuse not to send a Canadian force to South Africa and attempted to silence Hughes, who would not be silenced. Within the cabinet Richard Scott and Israel Tarte were opposed to Canada fighting in South Africa while Henri Bourassa, a Liberal back-bencher had emerged as the leading voice in the House of Commons opposed to an expedition to South Africa. On 3 October, Laurier received a Colonial Office circular thanking his government for its "offer" of 250 men to South Africa, an offer that he not made while at the same time the October 1899 edition of "Canadian Military Gazette" published the details of a plan to mobilize 1,200 men for South Africa. Caught on the spot, Laurier received a note on 9 October from the editor of the Liberal "Toronto Globe" saying he "must either send troops or get out of office" as the majority of voters in Ontario wanted Canada to fight in South Africa. Caught between the conflicting pressures in English-Canada and French-Canada, Laurier announced on 14 October that Canada would raise and equip an all-volunteer force to South Africa that once it arrived would operate under British command and be paid for by Britain. Laurier did not summon Parliament for a vote as he knew that the Liberal caucus would split between the English-Canadian MPs and French-Canadian MPs, and instead his decision was announced as an order-in-council. On 30 October, a hastily raised force of 1, 061 volunteers left Quebec City abroad the SS "Sardinian" (called "the Sardine" by its passengers for cramped conditions) for Cape Town under the command of Colonel William Otter. At their first battle, the Battle of Paardeberg the Canadians performed well, and on 27 February 1900 a battalion from the Maritimes end up holding their own ground after a confusing night battle, which just happened to be the moment that the Transvaal General Piet Cronjé chose to surrender, leading to the British and Canadian press to credit the victory to the Canadians, which gave a tremendous boost to Canadian self-confidence. In the warm glow of victory, Laurier agreed to send another 1,320 volunteers to South Africa while the millionaire Lord Strathcona raised a regiment at his own expense in western Canada, recruiting cowboys to form Strathcona's Horse regiment for South Africa.
South-West Africa was a German colony (German South-West Africa) from 1884, several small parts were annexed by Britain and added to the Cape Colony which itself was combined with Colony of Natal, Transvaal Colony and the Orange River Colony to become the Commonwealth realm of the Union of South Africa in 1910. After World War I South-West Africa was declared a League of Nations Mandate to be administered by South Africa and after World War II it was supposed to become a United Nations Trust Territory, but South Africa objected and refused to allow it to achieve independence. South Africa's position was supported by the International Court of Justice which required, however, that South Africa follow the previously applied League of Nations Mandate.
South Sudan – landlocked country in east-central Africa that is part of the United Nations subregion of Eastern Africa. It previously known as Southern Sudan. It is located south of Sudan, and includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the "Bahr al Jabal". South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following a referendum that passed with 98.83% of the vote. It is a United Nations member state, a member state of the African Union, and a member state of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. In July 2012, South Sudan signed the Geneva Conventions. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city. The capital city is planned to be changed to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future.Geography of South SudanEnvironment of South Sudan
Since the late 1940s, a strand of scholarship has argued that the African forest elephants used by Numidia, the Ptolemies and the military of Carthage did not carry howdahs or turrets in combat, perhaps owing to the physical weakness of the species. Some allusions to turrets in ancient literature are certainly anachronistic or poetic invention, but other references are less easily discounted. There is explicit contemporary testimony that the army of Juba I of Numidia included turreted elephants in 46 BC. This is confirmed by the image of a turreted African elephant used on the coinage of Juba II. This also appears to be the case with Ptolemaic armies: Polybius reports that at the battle of Raphia in 217 BC the elephants of Ptolemy IV carried turrets; these elephants were significantly smaller than the Asian elephants fielded by the Seleucids and so presumably African forest elephants. There is also evidence that Carthaginian war elephants were furnished with turrets and howdahs in certain military contexts.
Swahili has become a second language spoken by tens of millions in three African Great Lakes countries (Tanzania, Kenya, and the DRC) where it is an official or national language. In 1985, with the 8-4-4 system of education, Swahili was made a compulsory subject in all Kenyan schools. Swahili and closely related languages are spoken by relatively small numbers of people in Burundi, Comoros, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda. The language was still understood in the southern ports of the Red Sea in the 20th century.
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The exact number of Swahili speakers, be it native or second-language speakers, is unknown and a matter of debate. Various estimates have been put forward and they vary widely, from 50 million to over 100 million. Swahili serves as a national language of four nations: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the DRC. Shikomor, the official language in Comoros and also spoken in Mayotte (), is related to Swahili. Swahili is also one of the working languages of the African Union and officially recognised as a lingua franca of the East African Community. South Africa legalized the teaching of Swahili in South African schools as an optional subject beginning in 2020.
The Russian military is divided into the Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Missile Troops, Aerospace Defence Forces, and the Airborne Troops. , the military comprised over 1 million active duty personnel, the fifth largest in the world. Additionally, there are over 2.5 million reservists, with the total number of reserve troops possibly being as high as 20 million. It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for a year of service in Armed Forces.
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the third-largest city in Africa with 10 million inhabitants. The film shows how some people living there have managed to forge one of the most complex systems of human cooperation ever invented: a symphony orchestra (Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste) performing composers such as Handel, Verdi, Beethoven. "Kinshasa Symphony" shows Kinshasa in all its diversity, speed, colour, vitality and energy. It is a film about the Congo, about the people of Kinshasa and about music.
As a uniformed military service, the U.S. Army is part of the Department of the Army, which is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The U.S. Army is headed by a civilian senior appointed civil servant, the Secretary of the Army (SECARMY) and by a chief military officer, the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is the largest military branch, and in the fiscal year 2017, the projected end strength for the Regular Army (USA) was 476,000 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) had 343,000 soldiers and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) had 199,000 soldiers; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,018,000 soldiers. As a branch of the armed forces, the mission of the U.S. Army is "to fight and win our Nation's wars, by providing prompt, sustained, land dominance, across the full range of military operations and the spectrum of conflict, in support of combatant commanders". The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States.
Rhodesia (, ) was a country in southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the "de facto" successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, which had been self-governing since achieving responsible government in 1923. A landlocked nation, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland (later Botswana) to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique (a Portuguese province until 1975) to the east.
The army and the municipality are the two largest employers in Boden. As the military is continuously disarming, with the five regiments united into one garrison, the population has decreased by 2,000 people over the past ten years.
Following the defeat of the Boers in the Anglo-Boer or South African War (1899–1902), the Union of South Africa was created as a dominion of the British Empire in terms of the South Africa Act 1909, which amalgamated the four previously separate British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal Colony, Transvaal Colony, and Orange River Colony. The country became a self-governing nation state within the British Empire, in 1934 following enactment of the Status of the Union Act. The dominion came to an end on 31 May 1961 as the consequence of a 1960 referendum, which legitimised the country becoming a sovereign state named Republic of South Africa. A republican constitution was adopted.
Once the Iraq conflict began in March 2003, the military began to reduce its resources in Afghanistan. Yet the reliance on using the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units, aircraft and personnel there continues to the present supporting the combat operations under United States Air Forces Central (USAFCENT). Air National Guardsmen and aircraft deploy to Afghanistan routinely as part of the Air Expeditionary Units at bases there.
In 2018, Mufasa, a three-year-old, was in the process of being sold in South Africa after he was taken from an owner illegally keeping him as a pet. An anonymous buyer wanted both Mufasa and a female lion named Soraya, intending to protect both. Over 280,000 signed a petition asking that Mufasa not be auctioned, fearing a buyer might just want the lion for hunting.
In 2000 the Corps became known as the South African Army Infantry Formation. The first woman battalion commander appears to have been appointed in 2001. The specialised horse/motorcycle/dog-using battalion, 12 South African Infantry Battalion, was disbanded in April 2005. The previous General Officer Commanding up to 2012 was Lieutenant General Themba Nkabinde.
Since 1994, South Africa's Infantry units have supported numerous operations for the United Nations and the African Union across the continent, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC/MONUSCO), the Force Intervention Brigade in particular, Burundi (South African Protection Support Detachment, and African Union Mission in Burundi), in the Comores, and with AMIS/UNMIS in the Sudan.
The SA Army command structure is as follows:The two standing army brigades are Headquarters 43 South African Brigade and Headquarters 46 South African Brigade. Each of these two headquarters are organised to provide four headquarters groups. Two of these units should be available for deployment at any one time whilst the other two are on leave and in training.
With the declaration of war in September 1939, the South African Army numbered only 5,353 regulars, with an additional 14,631 men of the Active Citizen Force (ACF) which gave peace time training to volunteers and in time of war would form the main body of the army. Pre-war plans did not anticipate that the army would fight outside southern Africa and it was trained and equipped only for bush warfare.
12 South African Infantry Battalion was a horse, dog and motorbike assisted infantry unit of the South African Army, which provided horse-mounted infantry and dog handlers to the army for defence purposes.