Belgian Army


The Belgian Army is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Belgian Army is Major-General Jean-Pol Baugnée.
Dating back to Belgium's establishment in 1830, the Belgian Army is the oldest service branch of the Belgian Armed Forces, and is also the largest of the four branches, with approximately 10,000 active military personnel and over 2,000 reservists as of 2022.

History

Early history

The Belgian Army was established in 1830 after Belgium gained independence from the Netherlands after the Belgian Revolution. It was initially expected that as neutral buffer state with borders guaranteed by France, Britain, and Prussia, Belgium could avoid the need for an expensive permanent military, relying instead on the part-time militia of the existing Garde Civique ; however, the need of a regular full-time army was soon acknowledged, and the Belgian Army was promptly established.Image:2-4e Régiment de chasseurs à cheval belges.jpg|thumb|upright|A detachment of the 2nd/4th Regiment Mounted Rifles at the 2007 Bastille Day Military Parade
According to the Law of August 1837, the Belgian Army was to consist of:

Infantry

Note: A battalion consisted of four companies of 216 men

Cavalry

  • 4 lancer regiments
  • 4 guides regiments
  • 2 chasseur regiments
Note: A squadron had approximately 130 horses

Artillery

  • 4 regiments of artillery
  • 3 regiments of fortress artillery or siege artillery
  • 1 pontoon company
  • 1 company of artificers
  • 1 company of gunsmiths
  • 1 company of artillery workers
Note: A battery had 6 guns

Engineering

  • 1 Engineer Regiment
  • 1 railway company
  • 1 field telegraph company
  • 1 telegraph company
  • 1 pontoon room company
  • 1 workers company

    Train

  • 7 train companies

    First World War

A major reorganisation of the army had been authorised by the government in 1912, providing for a total army of 350,000 men by 1926: 150,000 in the field forces, 130,000 in fortress garrisons and 70,000 reserves and auxiliaries. At the outbreak of war this reorganisation was nowhere near complete and only 117,000 men could be mobilised for the field forces, with the other branches equally deficient.
The Commander-in-Chief was King Albert I, with Lieutenant-General Chevalier Antonin de Selliers de Moranville as the Chief of the General Staff from 25 May 1914 until 6 September 1914 when a Royal Decree abolished the function of Chief of Staff of the army. In this way the King secured his control of the command.
In addition, there were garrisons at Antwerp, Liège and Namur, each placed under the command of the local divisional commander.
Each division contained three mixed brigades, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, as well as various support units. Each infantry regiment contained three battalions, with one regiment in each brigade having a machine-gun company of six guns. An artillery regiment had three batteries of four guns.
The nominal strength of a division varied from 25,500 to 32,000 all ranks, with a total strength of eighteen infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, eighteen machine-guns, and forty-eight guns. Two divisions each had an additional artillery regiment, for a total of sixty guns.
The Cavalry Division had two brigades of two regiments each, three horse artillery batteries, and a cyclist battalion, along with support units; it had a total strength of 4,500 all ranks with 12 guns, and was, in effect, little more than a reinforced brigade.

Second World War

In 1940, the King of Belgium was the commander in chief of the Belgian Army which had a mobilised strength of 610,000 troops. The army was composed of seven infantry corps and one cavalry corps. The corps were as follows:
  • I Corps with the 4th and 7th Infantry Divisions
  • II Corps with the 6th and 9th Infantry Divisions
  • III Corps with the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions
  • IV Corps with the 12th, 15th, and 18th Infantry Divisions
  • V Corps with the 13th and 17th Infantry Divisions
  • VI Corps with the 5th and 10th Infantry Divisions
  • VII Corps with the 2nd Chasseurs Ardennais Division and 8th Infantry Division
  • Cavalry Corps with the 2nd Cavalry Division and 1st and 14th Infantry Divisions
  • Groupement Keyaerts with the 1st Chasseurs Ardennais Division and 1st Cavalry Division
  • Army Reserve with the 11th and 16th Infantry Division
Each army corps had its own headquarters staff, medical and logistic support units, engineers and signal troops and corps-level artillery support.
Each infantry division had a divisional staff, reconnaissance unit, medical and logistic support units, engineers and signal troops. Active and first tier reserve divisions had two additional antitank companies. Infantry regiments numbered approximately 3,000 troops. Each active and first tier reserve regiment had 108 light machine guns, 52 heavy machine guns, 8 mortars and 12 antitank guns.
Within the Free Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940 and 1945, there was a land force formation, the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. An additional three divisions were raised and trained in Northern Ireland, but the war ended before they could see action. However, they joined the initial Belgian occupation force in Germany, I Belgian Corps, whose headquarters moved to Luedenscheid in October 1946. Of the 75,000 troops that found themselves in Germany on 8 May 1945, the vast majority had been recruited after the liberation of Belgium.
There was also a bicycle infantry formation known as the Frontier Cyclists.

Korean War

During the Korean War, Belgium provided combat troops for South Korea and became part of the United Nations Forces.

Cold War

During the Cold War, Belgium provided the I Belgian Corps, consisting of the 1st Infantry Division in Liège and 16th Mechanised Division in Neheim-Hüsten, to NATO's Northern Army Group for the defence of West Germany. There were also two reserve brigades, slightly bigger than the four active brigades, which were intended as reinforcements for the two divisions. Interior forces comprised the Para-Commando Regiment in Heverlee, three national defence light infantry battalions, four engineer battalions, and nine provincial regiments with two to five light infantry battalions each.
After the end of the Cold War, forces were reduced. Initial planning in 1991 called for a Belgian-led corps with 2 or 4 Belgian brigades, a German brigade, and possibly a U.S. brigade. However, by 1992 this plan was looking unlikely, and in 1993 a single Belgian division with two brigades became part of the Eurocorps.

Organization 2025

Current

The Belgian Army is organised as 1 Brigade and 1 Special Operations Regiment. In total, the Belgian Army consists of almost 10,000 active military personnel. After the 2018 reforms, the ground forces are organised as follows:
Belgian Army Staff It oversees and plans all activities and operations of the Belgian Army.
  • Motorized Brigade at Leopoldsburg. The brigade comprises about 7,500 soldiers divided into 16 units. The combat capacity consists of three motorized infantry battalions equipped with Piranha IIIC vehicles and two light infantry battalions equipped with Dingo 2 vehicles, which are supported by two engineer battalions, two logistic battalions, two CIS groups, one field artillery battalion, one reconnaissance ISTAR battalion equipped with Pandur I vehicles, two military training camps and a headquarters company. In the future the brigade is to be reorganized into four infantry battalions and two cavalry battalions.
  • Special Operations Regiment at Heverlee. The regiment has approximately 1,500 elite soldiers under its command. It plans and carries out special operations all around the world and is the main expeditionary unit of the Belgian ground forces. The regiment consists of the 2nd commando battalion, the 3rd parachute battalion, the special forces group, the 6th communications group, parachute, and commando training centres, and the 4th commando HQ company. All units have airborne capabilities. The regiment operates light armoured vehicles to maneuver across difficult terrains.
The service capacity comprises the following units:
  • Military Police Group
  • Information Operations Group
  • Explosive Removal and Destruction Service
  • Movement Control Group
  • 29th Logistic Battalion
  • Field Accommodation Unit
  • Training centres and camps, comprising four departments:
  • * Training Department Infantry at Arlon
  • * Training Department Armour-Cavalry at Leopoldsburg
  • * Training Department Artillery at Brasschaat
  • * Training Department Engineers at Namur
Some of the regiments in the Belgian Army, such as the 12/13th Battalion of the Line, have names consisting of multiple elements. This is the result of a series of amalgamations that took place over the years. The 12/13th Battalion was created in 1993 as a result of the merger of the 12th Regiment of the Line Prince Leopold and the 13th Regiment of the Line.

Future Belgian Army organization

To enhance organizational efficiency, the Belgian Army will reform a dedicated brigade for each of Belgium's major linguistic communities. The structure and composition of these brigades are outlined as follows:
Other units of the Belgian Army: