Namibian Defence Force

The Namibian Defence Force comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establishes the NDF and defines its role and purpose as, "... to defend the territory and national interests of Namibia".
Namibia's military was born from the integration of the formerly belligerent People's Liberation Army of Namibia, military wing of the South West African People's Organization, and the South West African Territorial Force – a security arm of the former South African administration. The British formulated the force integration plan and began training the NDF, which consisted of five battalions and a small headquarters element. The United Nations Transitional Assistance Group 's Kenyan infantry battalion remained in Namibia for three months after independence to assist in training the NDF and stabilize the north. Martin Shalli and Charles 'Ho Chi Minh' Namoloh were involved in the negotiations that allowed the Kenyan infantry battalion to remain for that period.

Purpose

The main roles of the Namibian Defence Force are to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country by guarding against external aggression, both conventional and unconventional; prevent violation of Namibia's territorial integrity; and assist civil authorities in guarding and protecting government buildings and key installations as provided in the Defence Act.
Defence spending and percentage of GDP included $90 million in 1997/98, 2.6% of GDP. The 73.1 million figure in 2002 was 2.4% of GDP. These figures are almost certainly CIA World Factbook estimates.

History

Major General A W Dennis, CB, OBE, British Army, previously Director of Military Assistance Overseas, made the following comments on the initial phase in Namibia at a conference in Pretoria, South Africa on 6 August 1992:

You will no doubt recall that the Angola Accords were signed in Luanda on 22 December 1988. In November 1989 SWAPO won 57% of the votes in the Namibian General Election and immediately requested the help of a British Military Advisory and Training Team following independence on 21 March 1990. The team, initially 55 strong, was duly deployed on 26 March 1990 and the first leader's cadre, for the 1st and 2nd Battalions, was run from 17 April to 2 June. By 1 July, the 1st Battalion, about 1,000 men strong, accompanied by 5 BMATT Advisors, had deployed to the northern border. By November 1990, only four months later, the 5th Battalion had deployed and in early 1991 the 21st Guards Battalion had also been formed, four staff courses had been run, and support weapons and logistics training was well advanced and an operational test exercise had been conducted. In addition, the Ministry of Defence, a mixture of civilian and military personnel, was operating as a department of state. No one would pretend that everything was working perfectly, nevertheless, a great deal had been achieved in the first year following independence. Most people would probably agree that at some 7,500 strong the Army is unnecessarily large, but sensible plans will need to be made for the employment of any surplus soldiers before they are discharged. Integration has not been easy to achieve, at least in part, because of the need to use several interpreters to cope with the wide variety of languages involved. Battalions are made up of approximately 70% ex-PLAN and 30% ex-SWATF. This mixture could have proved explosive but hounded by their BMATT instructors they united in a common task and soon realised that they could work well together. At the higher levels, integration has been more patchy, at least in part because of the departure of most white South African and SWATF officers. But the Government's intentions seem clear in that it decided to split the four MOD directorates evenly, appointing two white and two black directors. In all this, BMATT Namibia has played a role remarkably similar to that of BMATT Zimbabwe.

Organization and structure

The Chief Of Defence Force is the highest-ranking officer and exercises overall executive command of the force.Service chiefs are two-star general officers, air officers and flag officers in command of their respective arms of service. The Departments are also led by Major General's such as the Joint Operations Department. The rest of the general stuff is organised into eight Directorates led by one-star grade general officers, air officers and flag officers.

Chief of Defence Force: Air Marshal Martin Pinehas
*Army Commander: Major-General Aktofel Nambahu
*Air Force Commander: Air Vice Marshal Teofilus Shaende
*Navy Commander: Rear Admiral Sacheus !Gonteb
*Chief of Staff; Joint Operations: Major-General Joshua Namhindo
**Chief of Staff; Human Resources: Air Commodore Retoveni Muhenje
**Chief of Staff; Defence Intelligence:
**Chief of Staff; Defence Health Services: Brigadier General Ndapandula Jacob
**Chief of Staff; Information & Communication Technology:Brigadier General
**Chief of Staff; Logistics: Brigadier General
**Chief of Staff; Defence Inspector General: Brigadier General
**Chief of Staff; Policy and Plans: Brigadier General Fillimon Shafashike:
Chief of Defence Force

The Chief of the Defence Force is always a commissioned three star General/Air/Flag Officer from the officer corps. The first chief of the NDF was Lieutenant-General Dimo Hamaambo. He was previously the leader of PLAN. Lieutenant-General Solomon Hawala replaced Hamaambo as Chief of the NDF on Hamaambo's retirement. After Lieutenant-General Hawala retired in October 2006, Lieutenant General Martin Shalli then headed the NDF.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba suspended Lieutenant-General Shalli from his post as Chief of Defence Force in 2009 over corruption allegations, dating back to the time when Shalli served as Namibia's High Commissioner to Zambia. During the time of the suspension, Army Commander Major General Peter Nambundunga acted as Chief. Shalli eventually retired in January 2011.Lieutenant General Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah was then appointed as Chief of the NDF. Lieutenant Gen Ndaitwah served until 31 December 2013 upon his retirement he was succeeded by Lieutenant Gen John Mutwa.

Period	Rank	Name	Arm of Service
1990–2000	Lieutenant-General	Dimo Hamaambo	Namibian Army
2000–2006	Lieutenant-General	Solomon Huwala	Namibian Army
2006–2011	Lieutenant-General	Martin Shalli	Namibian Army
2011–2013	Lieutenant-General	Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah	Namibian Army
2013–2020	Lieutenant-General	John Mutwa	Namibian Army
2020 – Incumbent	Air Marshal	Martin Pinehas	Namibian Air Force

NDF Sergeant Major

NDF Sergeant Major is the highest appointment a Non-Commissioned Officer may receive. Duties of the NDF Sergeant Major include making sure that discipline, drills, dressing code, performance standards, and morale of the non-commissioned officers are maintained.
Previous Sergeant Majors are:

1990–1997 WO1 retired K. Lossen, Namibian Army
1997–2000 Late WO1 retired A.H. Vatileni, Namibian Army
2000–2007 WO1 retired E.K. Mutota, Namibian Army
2007–2011 WO1 retired D.J. Angolo, Namibian Navy
2011–2017 WO1 retired Isak Nankela, Namibian Air Force
2017–2018 WO1 Albert Siyaya, Namibian Air Force
2018–2019 WO1 Leonard Iiyambo, Namibian Army
2019– Incumbent WO1 Joseph Nembungu, Namibian Air Force
Joint Operations Directorate

The Joint Operations Directorate is the only directorate headed by a two-star Flag/Air/General Officer. Its role is to coordinate and conduct combined Operations and implement plans and doctrines in the force. The first Director of Operation in 1990 was Brigadier General Martin Shalli.

Defence Health Services

The Force's Defence Health Services provides medical services to service personnel, it operates sick bays at all bases and units as well the military hospitals.

Logistics Directorate

The Logistics Directorate is responsible for supplying material to the force. The first Director for Logistics was Colonel Peter Nambundunga

Defence Inspectorate

The Defence Inspector General's Directorate is responsible for maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the Force. It also investigates both internal and external complaints.

Namibian Defence Force ranks

NDF ranks are based on the Commonwealth rank structure. There is no approved four-star general rank in the NDF. The Chief of Defence Force is a singular appointment that comes with an elevation to the rank of lieutenant general for an Army officer, air marshal for an Air Force officer and vice admiral for a Navy officer. Arms of services commanders i.e. Army, Air Force and Navy commanders, have the rank of major general, air vice marshal and rear admiral. The rank of brigadier has also been transformed into brigadier general. Directorate heads are always brigadier generals, i.e. the Chief of Staff for Defence Intelligence.

Army	Air Force	Navy
General officers	Air officers	Flag officers
Lieutenant general	Air marshal	Vice admiral
Major General	Air Vice Marshal	Rear Admiral
Brigadier General	Air Commodore	Rear Admiral
Senior Officers	Senior Officers	Senior Officers
Colonel	Group captain	Captain
Lieutenant colonel	Wing commander	Commander
Major	Squadron leader	Lieutenant commander
Junior officers	Junior officers	Junior officers
Captain	Flight lieutenant	Lieutenant
Lieutenant	Flying officer	Lieutenant
2nd lieutenant	Pilot officer	Ensign
Warrant officers	Warrant officers	Warrant officers
Warrant officer 1	Warrant officer 1	Warrant officer 1
Warrant officer 2	Warrant officer 2	Warrant officer 2
Senior NCOs	Senior NCOs	Senior NCOs
Staff sergeant	Flight sergeant	Chief petty officer
Sergeant	Sergeant	Petty officer
Junior NCOs	Junior NCOs	Junior NCOs
Corporal	Aircraftman	Leading seaman
Lance corporal	Leading aircraftman	Able seaman
Enlisted	Enlisted	Enlisted
Private	Private	Seaman

Warrant Officer Class 1 Appointments

Any warrant officer class 1 could be posted to substantive posts, including

Army	Air Force	Navy
Sergeant Major of the Namibian Defence Force	Sergeant Major of the Namibian Defence Force	Sergeant Major of the Namibian Defence Force
Sergeant Major of the Army	Sergeant Major of the Air Force	Master-at-Arms of the Navy
Formation Sergeant Major	Formation Sergeant Major	Command Master-at-Arms
Regimental Sergeant Major	Regimental Sergeant Major	Master-at-Arms