Military of Belgium
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| Belgian Armed Forces Belgische Strijdkrachten Forces Armées belges |
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 A detachment of the 2nd/4th Regiment Mounted Rifles |
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| Founded | 1830 |
| Service branches | Land Component Air Component Naval Component Medical Component |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | King Albert II |
| Minister of Defence | Pieter De Crem (CD&V) |
| Chief of Defence | General August Van Daele |
| Military age | 16 years of age (2005) |
| Available for military service |
2,436,736 males, age 16–49 (2005 est.), 2,369,463 females, age 16–49 (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service |
1,998,003 males, age 16–49 (2005 est.), 1,940,918 females, age 16–49 (2005 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually |
64,263 males (2005 est.), 61,402 females (2005 est.) |
| Active personnel | 40,800 (ranked 76th) |
| Reserve personnel | 100,500 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | € 2,7 billion (FY05) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.3% (FY05) |
| Related articles | |
| Ranks | Belgian military ranks |
The military of Belgium is the Belgian armed forces. The Belgian Armed Forces have about 41,000 active troops. They are organised into one unified structure which consists of four main components:
1. Land Component, or the Army;
2. Air Component, or the Air Force;
3. Naval Component, or the Navy,
The operational commands of the components (COMOPSLAND, COMOPSAIR, COMOPSNAV and COMOPSMED) are subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the Ministry of Defence, which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training (ACOS Ops & Trg), and to the Chief of Defence (CHOD).
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[edit] Ranks
The Belgian Land Component, Air Component and Medical Component use the same military ranks. The Naval Component's ranks are unique in the Belgian Armed Forces.
[edit] Average Age of a soldier
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008) |
The average age of a soldier in the Belgian armed forces is 40, one of the highest in the world. For comparison purposes, the United States armed forces had an average age of 28, which is considered one of the lowest in the world.
[edit] See also
- Belgium
- Belgian Land Component
- Belgian Air Component
- Belgian Naval Component
- Belgian Medical Component
- Force Publique (colonial military forces)
- Free Belgian Forces (WWII military forces)
[edit] References
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CIA Factbook 2005: This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
[edit] External links
 Military of Belgium |
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| Land Component • Air Component • Naval Component • Medical Component |
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| Candidates | Albania · Croatia · The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
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