Belgian Land Component The Land Component ( , ) , formerly the Belgian Land Force , is the land - based branch of the Belgian Armed Forces . The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major - General Eddy Testelmans . For a detailed history of the Belgian Army from 1830 to post 1945 see Belgian Armed Forces . Ranks in use by the Belgian Army are listed at Belgian military ranks . Organisation 1870s . According to the Law of 16 August 1873 , the army was to consist of : Infantry . Note : a battalion ( 864 men ) consists of four companies of 216 men Cavalry . Note : a squadron had approximately 130 horses Artillery . Note : A battery has 6 guns World War I . A major reorganisation of the army had been authorised by the government in 1912 , providing for a total army of 350 , 000 men - 150 , 000 in the field forces , 130 , 000 in fortress garrisons and 70 , 000 reserves and auxiliaries . However , this reorganisation was nowhere near complete - it was planned for completion by 1926 - 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 de Selliers de Moranville as the Chief of the General Staff . 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 ( of two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment ) , 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 ( the 2nd and 6th ) 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 . The Belgian Army stubbornly resisted during the early days of the war , with the army - around a tenth the size of the Germany Army - holding up the German offensive for nearly a month , giving their French and British allies time to strengthen for the Marne counteroffensive later in the year . World War II . In 1940 , the Belgian Army was organized as follows . The King of Belgium was the commander in chief . There were 100 , 000 active duty personnel with army strength reaching 550 , 000 when mobilized . There were five corps , including three Active Army Corps ( Infantry ) ; Brussels , Antwerp , and Liege and later as follows : The I Corps with the 1st , 4th , and 7th Infantry Divisions ; the II Corps with the 6th , 11th , and 14th Infantry Divisions ; the III Corps with the 1st Chasseurs Ardennais and the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions ; the IV Corps with the 9th , 15th , and 18th Infantry Divisions ; and the V and VI Corps with three divisions each . Army Corps consisted of Corps Staff , two active and several reserve Infantry Divisions , Corps Artillery Regiment of 4 battalions of two batteries with 16 artillery pieces per battalion , and a Pioneer regiment . The infantry divisions had a division staff and three infantry regiments each of 3 , 000 men . each regiment had 108 light machineguns , 52 heavy machineguns , nine heavy mortars or infantry gun howitzers , and six antitank guns . There was also a cavalry Corps of two divisions . Within the Free Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940 – 45 , 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 . ( Isby and Kamps , 1985 , 59 ) During the Cold War , Belgium provided the I Belgian Corps ( HQ Haelen Kaserne , Junkersdorf , Lindenthal ( Cologne ) ) , consisting in the 1980s of the 1st Division and 16th Mechanised Division ( HQ Nehiem , FRG ) , to NATO ' s Allied Forces Central Europe for the defence of West Germany . There were also two reserve brigades ( 10th Mechanised Brigade , Zonhoven , and the 12th Motorised Brigade , Liege ) , slightly bigger than the four active brigades , which could act independently if necessary . Interior forces comprised the Para - Commando Regiment , the 31st - 39th independent cadre para - commando companies , three national defence light infantry battalions ( 5 Ch , 3 Cy , and 4 Cy ) and nine provincial regiments with two to five light infantry battalions each . ( Isby and Kamps , 1985 , 64 , 72 ) 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 . Structure . The Land Component is organised using the concept of " capacities " , whereby units are gathered together according to their function and material . Within this framework , there are five capacities : command , combat , support , services and training . The command capacity groups the following levels of command : COMOPSLAND ( Operational Command of the Land Component ) , Medium Brigade at Leopoldsburg ( formed from the 1st Mechanised Brigade in 2011 ) and Light Brigade ( formerly the 7th Mechanised Brigade ) at Marche - en - Famenne . The combat capacity comprises the main fighting units of the Land Component . It consists of two Para - Commando battalions , the Special Forces Group and five infantry battalions . The infantry battalions are the Regiment Liberation - 5th of the Line , the Regiment Carabiniers Prince Baudouin - Grenadiers , the Regiment of Ardennes Rifles , the Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line and the 1st / 3rd Lancers Regiment . The support capacity is , as its name suggests , the support arm of the Land Component and comprises one reconnaissance units , a unit for information analysis , civilian - military cooperation and operational communication unit ( known as the Information Operations Group or 17 Recce , based at Heverlee ) , one artillery unit and two engineer battalions . The reconnaissance unit is the Bataillon de Chasseurs à Cheval . The artillery unit is the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment . The engineer battalions are the 4th and the 11th Engineer Battalion . The service capacity comprises communication and information systems ( CIS ) groups , three logistics battalions , the Military Police Group and the Military Detachment Palace of the Nation , the Explosive Ordnance Disposal ( known as DOVO in Dutch and SEDEE in French , the Movement Control Group and the training centres and camps . The three CIS groups are : the 4th , the 6th and the 10th Group CIS . The logistics battalions are : the 4th , the 18th and the 29th . The Belgian Military Police Group ( " Groupe Police Militaire " / " Groep Militaire Politie " - Gp MP ) is a joint force made up of about 200 personnel assigned to five detachments located around the country . The Military Police Group staff is located in the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the Brussels suburb of Evere . Alpha Detachment located at Evere covers the province of Flemish Brabant and the capital , Brussels . Bravo Detachment covers Walloon Brabant , Hainaut and Namur areas and is located at Nivelles . Charlie Detachment located at Marche - en - Famenne covers the Liege and Luxembourg areas . Delta Detachment covers the Limburg and Antwerp areas and is located at Leopoldsburg . Echo Detachment located at Lombardsijde covers West and East Flanders . The training capacity comprises four departments : the Training Department Infantry at Arlon , the Training Department Armour - Cavalry at Leopoldsburg , the Training Department Artillery at Brasschaat and the Training Department Engineers at Namur . Some of the regiments in the Land Component , such as the Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line , have names consisting of multiple elements . This is the result of a series of amalgamations which took place over the years . The Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line 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 . There are two Brigades and they are organised as follows : Equipment . Vehicles . The Belgian Army is currently undergoing a major re - equipment programme of most of its vehicles . The aim is to phase out all tracked vehicles in favour of wheeled vehicles . In 2010 , 40 Leopard 1 tanks were still waiting to be sold , the rest were transferred to Lebanon - the tank units have been disbanded or have been amalgated with the Armoured Infantry ( 2 Inf Coy and 1 Tk Sqn per Bn ) . As of 2013 , only some M113s variants ( Radar , recovery , Command post and driving school vehicle ) and Leopard variants ( Recovery , AVLB , Pionier , driving tanks ) will remain in service . In addition a number of other light utility vehicles are used .