Belgian Armed Forces The Belgian Armed Forces ( ; ) is the national military of Belgium . The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became independent in October 1830 . Since that time Belgian armed forces have fought in World War I , World War II , the Cold War ( Korean War and army of occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany ) , Kosovo , Somalia and Afghanistan . The ParaCommando Brigade intervened several times in Central - Africa , for maintaining public order and evacuation of Belgian natives . The Armed Forces comprise four branches : the Land Component , the Air Component , the Naval Component and the Medical Component . It is active in Lebanon , Afghanistan and the Gulf of Aden . History . Establishment . When Belgium broke away from the Netherlands in 1830 – 31 it was initially expected that a neutral buffer state , with its borders guaranteed by France , Britain and Prussia , could avoid the need for an expensive permanent military force , relying instead on the part - time militia of the existing " Garde Civique " ( Civil Guard ) . The need for a regular army was however soon acknowledged . The basis for recruitment was one of selective conscription under which exemptions could be purchased by obtaining substitutes . In practice this meant that only about a quarter of each year ' s eligible intake actually served , with the burden falling on the poorer classes . Early history . As part of the national policy of even - handed neutrality , the 19th century Belgian Army was deployed as an essentially defensive force in fortifications facing the Dutch , German and French borders . Mobilisation plans simply required reservists to report to their depots , without arrangements being made in advance for deployment in a particular direction or against a particular enemy . Recruitment difficulties caused the army to remain below its intended strength of 20 , 000 men , although new legislation in 1868 tightened the basis for conscription . The Franco - Prussian War of 1870 required full mobilisation for nearly a year , a process which showed up serious training and structural weaknesses . The presence of Belgian forces in strength along the country ' s borders did however ensure that the combat at no time spilled over into Belgian territory . The Papal Army based in Rome included from 1860 a battalion - sized unit known as the " Tirailleurs Franco - Belges " ( Franco - Belgian Sharpshooters ) . Recruited amongst volunteers from both countries , this became the Pontifical Zouaves in 1861 and fought as an allied force on the French side in 1871 during the Franco - Prussian War . In 1864 a " Corps Expeditionnaire Belge " ( Belgian Expeditionary Corps ) was raised for service in Mexico . Originally intended to serve as the Guard of the Belgian - born Empress Charlotte this 1 , 500 strong force was largely drawn from volunteers seconded from the Belgian Army . Known popularly as the Belgian Legion , it saw active service in Mexico as part of the Imperial forces , before returning to Belgium for disbandment in March 1867 . From 1885 the Force Publique was established as the military garrison and police force in the Belgian Congo , then under the direct rule of King Leopold II . Initially led by a variety of European mercenaries , this colonial force was subsequently officered by Belgian regulars after 1908 . From December 1904 a small detachment of Belgian troops was permanently based in China as the " Guard of the Belgian Legation in Peking " . Reforms undertaken in the early years of the 20th century included the abolition in 1909 of the system of drawing lots for the selection of the annual intake of conscripts . In 1913 , compulsory and universal military service was established in Belgium . While this enabled actual peacetime strength to be increased to 33 , 000 men ( increased to 120 , 500 on mobilisation ) , this was only sufficient to provide a basis for the creation of seven under - strength divisions ( one of cavalry ) plus artillery and fortress troops . The Belgian military was also affected by political and popular reliance on the supposedly certain protection of the country ' s internationally guaranteed neutrality . In the words of the historian Barbara W . Tuchman " the army was considered superfluous and slightly absurd " . Training and discipline were slack , equipment inadequate and even field uniforms were old fashioned and impractical . Although improvements in the Belgian Army had been uneven during the 19th and early 20th centuries , one area of successful reform had been that of increasing the professionalism of the officer corps . The Royal Military Academy had been established in 1834 , to be followed by the " Ecole d ' Application " for technical training , and the " Ecole de Guerre " for staff training in 1868 . The Belgian Army pioneered the practice of training a corps of finance , personnel and general administration specialist officers instead of leaving such functions to civil servants without military experience or inadequately prepared line officers . There was however a serious shortage of trained officers in the rapidly expanding army of 1913 . Army in 1914 . On the eve of World War I , the Belgian Army comprised 19 infantry regiments ( line , Chasseurs à pied , Grenadier and Carabinier ) , 10 cavalry ( Guides , Lancers and Chasseurs à cheval ) and 8 artillery ( mounted , field and fortress ) . Support forces included engineers , gendarmerie , fortress troops , train and civil guards . The seven divisions of the Field Army were intended to provide a mobile force while the 65 , 000 fortress troops provided garrisons for the substantial forts constructed around Antwerp , Liège and Namur . These fortifications had been built in several stages beginning in 1859 , though a number were still incompleted in 1914 . While well - designed and built by 19th century standards , these fixed defences with their sunken artillery turrets had been rendered obsolete by recent advances in heavy siege artillery howitzers . World War I . At the start of World War I in August 1914 , the Belgian armed forces were being restructured , due to this measure and the rapid occupation of Belgium only 20 % of men were mobilised and incorporated into the armed forces . Ultimately , 350 , 000 men were incorporated into the Belgian armed forces , although one third of these did not participate directly in combat . Invaded by surprise by the Imperial German Army , which was approximately 600 , 000 men strong , the small , ill - equipped , 117 , 000 - strong Belgian army succeeded , for ten days , in holding the German army in front of Liège in 1914 . They fought between the emplaced forts in the area and with their support . This strategy was based on the Napoleonic concept of fighting the advance force and preventing a portion of the enemy forces joining the main body . At the time , the authorities and the public celebrated a determined Belgian resistance that the Germans did not expect . Indeed , the Belgians delayed the Germans and thus allowed the French armies to resist the German attacks which became the First Battle of the Marne . For four years , under the command of King Albert I , the Belgian army guarded the important sector of the Allied left wing between Nieuwpoort , on the coast , and Ypres with the help of the forces of the Entente but did not participate in any of the major Allied offensives , which were deemed unnecessarily expensive in terms of cost and manpower by the King of the Belgians . In 1916 , a body of Belgian armoured cars were moved from the IJzer front to help the Russian Empire . The force found itself alongside an identical body sent by the British on the Eastern Front . In Africa a company - sized unit of Belgian colonial troops participated in the occupation of the German colony of Togoland , The Force Publique subsequently played a major role in the East African Campaign against German forces in German East Africa , providing over 12 , 000 askari s under Belgian officers for the Allied offensive of February 1916 . The most significant Belgian action was the capture of Tabora in September 1916 , by a force under the command of General Charles Tombeur . In Belgium , after four years of war , as of 26 May 1918 , the army had 166 , 000 men of which 141 , 974 were combatants , forming twelve infantry divisions and one cavalry division . It had 129 aircraft and 952 guns of all calibres . From September , the Belgian army was involved in the Allied offensive until the final victory of 11 November 1918 . Between the Wars . After the Armistice with Germany of 1918 , the Belgian government sought to retain the strategy of 1914 . Little effort was made to acquire tanks and aircraft for the Belgian armed forces , while instead the Government strengthened the fortifications of Liege and Antwerp . This was despite the fact that during World War I the forts had proved ineffective despite strong support from artillery and infantry . Until 1936 , Belgium remained allied to France and the United Kingdom . World War II . On 1 September 1939 , when the Wehrmacht invaded Poland , King Leopold III of Belgium ordered a general mobilisation , in which 600 , 000 Belgians were mobilised . Despite warnings from the French and British governments , the king refused an alliance . Belgium was invaded , defeated , and occupied in an 18 Days ' Campaign after 10 May 1940 . Later , 163 Belgian troops were rescued during the Dunkirk evacuation , and Belgium ' s new navy , the " Corps de Marine " , only reformed in 1939 , also participated . After the defeat in 1940 , significant numbers of Belgian soldiers and civilians escaped to Britain to join the Belgian forces in exile . The Belgian government , under Hubert Pierlot , evacuated to London where it remained until the liberation in 1944 . Belgian soldiers formed the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade ( which also included an artillery battery of soldiers from Luxembourg ) more often known as the " Brigade Piron " after its commanding officer , Jean - Baptiste Piron . The Brigade Piron was involved in the Normandy Invasion and the battles in France and the Netherlands until liberation . Belgians also served in British special forces units during the war , forming a troop of No . 10 Commando which was involved in the Italian Campaign and Landings on Walcheren . The British 5th Special Air Service ( SAS ) was entirely made up of Belgians . Two Belgian fighter units , the 349th and 350th Squadrons , were formed in the Royal Air Force , with over 400 pilots . The 350th Squadron alone claimed over 50 " kills " between its formation in November 1941 and the end of the war . Two corvettes and a group of minesweepers were also operated by the Belgians during the Battle of the Atlantic , numbering some 350 men by 1943 . Most military Belgian vessels of the Belgian navy were interned in Spain , except for the patrol craft " P16 " , which managed to escape to the United Kingdom , where it became HMS " Kernot " . The Force Publique also participated in the East African Campaign and were instrumental to forcing the Italian surrender in Abyssinia . Post 1945 . The harsh lessons of World War II made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy . In March 1948 Belgium signed the Treaty of Brussels , and then joined NATO in 1948 . However the integration of the armed forces into NATO did not begin until after the Korean War , to which Belgium ( in co - operation with Luxembourg ) sent a detachment known as the Belgian United Nations Command . Later Belgium contributed a corps to NATO ' s Northern Army Group . Defence expenditure grew along with the force size . In 1948 the army was 75 , 000 strong which grew to 150 , 000 by 1952 . A major defence review in 1952 set a target of three active and two reserve divisions , a 400 - aircraft air force and a fifteen - ship navy . Forty anti - aircraft defence battalions were created , linked with radar and a centralised command - and - control system . As a safeguard against Belgium being invaded again , two major bases , Kitona and Kamina , were established in the Belgian Congo . They were almost viewed as a ' national redoubt , ' permitting the survival and rebuilding of forces if Belgium was again invaded . Following a change in government in 1954 conscript service was reduced to 18 months . The Belgian Army gained nuclear capability in the 1950s with Honest John missiles initially and then with nuclear - capable tube artillery . It also adopted the U . S . Pentomic organisation , but then switched to a triangular division structure by the early 1960s . Just after independence in the Congo , a Metropolitan Command ( Cometro ) was active to control the Belgian forces there . Current status . Since 2002 , by a Royal Order issued by Albert II of Belgium the three independent armed forces were merged into one unified structure and organised with four components which consisted of about 47 , 000 active troops . They are structured as follow : The budget of €3 . 4 billion is divided amongst the four components as follows : 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 ) . Another command is the Assistant Chief of Staff Intelligence and Security , which consists of the military intelligence ( ADIV - SGRS ) . Belgian Defence bases are guarded by Regimental Police ( Land Component ) , Force Protection ( Air Component ) and Service for Protection of Quarters ( Naval Component ) . Belgium , which is a member of the NATO and the EU , is currently restructuring its armed forces to be able to faster respond to humanitarian crises or disasters occurring in the world ( peacekeeping ) . In order to do so , the Belgian Land Component is currently phasing out all tracked vehicles in favour of wheeled vehicles . Examples are the new MOWAG Piranha and Dingo 2 vehicles currently bought to replace vehicles such as the Leopard 1A5BE . In addition , the Air Component is buying new aircraft such as the Airbus A400M , NHI NH90 to accompany other aircraft for humanitarian missions such as the Agusta 109 and Alouette 3 helicopters . The transition will be complete by 2015 . Due to Belgium ' s often - complicated politics , restructuring has led to decisions seen by some as illogical , such as the decision to mount the ( very uncommon ) CMI 90 mm cannon on the Piranha 3 ( munition is very scarce and only made by a handful of manufacturers ; it will probably be supplied by Mécar ) . Finally , other controversies have arisen around the relocation of Belgium ’ s ‘ cavalry school´ . The Belgian Land , Air , and Medical Components all use the same military ranks . The Naval Component ' s ranks are unique in the Belgian Defence . Land Component . The Belgian Land Component is the Ground Arm of the Belgian Defence . It currently has 20 , 100 soldiers and 10 , 000 civilian staff . The Land Component Commander ( LCC ) is Major - General Hubert DE VOS . The Land Component consists of one staff ( COMOPSLAND ) , two brigades and several support units . The Light Brigade is used for rapid interventions by air or sea , on foot or with light vehicles . The men in the brigade are all qualified Paratrooper and Commando personnel , except for the light infantry battalion . - Light Brigade Command - Light infantry battalion ( 12e / 13e Line ) - 2 ParaCommando battalions ( 2 Commando / 3 Para ) - Special forces ( Special Forces Group ) - 2 Training Centres ( TrgC Para / TrgC Commando ) The Medium Brigade is used for actions where heavy firepower and vehicles are needed . - Medium Brigade Command - 4 heavy infantry battalions The support units are : - 2 engineer battalions ( 4 Gn / 11 Gn ) - 1 artillery battalions ( Bn Aie ) - 1 ISTAR battalion ( Bn ISTAR ) - 3 logistic battalions ( 4 Log / 18 Log / 29 Log ) - 3 communication & information battalions ( 4 CIS / 6 CIS / 10 CIS ) There are three units with ParaCommando capicity : 11 Gn ( one company frogmen and deminers ) , 6 CIS ( one platoon radio - operators ) and Bn Aie ( one company field artillery ) . The standard rifle is the FNC and the secondary weapon the FN GP . Almost all weapons currently in use by the Belgian Defence are made in Belgium . Its equipment consists of : Vehicles : The Belgian Landcomponent also uses vans and other specialised vehicles for engineers , logistics , command , . . . Air Component . The Belgian Air Component is the Air force of Belgium . The history of the Belgian Air Force began in 1910 when the Minister of War , General HELLEBOUT , decided after his first flight to acquire aeroplanes . On 5 May 1911 a Farman type 1910 was delivered , followed by a second on 24 May and two other in August of the same year . The Air Component Commander is Major - General Aviator Claude VAN DE VOORDE . Its current aircraft are : Fighter Aircraft : Trainer Aircraft : Helicopters : Transport Aircraft : Unmanned Aerial Vehicles : Naval Component . The Belgian Naval Component is the naval arm of the Belgian military . Belgian naval ranks are unique within the Belgian Defence , corresponding to naval ranks worldwide . The Naval Component Commander is Rear - Admiral Michel HOFMAN . It currently has 1 , 600 personnel and 20 vessels . Its current vessels are : Frigates : Minesweepers : Support Vessels : Patrol Boats : Auxiliary Vessels :