Albanian Armed Forces The Albanian Armed Forces ( AAF ) ( ( FARSH ) ) were formed after the declaration of independence in 1912 . Today it consists of : the General Staff , the Albanian Land Force , the Albanian Air Force and the Albanian Naval Force . Missions and duties . According to the Albanian Constitution , the Albanian Armed Forces are charged to : History . On 4 December 1912 Albanian Prime Minister Ismail Qemali and his government formed the Albanian National Army . The Royal Albanian Army ( ) was the army of King Zogu from 1928 until 1939 . Its commander - in - chief was King Zog ; its commander General Xhemal Aranitasi ; its Chief of Staff was General Gustav Mirdaic . The army was mainly financed by Italy . On 7 April 1939 , Italian troops invaded the country , and captured it in six days . Cold War . After the Second World War , Albania became a Soviet - aligned country . The ranks and the structure of the Albanian Armed Forces were organized based on the Soviet concepts , thus increasing the political control of the State - Party over the Armed Forces . One of the defining characteristics of civilian - military relations during this period was the effort of the civilian leadership to ensure the loyalty of the military to the communist system ' s values and institutions . Like all other branches of the state , the military was subjugated to Communist Party control . All high - ranking military officers and most of the lower and middle ranks were members of the Communist Party — and had loyalties to it . The system was re - enforced by the establishment of Party cells within the military and extensive communist political education alongside soldiers ’ military training , by the Commissars . To further increase its political control , the Albanian Communist Party enlarged the conscription system , thus enlisting in the Armed Forces personnel dedicated to the military career from the Albanian rural areas . The State and Party went even further , starting from 1 May 1966 , military ranks were abolished following the example of the Chinese People ' s Liberation Army , heavily influenced by Maoism during the years of the Cultural Revolution , and thus adopting strategic concepts related to forms of guerrilla war ( Vietnam War doctrine ) . The military were still organized during this period into their basic structure forms , but the role of the military commander was insignificant with respect to the commanding role of the political commissars . In 1991 the rank system was reestablished under President Ramiz Alia . During all these years , Sigurimi which was the Albanian secret service during that period and was formed upon the KGB structure , was responsible for the execution , the imprisonment and deportation of more than 600 Officers from the Armed Forces , by completely neutralizing the Armed Forces ability to start a coup d ' état . Initially the communist purge concentrated on the military personnel graduated by the Western Military Academies ( mainly from Italy 1927 – 1939 ) , extended later on to the officers graduated in Soviet Union ( after the Albanian abandon of the Warsaw Pact in 1961 ) . As the communist regime collapsed in Albania during 1990 , there was a real fear that the armed forces might intervene to halt the collapse of communism by force . In the event , the armed forces stood by as the regime of which they had been a part disintegrated . During the 1980s , Albania had reduced the number of infantry brigades from eight to four . It had shifted to fully manned units from its prior reliance on the mobilisation of reserve soldiers to flesh out a larger number of units manned at a lower level . Each brigade had three infantry battalions and one lightly equipped artillery battalion . Armoured forces consisted of one tank brigade . Artillery forces were increased from one to three regiments during the 1980s , and six battalions of coastal artillery were maintained at strategic points along the Adriatic Sea littoral . Post 1991 history . In 1992 , the Library of Congress estimated that the ground forces had about 35 , 000 men , or about three - quarters of all armed forces personnel . Because the strength of the ground forces was sufficient to man only about two divisions , brigades of approximately 3 , 000 soldiers became the largest army formation . In 1991 four infantry brigades constituted the bulk of combat units in the ground forces . During the civilian riots in 1997 , the political attempts by the government to use the Armed Forces to crush the rebellion were soon demonstrated to be a failure , following a total disintegration of the Armed Forces and the looting of the military facilities by the civilian population . Albania sheltered many thousands of Kosovar refugees during the 1999 conflict , and allowed NATO to provide logistical assistance for Kosovo Force ( KFOR ) troops through Communications Zone West headquartered in Durrës . Albania was part of the International Stabilization Force ( SFOR ) serving in Bosnia ( then EU mission " ALTHEA " ) , and Albanian peacekeepers are part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan , ISAF and the international stabilization force in Iraq . Albania has been a steadfast supporter of U . S . policy in Iraq , and one of only four nations to contribute troops to the combat phase of Operation Enduring Freedom . Increasing the military budget was one of the most important conditions for NATO integration . Military spending has generally been lower than 1 . 5 % since 1996 only to peak in 2009 at 2 % and fall again to 1 . 5 % . In December 2006 , the Armed Forces adopted a new structure based on the Joint warfare concept . It had three main Commands : the " Joint Forces Command " , the " Joint Support Command " and the " Training and Doctrine Command " . The Albanian Joint Forces Command ( AJFC ) consists of the Rapid Reaction Brigade , the Commando Regiment , the Navy Brigade , the Air Brigade and the Area Support Brigade . The Albanian Joint Support Command provides support and logistical functions to all AAF units . The Albanian Training and Doctrine Command was established as the main educational and training provider for the Albanian Armed Forces . The final number of personnel will be 13 , 800 ( including 2 , 000 civilians ) . However this new structure lasted a little more than 3 years and on April 2010 returned to its classic and current form . In March 2008 the problem of massive amounts of excess ammunition stockpiled in Albania became known to the public through the tragic consequences of the explosion of an ammunition depot ( the 2008 Tirana explosions ) . The Albanian Land Force or Albanian Army consists of the Rapid Reaction Brigade , a Commando Regiment , and the Area Support Brigade . Part of the structure of the Albanian Commando Regiment is the Special Operations Battalion ( BOS ) . The Albanian Army is mostly supported by the United States , Germany , the Netherlands , Italy , the United Kingdom , Greece , Turkey , Switzerland , Denmark and Belgium . The Albanian Navy performs mainly Coast Guard duties , and recently the Albanian parliament has approved some amendments to the articles of the actual Law on the Coast Guard in Albania , in order to improve the necessary legal framework due to efforts at European Union - NATO integration . Since February 2008 , Albania participates officially in NATO ' s Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean . Albania became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 1 April 2009 . Albania hosts an international fair on security and defense called the Albanian Military Exhibition ( ALMEX ) where different security industries can present their products and services for the regional market . Modernization . After several major re - equipment programs , in 2001 the Albanian Armed Forces launched a 10 - year reform program to become technologically advanced and fully professional by 2011 . The new armed forces consists of about 14 , 500 troops including 2 , 000 civilians , trained to NATO standards . The same radical reform is being implemented on surplus equipment , including airplanes , tanks , helicopters , artillery equipment , navy vessels , SALW and ammunition . Albania started an ambitious destruction program . However , Albania is still dealing with a huge amount of surplus and obsolete ammunition , a direct result of the country ' s long isolation and ethnic tensions in the area . The Albanian Ministry of Defense estimates such quantity up to 85 , 000 tons , but it is expected to increase up to 104 , 000 tons due to the on - going downsizing process of the AAF . In 2004 U . S . President George W . Bush authorized the use of Nunn - Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program funds for projects in Albania , marking the first time such funds were authorized for use outside the former Soviet Union . With this funding the U . S . assisted the Government of Albania with the destruction of a stockpile of chemical warfare agents left over from the communist regime ( Category 1 , Total amount 16 . 7 tons ) . The final cost of the project was US $ 48 million and was officially completed on 10 July 2007 . On April 3 , 2006 , the final contract for the delivery of 12 " Bölkow - Blom MBB " BO - 105 lightweight twin - engine multi - role helicopters to the Republic of Albania was signed in Tirana between the Albanian Ministry of Defense and Eurocopter " Deutschland GmbH " . According to the Albanian Government , six of the BO - 105 helicopters are designated for the Albanian Air Brigade , four for the Ministry of Interior and the remaining two for the Albanian Ministry of Health . Albania has recently acquired 2 Eurocopter AS532 Cougar helicopters and has 3 more on order . Also , since 2008 three Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel s have been commissioned in the Navy and one more is expected on 2013 . 2 of them have been constructed in Albania .