Ghana Armed Forces

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the unified armed force of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the President of Ghana, who is also the supreme military commander of the Border Guard Unit (BGU). The Armed Forces are managed by the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff.

Structure of the Ghana Army

The Ghana Army is structured as follows:

1. The Northern Command with headquarters in Tamale, Central Command with headquarters in Kumasi and the Southern Command with headquarters in Accra. In March 2000 Northern and Southern Commands were formed after the two infantry brigades were upgraded in status.[24] Previously there were three brigades: 1st Infantry Brigade (HQ in Teshie), 2nd Infantry Brigade (HQ in Kumasi) and Support Services Brigade (HQ in Burma Camp).
2. 6 Infantry Battalions of the Ghana Regiment. 3rd Battalion of Infantry, 4th Battalion of Infantry and 6th Battalion of Infantry in the Northern Command, 1st Battalion of Infantry, 2nd Battalion of Infantry and 5th Battalion of Infantry in the Southern Command.
3. Two Airborne companies attached to Northern Command; Airborne Force
4. 64 Infantry Regiment, a presidential guard force (formerly known as President's Own Guard Regiment)
5. 1 Training Battalion
6. One Staff College
7. Reconnaissance Armoured Regiment (two armoured reconnaissance squadrons)
8. Defence Signal Regiment (Ghana)
9. Two Engineer Regiments (48 Engineer Regiment and 49 Engineer Regiment)
10. 66 Artillery Regiment

In 1996, the Support Services Brigade was reorganized and transferred from the Army to be responsible to the Armed Forces GHQ. From that point its units included 49 Engineer Regiment, the Ghana Military Police, Defence Signal Regiment (Ghana), FRO, Forces Pay Office, 37 Military Hospital, Defence Mechanical Transport Battalion (Def MT Bn), Base Ordnance Depot, Base Ammunition Depot, Base Supply Depot, Base Workshop, Armed Forces Printing Press (AFPP), Armed Forces Fire Service (AFFS), the Ghana Armed Forces Central Band, Ghana Armed Forces Institution (GAFI), 1 Forces Movement Unit (Tema Port), 5 Forces Movement Unit, Base Engineer Technical Services (BETS), 5 Garrison Education Centre (5 GEC), the Armed Forces Museum, Army Signals Training School, and the Armed Forces Secondary Technical School (AFSTS). By 2016 the Forces Pay Office had been upgraded to the Forces Pay Regiment.

The Armed Forces uses imported weaponry and locally manufactured secondary equipment. M16 rifles, AK-47s, Type 56 assault rifles, ballistic vests and personal armor are standard issue, while much of the secondary equipment used by the Army and Air Force are manufactured internally by the Defence Industries Holding Company (DIHOC). External suppliers include Russia, Iran, and the People's Republic of China.

GHANA MILITARY ACADEMY

The Ghana Military Academy (GMA) was established on 1 April, 1960 after years of reliance on foreign Military Academies to commission potential Ghanaian Officers for the Ghana Armed Forces.

The Academy grew out of the Regular Officers Special Training Schools (ROSTS) which was established at MATS, Teshie, in 1953. This School provided 6 months preparatory training for selected cadets from the British West African colonies:- namely Nigeria, The Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and the Gambia, prior to their being sent to the UK or other overseas countries for further officer training and commissioning.

Since its establishment, the Academy has produced over 3,500 Ghanaian Officers. Some have retired while the rest of us are now serving in various capacities in the Armed Forces and in the country as a whole. The Academy has also trained cadets from some sister African countries, notably Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Benin, The Gambia, Togo and Guinea. The first commissioning ceremony was held on 30 September, 1961 for 35 officer cadets.

In 1961, the Ghana Government arranged for a joint Military Training Team from Britain and Canada to continue with the training until suitably experienced and qualified Ghanaians were ready to take over. This assistance ceased in 1974. From then, the Academy was manned entirely by Ghanaian Staff until 1 June 1984 when it was decided to modify the training syllabus in line with current trends in other renowned Military Academies.

At the invitation of the Ghana Government, the British Government seconded one officer at a time for a duty tour of 2 years to assist the Ghanaian Staff to implement the revised course syllabus for the Regular Officer Training Programme. The last of the officers of the British Military Assistance Team (BMAT) left in December, 1994 to bring the 10 - year training assistance to an end.