The Gambia - Military Personnel

Total military personnel in The Gambia is variouasly estiamted between 800 to 5,000. There is no conscription in The Gambia and the age for voluntary enrolment for men and women is 18 years of age. Initially recruits are enrolled for a specified minimum period, in which they undergo training of between 4 to 6 months, thereafter they may choose to sign-up for another specified time period.

The Gambia Armed Forces has established a close collaboration with the National AIDS Secretariat (NAS), the Medical Research Council and other health care delivery agencies in its endeavour to fight against HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases. This has led to the creation of a special office, which is equipped and staffed for that purpose. The primary function of this office is to effectively sensitize the officers and soldiers, their dependants, the civilian staff and all other members of The Gambia Armed Forces about the menace of HIV/Aids.

In its move to maintain the welfare of its serving members, The Gambia Armed Forces has endeavored to renovate all existing accommodations in all its barracks. New accommodation structures have already been built at Yundum Barracks and improvement on these structures had been undertaken. New accommodation structures have also been built in Basse. Renovation works in Farafenni and Kudang Barracks have been completed. The renovation work at Fajara Barracks is now completed. All these have been done to improve on the living conditions of the officers and soldiers as well as their dependants. Also, a new Armed Forces Headquarters have been created for effective command and control and for the improvement of the working conditions of the staff officers.

By some estimates The Gambia Armed Forces is about 5,000 strong. Other estimates are closer to half this number. As of August 2010, The Gambia was contributing 2,156 Peacekeepers to seven UN missions (including UNAMID in Darfur, UNMIT in Timor-Leste, UNMIS in Sudan, UNMIL in Liberia, UNOCI in Cote d’Ivoire, and MINURCAT in Central African Republic). In staffing its peacekeeping contingents, the government did not confine itself to the army, but also drew from other elements in the armed forces,