Romania - Army

The Land Forces are the basic component of the armed forces and are responsible for conducting the whole range of land and air mobile military actions in any area and in any direction independently or jointly with the other armed services, including defensive and offensive operations and actions in order to seize or annihilate the enemy who penetrated the national territory acting both within the national and multinational military structures.

The Land Forces constitute the largest component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Program Force 2003 design is formulated around the brigade as the basic maneuver element for the Army. In total, nine active combat and combat support brigades would constitute the immediate response capability. Fourteen territorial combat and combat support brigades would support these active units. Three logistics brigades provide sustainability. Command and control would be provided by an operational corps and one division headquarters for contingency missions, while two territorial corps headquarters would generate supporting forces as necessary. In order to accomplish the planned end-strength, over 120 battalion-type units were eliminated or restructured by 2002, and another 200 were eliminated or restructured by the end of 2003.

"Restructuring the Force" is the most important task, among the others, and the cornerstone for the entire transformation process of the Romanian Armed Forces. Its achievement enables and powers the implementation of all others courses of action. For this reason, it will be analyzed more in-depth. The configuration of the future military force of Romania was defined as Project Force - 2005.

Following the end of conscription, the Army downsized from 6 active and 9 reserve combat brigades in 2006 to 4 active and 3 reserve combat brigades in 2009. As of 2004 the Land Forces operational structure included 8 combat brigades, 4 combat support and 2 logistics brigades. Part of the units should be able to conduct actions abroad, within multinational groups of forces. The mobilization and reserve structures will include 10 combat, 5 combat support and 2 logistic brigades. Operational forces, on the whole, will be maintained at a readiness of seven to 90 days and manned at 70 percent to 90 percent of authorized strength with regulars and short-term volunteers. The Army's territorial and reserve structure will include 10 combat brigades, 5 combat support and 2 logistics brigades. Territorial forces will maintain a readiness level of 180 to 360 days, have a full complement of major equipment and be manned at 10 percent to 20 percent of their wartime strength.

Functional Organization

The Romanian Armed Forces functionally include operational, territorial and reserve forces. As far as action is concerned, the armed forces include: Surveillance and Early Warning Forces, Crisis Situations Response Forces, Main Forces and Reserve Forces. The operational category, in which each of these structures is included, determines the priorities of the respective unit in distributing resources, personnel, equipment and training. It is highly required to achieve a balance in the armed forces, between the first priority units having a high readiness, and the forces having a reduced and variable readiness, representing most of the forces necessary for war.

The Surveillance and Early Warning Forces include specialized structures, directly subordinated both to the General Staff, other central bodies of the Ministry of National Defense, and to other armed services. They include reconnaissance and electronic warfare units and subunits, intelligence structures, as well as those used for C4I systems, and small, modular and mobile combat units. They are responsible for the identification of forthcoming military conflicts and crises, the management of the factors conducting to the increase of threats against the national security, as well as for preventing surprise. These forces are, generally, in permanent combat readiness. The Crisis Situations Response Forces are responsible for the participation in crisis management, as well as for conducting the first response in case of an armed conflict. They participate in the efforts of achieving military strategic objectives in peacetime and they are the main deterrent element.

The Rapid Reaction Force include formations and units of all armed services, capable to act both independently and jointly. According to the decisions made by the National Command Authorities, a part of the reaction forces will be used within multinational structures in order to prevent conflicts, manage crises, and in other international missions conducted under the aegis of UN and OSCE. The participant forces will have an adequate size, acting and deployment capabilities, as well as logistic support. The Main Forces include peacetime formations and units, most of them manned only partially. Though the basic personnel will include standing personnel, a significant percentage will be covered by conscripts. These forces will become operational at war only after being manned with human and material resources and after an adequate period of intensive combat training. In certain crisis situations, if the threat is escalated in a very short time, the active elements in their structure may be included in the group of forces meant for crisis management.

The Operational Forces include Army mechanized, tank, artillery, mountain troops, air mobile, Air Force, air defense, and Navy formations and units, fully manned and adequately equipped and trained. In crisis and at war, they should be able to be subordinated to operational commands, aimed at setting up groups of forces necessary for conducting military actions both inside the national territory and abroad within multinational forces.

The Territorial and Reserve Forces include formations and units from each Service. They are meant for conducting territorial defense, training and mobilization, as well as for supporting local authorities in civil emergencies. In crisis situations they may take part in active structures subordinated to the Joint Task Force Headquarters, for accomplishing the missions assigned to them. At war, after their augmenting / mobilization and an intensive combat training, the territorial forces may conduct actions, according to the situation, being either subordinated to the Joint Task Force Headquarters or to the Territorial Commands.

The Reserve Forces include formations and units established at mobilization. They have Commands, Training Centers and other units provided with structures and centers strictly necessary for working in peacetime. These centers establish, at mobilization, combat, combat service and logistics formations and units. The Main Forces and Reserve Forces achieve the combat capability after their manning / establishment and intensive training.