Tanzania - Prsonnel

The TPDF stood at 25,550 strong in 2005, comprised of 21,000 Army, 3,500 Air Force, and 1,050 Navy, along with an 80,000 person Peoples Militia. The London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies estimated that the 1977 strength of the TPDF was 18,600 — about 600 in the navy, 1,000 in the air force, and 17,000 in the army. Ten years earlier the TPDF had been only a token military force numbering under 2,000 army troops without naval or air force components.

Even if the 1977 estimates of a total armed force of 15,600 were accepted. that number did not make any significant impact on the labor market. Compared with the tiny TPDF that was created after the mutiny and existed until the late 1960s, the 1977 force seemed rather large and actually was about ten times the size of the 1964 force. Nevertheless, in a country of nearly 16 million people, Tanzania's armed force was small. In 1977 there were almost 2 million men in the fifteen-to-forty-nine age-group, and slightly over half of these were considered fit for military service. Just under 100,000 men annually reached the entering toilitary age of nineteen. Since 1969 women had also been accepted for military service; but the total was believed to be quite small.

The population is made up of more than 120 ethnic groups but recruiting was generalized. and there was no domination of the TPDF by any particular group. During colonial times it was common for British recruiters to enlist 25 to 30 percent of Tanganika's King's African Rifles quota from among just two groups - the Hehe and the Kuria. Since independence no preference has been given to any group or to any section of the country, a practice that has resulted in a military force that represents a cross-section of the country's people.

Service in both the Regular Forces and the Reserves is voluntary. Personnel can either join in a career capacity, if chosen, or for a volunteer period of two years. Service in the reserves is voluntary and applies to all persons under the age of 55.

Recruits volunteer in response to recruitment campaigns or as part of their two—year National Service obligation. Noncommissioned officers are promoted from the ranks if they have evidenced adequate educational and leadership qualifications. Officers must be Tanzanian citizens, members of TAN TJ , between the ages of 18 and 22, have a clean police record, possess above average educational qualifications, and be in good health.

The personnel requirements for this deliberately small army has not adversely affected the labor market. The military forces enjoy a respected position in society. Salaries and other conditions of service are sufficiently attractive that an adequate supply of volunteers is constantly available.

When Tanganyika received its independence, its army consisted of two battalions of African soldiers led by British officers and noncommissioned officers. This force totaled nearly 2000 Africans including several African officers, none above the rank of Captain.

The army mutinied in January 1964. The army’s grievances centered around the desire for an increase in pay and Africanization of the officer corps. Although the mutiny was repressed, the government conceded that Africaniz ation of the army had not taken place fast enough. As quickly as possible, British officers and noncommissioned officers were replaced by Africans.

By 1965, a well—screened force of approximately 1300 men had been formed. Members of the new army were required to be members of TANU and were given full political rights as well as lengthy indoctrination. Additionally, an army reserve corps was formed from members of the Tanganyika African National Union [TANU] Youth League . This reserve, the United Republic Volunteer Corps, was placed under the direction of the deputy secretary—general of the party , John A. Nzunda. These actions were all desi gned to reduce the potential of political activity within the army.

President Nyerere was serious and quite emphatic about integrating the military to be ideological machinery associated with the sole ruling party, TANU and Afro-Shiraz and later Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). The Tanzania military academy became the Party’s Cadre Military School (PCMS) which offered training for military officers and political leaders. The school provided the opportunity to fulfill Nyerere’s vision of subsuming the military under the political ideology of the ruling party. Graduates from the school were posted either to the military, the party, or the government. From the beginning, Nyerere’s aim was to have a small well-trained, highly professional, and disciplined regular army, politicized and supported by a large reserve of people’s militia. To date the TPDF operate based on this concept.

Compulsory National Service was introduced in 1964 to create a sense of national unity among Tanzanian youth. All recruits, including the former officers and troops of Tanganyika Rifles (TR), had to pass through National Service as a prerequisite for enrollment into the TPDF and into public service. In 1975, the National Service, originally an autonomous organization, became part of the TPDF. The National Service was responsible for all affairs of nation building and production while the TPDF took care of military operations. Apart from the defense of the nation, the TPDF was also the liberation army supporting the liberation struggle in Southern Africa.

Prior to 1992, all graduates from high schools and colleges that offered diplomas or degrees for two years or more were mandated to attend 24 months of national service, during which time they served for six months in the National Service camps and the remaining time at their work places, where they remained subject to the code of service discipline. National Service training was suspended in 1992 and was later revived in 2002. The National Service has been restructured to meet the needs of the strategic, political, social, and economic environment of the 21st century. The recruitment policy was reviewed in 2002 to raise the minimum education entry levels to secondary school certificate for the enlisted and high school certificate or above for officers. This change was a response to the strategic environment, technological developments, and the national education policy which emphasizes education as a cornerstone of national development, especially in the areas of science and technology. This is also in line with the TPDF 15-year plan, 2002 to 2017 emphasizing the need to have a well-educated military to meet the challenges of the 21st century technological development and the increased involvement of the TPDF in regional and international cooperation.

HIV/AIDS

The Tanzania Peoples Defense Forces (TPDF) like any other institution in Tanzania has been experiencing an increase in the burden caused by HIV/ AIDS pandemic. Like all uniformed services in the world, the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS is expected to be higher in this institution compared to that in the civilian population.

As of 2002 all military hospitals and health centers, except Lugalo, Mwanza and Mbalizi, where the Anti-retroviral Treatment Program had been initiated, were in a more or less dilapidated state and medical and administrative staff was not prepared for HIV/AIDS services.

Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10% of the world’s population, but it is the home of more than 60% of all people living with HIV/ AIDS. Throughout the world military personnel are considered a high-risk group for HIV infection and transmission, owing to a range of factors including age, peer pressure, and the tendency of military personnel to take risks and be absent from home for lengthy periods of time. The size of the armed forces was approximately 27,000 as of 2005, and Tanzanian Defense Forces had not performed systematic screening of personnel; therefore, HIV prevalence statistics were unavailable. It was estimated in 2006 that that HIV rates were higher within the military population than in the general population - just over 8%.

Army personnel and youth under the National Service are stationed in detachment, border and training camps, outside their residential areas for periods, which usually range from 6 to 24 months. By 2007 HIV/AIDS prevention had been integrated in the curricula of the standard training programs of TPDF and of the National Service.

On January 7, 2008, a Tanzania People's Defense Forces (TPDF) health center in Kigamboni was officially opened as a Counseling and Testing Clinic after undergoing renovations with funding from the American people. More than 10 TPDF health centers around the country will be renovated in 2009 and provide HIV counseling and testing to all TPDF officers. One of the main goals of the TPDF program is to ensure that all men and women who serve in the Tanzanian army remain HIV-negative throughout their career. The program includes training of peer educators and training in life-skills for all recruits.