| Unit Name: | Ground Forces Command |
| Start Date: | 1977 |
| Country: | Botswana |
| Type: | Army |
| Size: | 8,500 |
| Command Structure: | Botswana Defence Force, Ministry of Defence, Justice, and Security |
| Commander1: | President Mokgweetsi Masisi |
| Commander1 Label: | Commander-in-Chief |
| Commander2: | Lieutenant General Placid Diratsagae Segokgo (DCO, PJM, DSM) |
| Commander2 Label: | Commander |
| Commander3: | Major General Gotsileene Morake (DCO, PJM, UNOSOM, DSM, psc) |
| Commander3 Label: | Deputy Commander |
| Website: | www.online.bdf.org.bw |
The Botswana Ground Forces is the army of the country of Botswana, and the land component of the Botswana Defence Force.
The Botswana Defence Force was raised in April 1977 by an Act of Parliament called the 'BDF Act NO 13 of 1977.[1] At its formation, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe (retired and former Vice President of the Republic of Botswana (now deceased)) became its first Commander. The former President of the Republic of Botswana, Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, then Brigadier, was the Deputy Commander. Unusually for an African military force, and chiefly attributable to its being founded after Botswana's independence, the Botswana Ground Force was not formed from colonial units formed by a colonising power, but rather were formed from the remains of the Botswana Mounted Police Unit, previously known as the Bechuanaland Mounted Police, a unit of the British South Africa Police.[2]
The contemporary roles of the Defence Force are broad for a conventional military, suggesting that the government of Botswana and the BDF subscribe to a wide view of ‘security’ and consider the Defence Force an appropriate agency for attaining much of it, an issue that has been discussed even in the BDF's own internal media. It is expected that the BDF in general is meant to be an apolitical instrument of the state.[3]
The current stated mission of the Botswana Ground Force is:
To defend the country and provide for the security of Botswana, participate in external security cooperation activities, and contribute in domestic support operations, with the aim of:
The commander-in-chief of the BDF is Mokgweetsi Masisi, the current President of Botswana. Answering to him is Lieutenant General Placid Segokgo.
The various units of the Botswana Ground Force are as follows:
See main article: Botswana military ranks and insignia. The BGF and the Botswana Air Force maintain the same rank system, which is loosely based on British or Commonwealth rank systems. The ranks are as follows:
See main article: List of equipment of the Botswana Ground Force. The BDF uses a wide array of modern weapons and vehicles. Its suppliers are Russia and Western nations, including Switzerland, the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
In 2016 the Ministry of Defence of Botswana ordered 45 Piranha 8×8 armoured vehicles made by General Dynamics Switzerland.