Structure of the Belgian Armed Forces in 1989

The Order of Battle of the Belgian Armed Forces at the end of the Cold War in 1989 is given below.

Introduction

The Kingdom of Belgium was one of the founding nations of NATO. Nearly all Belgian Army and Belgian Air Force units were assigned to NATO's Northern Army Group and Second Allied Tactical Air Force, while most Naval Force units were assigned to Allied Command Channel. In 1989 Belgium spent $2.58 billion ($5.01 billion in 2016 USDs) on defence and fielded the following number of active troops:

Army

The Chief of the Army's general staff was tasked with the administrative management of the Belgian army, as well as with procurement, training and doctrine. In case of war most units would have come under NATO's Northern Army Group, while one battalion of the Para-Commando Regiment would have been assigned to Allied Command Europe's ACE Mobile Force-Land (AMF(L)). Depending on operational needs Allied Command Europe (ACE) would have deployed AMF(L) to whatever theater needed reinforcements, with NATO's AFNORTH command in Norway the most likely destination. Reserve units stationed in Belgium would have remained under operational control of the army's general staff in wartime.

Interior Forces

The nine provincial regiments were each assigned to one of the nine provinces of Belgium and they fielded one reserve infantry battalion and either an reserve armored or armored reconnaissance squadron. The 1st and 7th provincial regiments fielded two reserve infantry battalions. These regiments were tasked with protecting critical infrastructure in their province. The three light infantry battalions were the General Staff's mobile reserve. Engineering units were tasked with keeping the line of communication between the Port of Antwerp and the front open.

I Belgian Corps

Structure of the I Belgium Corps in 1989 (click to enlarge)

The I Belgian Corps was assigned to NATO's Northern Army Group and partially forward deployed to Northern Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia in the Federal Republic of Germany. As the corps was the only allied corps with just two divisions the I British Corps would have ceded its 33rd Armoured Brigade of the 3rd Division to the Belgians. The 33rd Armoured Brigade and I Belgian Corps began to train for such a cooperation by the early 1980ties.[1][2]

I (BE) Corps
16 Pantser
4 Pantserinf.
17e Blindée
10 Pantserinf.
Corps Recon
Corps Artillery
Corps Engineer
I (BE) Corps units in Germany 1989

In case of war Luxembourg's sole infantry battalion would have been assigned to I Belgian Corps:

1er Division d'Infanterie

16de Pantserdivisie

Two Belgian Army air-defense battalions were stationed in Germany and permanently assigned to Second Allied Tactical Air Force:

The corps was supported by the following Belgian logistic and maintenance units based in Germany:

Air Force

A Mirage 5BR of 42nd Squadron takes off in 1989
A Alpha Jet taking off in 1985

The Chief of the Air Force's general staff was tasked with the administrative management of the Belgian air force, as well as with procurement, training and doctrine. In case of war most units would have come under NATO's Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF). In case of war Belgian air bases would have received US Air Force reinforcement wings.


note 1: Nuclear sharing unit capable of delivering tactical nuclear weapons.

The Chief of the Naval Force's staff was tasked with the administrative management of the Belgian navy, as well as with procurement, training and doctrine. In case of war the entire combat fleet would have come under NATO's Benelux Sub-Area Channel Command (BENECHAN), a joint Dutch-Belgian command in Den Helder under Allied Command Channel (ACCHAN). ACCHAN was tasked with the defense of the sea areas, including and especially allied shipping, around the English Channel and BENECHAN was one of its three naval sub-commands. BENECHAN's area of operation comprised a large portion of the southern part of the North Sea and would command the entire Belgian Naval Force as well as the Home Fleet of the Royal Netherlands Navy.[3]

While the commanding officer of BENECHAN was always the commanding admiral of the larger and more powerful Netherlands Home Fleet, Belgium's Commander Naval Operations served as the BENECHAN's Chief of Staff. The combined Dutch and Belgian staff at Den Helder in the Netherlands was tasked with ensuring that the approach, coastal, and entrance channels to Belgian and Netherlands' ports were always open for allied shipping. As ACCHAN's other two sub-commands PLYMCHAN (Plymouth Sub-Area Channel Command) and NORECHAN (The Nore Sub-Area Channel Command) defended the direct approaches to the Belgian and Dutch coast via the English channel and the North Sea and as BALTAP's German-Danish Allied Naval Forces Baltic Approaches Command (COMNAVBALTAP) kept the Soviet Baltic Fleet bottled up in the Baltic Sea, the main risk for allied shipping in the BENECHAN area of operations were air and submarine dropped naval mines.

Therefore the Belgian Naval Force fielded a large number of minesweepers and minehunters. As American reinforcements, crucial to defeat a Soviet advance towards the Rhine, would have disembarked mainly in the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, the Belgians fielded 10 inshore minesweeper to keep the Western Scheldt free of naval mines. To increase interoperability and to have a quickly deployable force ACCHAN included the Standing Naval Force Channel (STANAVFORCHAN), which consisted of seven to nine mine countermeasure vessels from the Royal Navy, German Navy, Royal Netherlands Navy and Belgian Naval Force.

Below follows a list of all ships of the Naval Force at the beginning of 1989 grouped by their home ports:[4][5]

Gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

References

  1. ↑ David Isby and Charles Kamps Jr, 'Armies of NATO's Central Front,' Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, ISBN 0-7106-0341-X, 59, 72
  2. ↑ http://archive.is/irqqD Stiftung Museum der Belgischen Streitkräfte in Deutschland Graphic
  3. ↑ Mooney, Thomas (March 1979). The Belgian Navy (Thesis). Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School.
  4. ↑ http://www.marine-mra-klm.be/flotte_force_navale___marine_119.htm Royal Museum of Army and Military History: De la Force Navale à la Marine
  5. ↑ Mooney, Thomas (March 1979). The Belgian Navy (Thesis). Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School.
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