REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE ARMED FORCES (RSLAF)

Before Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961 the military was known as the Royal Sierra Leone Military Force. On 19 April 1971, following the successful passage of legislation through parliament, a formal declaration of Republican status was made and the Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces were renamed the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Force (RSLMF).

The RSLMF remained a single service organization until 1979 when the Sierra Leone Navy was established. It then remained largely unchanged for 16 years until in 1995 when Defence Headquarters (DHQ) was established and the Sierra Leone Air Wing (SLAW) formed. This gave the need for the RSLMF to be renamed the Armed Forces of the Republic of Sierra Leone (AFRSL) Several other internal changes were effected and on 21 January 2002 as part of the ongoing restructuring, a new Ministry of Defence HQ was opened and DHQ was reorganized to form HQ Joint Force and Joint Support Command whilst the name Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) pronounced by H.E the President, replacing AFRSL. The Joint Force Command has now subsumed the Joint Support Command.

The RSLAF can now boast of its own military academy of very high standards. The Horton Academy established on the outskirt of Freetown in 2003 provides military operational and staff training for officers of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). The academy is staffed by officers of the International Military Advisory and Training Team (IMATT), RSLAF officers. Training instruction is based on British Army doctrine, tactics and staff studies.

The annual curriculum of the academy consists of two Junior Staff Courses, a Company Commanders Course, a Lieutenant Colonels Command & Staff Course, and Peace Support Operations courses. Approximately one hundred and fifty officers undergo training at the academy each year.

As stability and peace continue to be consolidated in Sierra Leone, the RSLAF is poised to participate and contribute to wider and international peace support operations. To this end the RSLAF has targeted 2007 as the base year to initiate a Company for Peace Support Operations in ECOWAS, AU and the UN. This would be gradually increased to a battalion strength by 2010. As a demonstration of this desire, a Peace Support Operations Course has been introduced into the curriculum of the Horton Military Academy in Freetown. The course is intended to enhance capacity building, and to train and prepare officers of the RSLAF for their future role and participation in the international peace support operations, and especially for the proposed West African Peace Keeping Force.

The RSLAF has been very active in complementing the efforts of government in the campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The RSLAF HIV/AIDS programme has been very proactive and successful in its campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS within and among soldiers, their spouses and dependants, and the general public.

At the height of the civil war there was an increase in the number of combatants admitted with HIV/AIDS related symptoms, like profuse diarrhea, persistent fever, chest pains and tuberculosis.

Since then a massive campaign launched has reduced the incidence of HIV/AIDS. The RSLAF HIV/AIDS programme has achieved the following: