The Namibia Defence Force was created when South West Africa gained full independence from South Africa in 1989. The new constitution of Namibia defines the role of the military as "defending the territory and national interests."
Namibia's Defence Force comprises two of the former enemies in a 23-year bush war: the Peoples Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF). The British formulated the force integration plan and began training the NDF, which consists of five battalions and a small headquarters element. The United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (UNTAG)'s Kenyan infantry battalion remained in Namibia for three months after independence to assist in training the NDF and stabilize the north. Martin Shalli and 'Ho Chi Minh' Namholo were involved in the negotiations that allowed the Kenyan infantry battalion to remain for that period.
Read more about Namibia Defence Force: Purpose, History, Chiefs of Defence Force, NDF Sergeant Major, Army, Air Force, Navy
Famous quotes containing the words defence and/or force:
“Mankind have such a deep stake in inward illumination, that there is much to be said by the hermit or monk in defence of his life of thought and prayer.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The force of truth that a statement imparts, then, its prominence among the hordes of recorded observations that I may optionally apply to my own life, depends, in addition to the sense that it is argumentatively defensible, on the sense that someone like me, and someone I like, whose voice is audible and who is at least notionally in the same room with me, does or can possibly hold it to be compellingly true.”
—Nicholson Baker (b. 1957)