Malian Army

Armed and Security Forces of Mali Forces Armées et de Sécurité du Mali
Coat of Arms of Mali
Founded	10 October 1960
Service branches	Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Guard, and National Police (Sûreté Nationale)
Headquarters	Bamako
Leadership
President	Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
Minister of Defence and Veterans	Abdoulaye Idrissa Maïga
Chief of General Staff	General Mahamane Touré
Manpower
Conscription	Compulsory military service
Active personnel	7,350 plus 4,800 paramilitary forces
Expenditures
Budget	$68 million ($5 million procurement) (FY03)
Percent of GDP	2% (FY01)
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Bulgaria  China  France  Russia  Ukraine  United States

The military of the Republic of Mali consists of the Army (French: Armee de Terre), Republic of Mali Air Force (French: Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali), and National Guard (French: Garde National du Mali). They number some 7,000 and are under the control of the Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans. The Library of Congress as of January 2005 stated that "[t]he military is underpaid, poorly equipped, and in need of rationalization. Its organisation has suffered from the incorporation of Tuareg irregular forces into the regular military following a 1992 agreement between the government and Tuareg rebel forces."

In 2009, the IISS Military Balance listed 7,350 soldiers in the Army, 400 in the Air Force, and 50 in the Navy. The Gendarmerie and local police forces (under the Ministry of Interior and Security) maintain internal security. The IISS listed paramilitary total force as 4,800 personnel: 1,800 in the Gendarmerie (8 companies), 2,000 in the Republican Guard, and 1,000 police officers. A few Malians receive military training in the United States, France, and Germany.

Military expenditures total about 13% of the national budget. Mali is an active contributor to peacekeeping forces in West and Central Africa.

The Malian armed forces were initially formed by Malian conscript and volunteer veterans of the French Armed Forces. In the months preceding the formation of the Malian armed forces, the French Armed Forces withdrew from their bases in Mali. Among the last bases to be closed were those at Kati, on 8 June 1961, Tessalit (un base aérienne secondaire), on 8 July 1961, Gao (la base aérienne 163 de Gao), on 2 August 1961, and Air Base 162 at Bamako (la base aérienne 162 de Bamako), on 5 September 1961.

"On 1 October 1960, the Malian army was created and solemnly installed through a speech by Chief of Staff Captain Sekou Traore. On 12 October the same year the population of Bamako attended for the first time an army parade under the command of Captain Tiemoko Konate. Organizationally, says Sega Sissoko, is the only battalion of Ségou and includes units scattered across the territory. A memo from the Chief of Staff ordered a realignment of the battalion. Following on, a command and services detachment in Bamako was created, and the engineer company in Ségou, the first Saharan motorized company of Gao, the Saharan Motor Company of Kidal, the Arouane nomad group, nomadic group of Timetrine (in the commune of Timtaghène), the 1st Reconnaissance Company and Nioro 2nd Reconnaissance Company Tessalit. As of January 16, 1961, Mali's army totaled 1232 men."