Royal Saudi Land Forces
(Arabic;) «القُوّات البَرِيَة المَلَكيَّة السُّـعُوديَّة»
|
|
| Founded | As early as 1745; (272 years) |
|---|---|
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Allegiance | Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques |
| Branch |
 Saudi Military Forces (as of 1902) |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Ground-based warfare |
| Size | +300,000 full-time personnel (2012 est.) 578,500 reserve and National Guard +878,500 total personnel (2015 est.) |
| Part of | |
| Headquarters | «Airport Rd, Riyadh 11165» |
| Anniversaries | January 13; (115 years) |
| Decorations |  |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of Army Staff |
 GA / Abdul Rahman Al Banyan |
| Vice Chief of Staff |
.png){kind=small} GEN / Eid Al-Shalawi |
| Commander of Special Forces |
GEN / Fahd Al Saud |
| Insignia | |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
The Royal Saudi Land Forces (KSA) (Arabic: القوات البرية الملكية السعودية), also called Saudi Arabian Army (Arabic: الجيش العربي السعودي Al-Jaiš al-ʿArabīyat al-Suʿūdīyah), are the largest branch of the Saudi Arabia Armed Forces. The Saudi Arabia Ground Armed Forces (SAAF) divide its manpower between two main entities, the National Guard (SANG) and the Army [RSLF]. The Chief of the Saudi General Staff until 2011 was Field Marshal Saleh Al-Muhaya.
The modern Saudi Army has its roots in the first Saudi State, which was formed as early as 1745, and is considered to be the birth year of the Saudi Army. As of 13 January 1902 was founded as the Royal Saudi Land Forces, and is the Oldest branch of the KSA military.
Other events that led to an expansion of the Saudi Army were the Arab–Israeli conflict in 1948, the fall of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the subsequent fears of possible Shia's actions and in the last years the first Gulf War in 1990. In the year 2000, Saudi Arabia's government spent billions of dollars to expand the Saudi Forces including the Saudi Army.
The combat strength of the Saudi Army consists of 4 Armoured, 5 Mechanized, 2 Light Infantry (1 Royal Guards, 1 Special Forces) Brigades. The Saudi Army deployed the 12th Armoured Brigade and 6th Mechanized Brigade at King Faisal Military City in the Tabuk area. It deployed the 4th Armoured Brigade, and 11th Mechanized Brigade at King Abdul Aziz Military City in the Khamis Mushayt area. It deployed the 20th Mechanized Brigade and 8th Mechanized Brigade at King Khalid Military City near Hafr al Batin. The 10th Mechanized Brigade is deployed at Sharawrah, which is near the border with Yemen and about 150 kilometers from Zamak.
Despite the addition of a number of units and increased mobility achieved during the 1970s and 1980s, the army's personnel complement has expanded only moderately since a major buildup was launched in the late 1960s. The army has been chronically understrength, in the case of some units by an estimated 30 to 50 percent. These shortages have been aggravated by a relaxed policy that permitted considerable absenteeism and by a serious problem of retaining experienced technicians and noncommissioned officers (NCOs). The continued existence of a separate national guard also limited the pool of potential army recruits.
...
Wikipedia