Georgian Armed Forces - History

History

The GAF were established in the early 1990s from former Soviet Army units on Georgian soil, irregular militias, and Georgian personnel returning from other posts within the former Soviet Armed Forces.

On March 23, 1994, Georgia was one of the first former Soviet Republics to join the Partnership for Peace. Among the Partners Georgia was the first country who could submit the special documentation (May 2004) and on October 29, 2004 the North Atlantic Council approved the first Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) for Georgia. If the IPAP is successful, Georgia will have good opportunity to accede to the Membership Action Plan (MAP).

The Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP) training was conducted using U.S. Special Operations Forces and U. S. Marine Corps forces from May 2002 to May 2004. During this time approximately 2,600 Georgian soldiers, including a headquarters staff element and 5 tactical units, received training. Another assistance program, the Georgia Security and Stability Operations Program (Georgia SSOP), was launched in January 2005 as a continuation of the (GTEP) of 2002-2004. Georgian contingents were involved in the Kosovo Force and continue to participate in the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The GAF have been extensively reformed in the recent years to meet Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO and for better response to the existing challenges such as the ongoing tensions in the unresolved separatist conflict areas in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as to the threats of global terrorism. Georgia also views a large-scale foreign invasion and the spillover of conflicts from Russia’s North Caucasus as the worst potential near- and long-term scenarios, respectively.

On August 8, 2008 the Georgian military conducted an operation in Georgia's breakaway region South Ossetia (see 2008 South Ossetia War). The operation led to an armed conflict with forces from the Russian Federation and resulted in the defeat and expulsion of Georgian forces from South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Following the military operations, Russia recognized independence of the regions, declared a decade ago.

The military budget of Georgia increased more than 50 times over the period from 2002 (US$ 18 mln.) to 2007 (US$ 780 mln.), reaching over 7% of Georgia's GDP. The military budget was then doubled to the end of 2008 and currently since February 2009, counts 660 mln lari (US$ 366 mln.)