The Belarusian Ground Forces is a service branch of the Armed Forces of Belarus. It is considered to be the seniormost and notable service branch in the armed forces. The current commander-in-chief of the ground forces is Major General Alexander Nikitin.
History
The ground forces were founded on March 20, 1992, on the same day the Defence Ministry of Belarus was established. By 1994, the ground forces had over 50,000 troops, most being former soldiers of the Soviet Army's Belorussian Military District. The army equipment which was used at the time included 79 T-54s, 639 T-55s, 291 T-62s, 299 T-64s, 8 T-80s, and 1,800 T-72s. In December of 2001, the Ground Forces underwent a major reorganization which produced two operational-territorial commands which are similar to Russia's military districts. The two commands that were formed from this reorganization were the Western Operational Command at Grodno, and the North Western Operational Command, at Barysaw. At around the same time, the headquarters of the Ground Forces was established on the basis of the former 5th Guards Tank Army.
The specialized forces are designed to support the combat activities of the Ground Forces and solve their inherent tasks. They include formations and military units of intelligence, communications, engineering, radiation, chemical and biological defense, electronic warfare, navigation and topographic.
The Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops ) are the forces designed to endure their combat tasks in conditions of radioactive, chemical and biological contamination, For about ten years, as part of a limited contingent of Soviet Army, chemical troops fought in Afghanistan, where such chemical support tasks as the use of flamethrowing incendiary agents and aerosols were effective in combating rebels. Many representatives of the chemical troops participating in the war were awarded military orders and medals. In the course of eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, given the training and technical equipment of the chemical forces, they were assigned some of the most difficult work. The Department of Chemical Forces was created on 1 June 1992 on the basis of the disbanded Directorate of the Belarusian Military District and was included in the General Staff of the Armed Forces. On 21 December 2001, in connection with the creation of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, the department of chemical forces of the Main Headquarters of the Armed Forces was reorganized and included in it as a department of the Republican Chemical Chemistry for Protection and Ecology of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
