Holidays of Georgia - Army Day

Armed Forces Day in all republics of the USSR was celebrated on February 23 After the collapse of the Soviet Union, states began to set their own holiday dates to honor their own army The Georgian Armed Forces were formed in April 1991 after the republic left the USSR Their prototype was the National Guard created a year earlier under the Ministry of Internal Affairs by decision of the Supreme Council of Georgia The conscription of citizens for military service started on April 30, 1991 In honor of this important event for the country’s defense capability, Army Day is celebrated annually in Georgia The military received its baptism of fire in 1991-1993, when they fought with supporters of the ousted first president of the country, Zviad Gamsakhurdia Units of the regular Georgian army participated in the Ossetian and Abkhaz conflicts of the 90s and were present in various peacekeeping missions The military served in hot spots during the conflicts in Kosovo and Iraq, and today they serve under UN supervision in the Central African Republic and Mali In 2004, the army was present in the Tskhinvali region, and in 2008 it took part in the war with Russia In 1994, Georgia began to cooperate with NATO The first steps towards rapprochement were the country's participation in the Partnership for Peace program A year later, an agreement was signed on the deployment of military bases of the North Atlantic Alliance on Georgian territory Subsequently, with the help of NATO, the country's army was rearmed and modernized In 2002, the US-funded Train and Equip program began, worth $64 million, under which American instructors trained 2,000 Georgian military personnel As a result, Georgia received well-trained soldiers who received salaries for their work and considered military service prestigious This is how the first units of contract soldiers appeared in the country According to an agreement between the two countries, concluded in 1995, Russian military bases were supposed to be in Georgia for 25 years But in 1999, a statement was written about their liquidation by 2001 The complete withdrawal of the Russian army and equipment from Georgia took place in 2007 And a year later, an armed conflict occurred between the countries on the territory of South Ossetia, known as the Five-Day War Today, the Georgian Armed Forces are represented by the Ground Forces, the National Guard and the Special Operations Forces The army includes both counter-soldiers and personnel officers, as well as conscripts who enter compulsory service at the age of 18-27 The Georgian army is considered the smallest in the South Caucasus In 2021, the strength of the Defense Forces did not exceed 37,000 people Despite this, the military is proud of the mission entrusted to them to protect the country and celebrate their professional holiday, Georgian Army Day, annually on April 30