Bulgarian Armed Forces
Bulgarian Army | ||
---|---|---|
Българска армия | ||
Founded | 7 May 1878 | |
Current form | 2002 | |
Service branches | ||
Headquarters | Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov | |
Chief of the Defence | Admiral Emil Eftimov | |
Personnel | ||
Military age | 18 | |
Conscription | No | |
Active personnel | 36,950[1] | |
Reserve personnel | 3,000[1] | |
Deployed personnel | See below | |
Expenditures | ||
Budget | $2.34 billion (2024)[2] | |
Percent of GDP | 2.05% (2024)[2] | |
Industry | ||
Domestic suppliers | ||
Foreign suppliers | War in Afghanistan | |
Ranks | Military ranks of Bulgaria |
The Bulgarian Army (Bulgarian: Българска армия, romanized: Bŭlgarska armiya) Also called The Bulgarian Armed Forces is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in the hands of the Defense Staff, headed by the Chief of the Defense. There are three main branches of the Bulgarian military, named literally the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Naval Forces (the term "Bulgarian Army" refers to them encompassed all together).
Throughout history, the Army has played a major role in defending the country's
The
History of the Bulgarian Army
Medieval Period
The modern Bulgarian military dates back to 1878. On 22 July 1878 (10 July O.S.) a total of 12 battalions of
Serbo-Bulgarian war
The Serbo-Bulgarian War was the first armed conflict after
Military strategy relied largely on surprise, as Bulgaria had moved most of its troops near the border with the Ottoman Empire, in the southeast. As it happened, the Ottomans did not intervene and the Serbian army's advance was stopped after the Battle of Slivnitsa. The main body of the Bulgarian army travelled from the Ottoman border in the southeast to the Serbian border in the northwest to defend the capital, Sofia. After the defensive battles at Slivnitsa and Vidin, Bulgaria began an offensive that took the city of Pirot. At this point the Austro-Hungarian Empire stepped in, threatening to join the war on Serbia's side if Bulgarian troops did not retreat. Fighting lasted for only 14 days, from 14–28 November. A peace treaty was signed in Bucharest on 19 February 1886. No territorial changes were made to either country, but Bulgarian unification was recognised by the Great Powers.
First Balkan War
Instability in the Balkan region in the early 1900s quickly became a precondition for a new war. Serbia's aspirations towards Bosnia and Herzegovina were thwarted by the
In March 1910 an Albanian insurrection broke out in Kosovo. In August Montenegro followed Bulgaria's precedent by becoming a kingdom. In 1911 Italy launched an invasion of Tripolitania, which was quickly followed by the occupation of the Dodecanese Islands. The Italians' decisive military victories over the Ottoman Empire greatly influenced the Balkan states to prepare for war against Turkey. Thus, in the spring of 1912 consultations among the various Christian Balkan nations resulted in a network of military alliances that became known as the Balkan League. The Great Powers, most notably France and Austria-Hungary, reacted to this diplomatic sensation by trying to dissuade the League from going to war, but failed.
In late September both the League and the Ottoman Empire mobilised their armies. Montenegro was the first to declare war, on 25 September (
Bulgaria's war aims were focused on
The first great battles were at the
Second Balkan War
The peace settlement of the First Balkan War proved unsatisfactory for both Serbia and Bulgaria. Serbia refused to cede a part of the territories in Macedonia, which it occupied and promised to give to Bulgaria according to a secret agreement. Serbia, on its side, was not satisfied with the independence of Albania and sought a secret alliance with Greece. Armed skirmishes between Serbian and Bulgarian troops occurred.
On 16 June 1913, just a few months after the end of the first war, the Bulgarian government ordered an attack on Serbian and Greek positions in Macedonia, without declaring war. Almost all of Bulgaria's 500,000-man standing army was positioned against these two countries, on two fronts—western and southern—while the borders with Romania and the Ottoman Empire were left almost unguarded. Montenegro sent a 12,000-strong force to assist the Serbs. Exhausted from the previous war, which took the highest toll on Bulgaria, the Bulgarian army soon turned to the defensive. Romania attacked from the north and northeast and the Ottoman Empire also intervened in Thrace. Allied numerical superiority was almost 2:1. After a month and two days of fighting, the war ended as a moral disaster for Bulgaria, and at the same time its economy was ruined and its military demoralised.
First World War
The
In 1915 Germany promised to restore the boundaries according to the
Despite the outstanding victories, Germany was near defeat, which meant that Bulgaria would be left without its most powerful ally. The Russian Revolution of February 1917 had a great effect in Bulgaria, spreading antiwar and anti-monarchist sentiment among the troops and in the cities. In June Radoslavov's government resigned. In 1919 Bulgaria officially left the war with the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
The army between the World Wars
The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine proved to be a severe blow to Bulgaria's military. According to the treaty, the country had no right to organize a conscription-based military. The professional army was to be no more than 20,000 men, including 10,000 internal forces and 3,000 border guards. Equipping the army with tanks, submarines, bombers and heavy artillery was strictly prohibited, although Bulgaria managed to get around some of these prohibitions. Nevertheless, on the eve of World War II the Bulgarian army was still well-trained and well-equipped. In fact, the Bulgarian Army had been expanded in 1935.[10]
World War II
The government of the
On 1 March 1941, Bulgaria signed the
Some communist activists managed to begin a guerrilla movement, headed by the underground
Cold War era
As the
The army was involved in a number of border skirmishes from 1948 to 1952, repulsing several Greek attacks,[13] and took part in the suppression of the Prague Spring events. In the meantime, during the rule of Todor Zhivkov, a significant military-industrial complex was established, capable of producing armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, small arms and ammunition, as well as aircraft engines and spare parts. Bulgaria provided weapons and military expertise to Algeria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Nicaragua, Egypt and Syria. Some military and medical aid was also supplied to North Korea and North Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s the Air Force was at the apogee of its power, possessing at least 500 modern combat aircraft in its inventory. Training in the Bulgarian People's Army was exhaustive even by Soviet standards; however, it was never seen as a major force within the Warsaw Pact.[14] In 1989, when the Cold War was coming to its end, the army (the combined number of ground, air and naval forces) numbered about 120,000 men, most of them conscripts. There were, however, several services which, while falling outside of Ministry of Defense jurisdiction in peacetime, were considered part of the armed forces. These were foremost the Labour Troops (construction forces), the People's Militia (the police forces of the country, which fell under Ministry of the Interior jurisdiction, but the ministry was itself a militarized structure) and, more importantly, its Interior Troops, the Border Troops—which in different periods fell under either Ministry of Defense or Ministry of the Interior control—Civil Defense Service, the Signals Troops (government communications) and the Transport Troops (mostly railway infrastructure maintenance), which were two separate services under the Postal and Communications Committee (a ministry), etc. The combined strength of the Bulgarian People's Army and all those services reached well over 325,000 troops.
From 1990
With the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Cold War, Bulgaria could no longer support a vast military. A rapid reduction in personnel and active equipment was to be carried out in parallel with a general re-alignment of strategic interests. In 1990, Bulgaria had a total of more than 2,400 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 2,500 large caliber artillery systems,[15] 300 fighter and bomber aircraft, 100 trainer aircraft, more than 40 combat and 40 transport helicopters,[16] 4 submarines, 6 fast missile craft, 2 frigates, 5 corvettes, 6 torpedo boats, 9 patrol craft, 30 minesweepers and 21 transport vessels.[17] Due to the economic crisis that affected most former Eastern bloc countries, a steady reform in the military could not be carried out; much of the equipment fell into disrepair and some of it was smuggled and sold to the international black market. Inadequate payments, fuel and spare part shortages and the disbandment of many capable units led to an overall drop in combat readiness, morale and discipline.
After partially recovering from the 1990s crisis, the Bulgarian military became a part of
Organization
Defence Staff
The Bulgarian Armed Forces are headquartered in Sofia, where most of the Defence staff is based. Until recently the supreme military institution was the General Staff and the most senior military officer was known as the Chief of the General Staff. After the latest military reform has been implemented the General Staff became a department within the Ministry of Defence and for that matter its name had to be changed to match the new situation. For that reason the former GS became the Defence Staff and the supreme military commander became the Chief of Defence.[20] Currently headed by Chief of Defence admiral Emil Eftimov, the Defence Staff is responsible for operational command of the Bulgarian Army and its three major branches. Deputies: Vice Admiral Petar Petrov, General Atanas Zaprianov, General Dimitar Zekhtinov.
Supreme officer rank assignments in the Bulgarian Army and other militarised services
Established by Executive Order of the President № 85 / 28.02.2012,[21] most recent amendment published in the State Gazette Issue 96 from December 2, 2022:[22]
Ministry of Defence
- Chief of Defence – General / Admiral
- Deputy Chief of Defence – Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral
- Deputy Chief of Defence – Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral (until October 1, 2014 Major-General / Rear-Admiral)
- Defense Staff
- Director of the Defence Staff – Major-General / Rear-Admiral (established on May 6, 2018, the de-facto Chief of Staff of the BAF)
- Director, "Operations and Training" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Director, "Logistics" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Director, "Strategical Planning" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Director, "Communication and Information Systems" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Director, "Defence Policy and Planning" Directorate (established on January 1, 2019) – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Joint Forces Command
- Commander, Joint Forces Command – Major-General / Rear-Admiral (until August 31, 2021 Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral)
- Deputy Commander, Joint Forces Command – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral (until August 31, 2021 Major-General / Rear-Admiral)
- Chief of Staff, Joint Forces Command – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Land Forces
- Commander, Land Forces – Major-General
- Deputy Commander, Land Forces – Brigade General
- Chief of Staff, Land Forces – Brigade General
- Commander, 2nd Mechanised Brigade – Brigade General
- Commander, 61st Mechanised Brigade – Brigade General
- Air Forces
- Commander, Air Forces – Major-General
- Deputy Commander, Air Forces – Brigade General
- Commander, 3rd Air Base – Brigade General
- Commander, 24th Air Base – Brigade General
- Navy
- Commander, Naval Forces – Rear-Admiral
- Deputy Commander, Naval Forces – Flotilla Admiral
- Commander, Combat and Support Ships Fltilla – Flotilla Admiral
- Joint Special Forces Command
- Commander, Joint Special Forces Command – Major-General
- Logistics Support Command (established on September 1, 2021)
- Commander, Logistics Support Command – Brigade General
- Communications and Information Support and Cyber-Defence Command (established on September 1, 2021 on the basis of the Stationary Communications and Information System)
- Commander, Communications and Information Support and Cyber-Defence Command – Brigade General
- Military Police Service, directly subordinated to the Minister of Defense
- Director, Military Police Service – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
- Military Intelligence Service, directly subordinated to the Minister of Defense
- Director, Military Intelligence Service – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral or civil servant equal in rank
- Military education institutions, directly subordinated to the Minister of Defense
- Chief of the "Georgi Stoykov Rakovski" Military Academy – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- Chief of the Military Medical Academy and the Armed Forces Medical Service – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- Chief of the "Vasil Levski" National Military University – Brigade General
- Chief of the "Georgi Benkovski" Higher Air Force School (re-established on January 1, 2020) – Brigade General
- Chief of the "Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov" Higher Naval School – Flotilla Admiral
- Chief of the "
- Other positions at the Ministry of Defense
- Military Advisor on Military Security Matters to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- Military Representative of the Chief of Defense at the NATO Military Committee and at the EU Military Committee – Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral
- Director of the Cooperation and Regional Security Directorate at the NATO Military Committee – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- National Military Representative at the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- Deputy Commander of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Greece (Thessaloniki) – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Multinational Corps Southeast – Sibiu, Romania[23] – Brigade General
In addition to the aforementioned positions, there are general rank positions in the National Intelligence Service and the National Close Protection Service (the bodyguard service to high-ranking officials and visiting dignitaries). These two services are considered part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, but are directly subordinated to the President of Bulgaria and fall out of the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense.
- National Intelligence Service
- With the transformation of the National Intelligence Service into the State Agency for Intelligence the positions of Director, National Intelligence Service (Major-General / Rear-Admiral) and Deputy Director, National Intelligence Service (Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral) were stricken from the list of supreme officer assignments through Executive Order of the President №58/22.03.2016. The newly established positions are the civilian assignments of Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the State Agency for Intelligence.
- National Close Protection Service
- Director, National Close Protection Service - Major-General / Rear-Admiral
- Deputy Director, National Close Protection Service - Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
With the establishment of the State Agency for National Security - SANS (Bulgarian: Darzhavna Agentsiya za Natsionalna Sigurnost - DANS, Държавна агенция за национална сигурност - ДАНС) part of the military security personnel came under its authority. Before that the security aspects of the armed forces were handled by a unified organisation under the General Staff - the "Military Service of Security and Military Police". After the formation of SANS the service was split, with the military counter-intelligence personnel entering the newly formed structure and the military police personnel staying under Ministry of Defense subordination. While technically civilian servants not part of the armed forces, the military counter-intelligence personnel of the State Agency of National Security retain their military ranks.
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence
The organisation of the Ministry of Defence includes:[24]
- Minister of Defence
- 3 Deputy-Ministers of Defence
- Political Cabinet
- Permanent Secretary of Defence (the highest-ranking civil servant of the Ministry)
- Inspectorate
- General Administration
- "Administration and Information Support" Directorate
- "Public Relations and Protocol" Directorate
- "Finances" Directorate
- Specialised Administration
- "Defence Infrastructure" Main Directorate
- "Defence Policy and Planning" Directorate
- "Planing, Programming and Budgeting" Directorate
- "Defence Legal Activities" Directorate
- "Defence Human Resources Management" Directorate
- "Defence Public Orders" Directorate
- "Armament Policy" Directorate
- "Social Policy and Military-Patriotic Upbringing" Directorate
- "Security of Information" Directorate
- "Internal Audit" Directorate
- "Financial Control and Check of Material Accountability" Unit
- Civil servant in charge of personal data protection
- Chief of Defence (the highest-ranking officer, the only four-star rank on active duty)
- Deputy-Chief of Defence (Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral)
- Deputy-Chief of Defence (Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral)
- Director of the Defence Staff (Major-General / Rear-Admiral, the Defence Staff is the successor of the General Staff and thus the Director is the Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian Army)[25]
- "Operations and Training" Directorate
- "Logistics" Directorate
- "Strategical Planning" Directorate
- "Communication and Information Systems" Directorate
- "Defence Policy and Planning" Directorate
- Command Sergeant-Major of the Bulgarian Army
Structures directly subordinated to the Ministry of Defence
Structures directly subordinated to the Ministry of Defence include:
- Defence Intelligence Service, Sofia (commanded by a Major-General/ Rear-Admiral)[26]
- Director
- Directorate
- Information Division
- Analysis Division
- Resources Supply Division
- Military Police Service, Sofia (commanded by a Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral)[27]
- Military Police Command
- Military Police Operational Company (MRAV Sand Cat)
- Regional Military Police Service Sofia
- Regional Military Police Service Plovdiv
- Regional Military Police Service Pleven
- Regional Military Police Service Varna
- Regional Military Police Service Sliven
- Military Police Service Logistics and Training Centre, Sofia
- Military Geographical Service
- MGS Headquarters
- Geographical Information Support Centre
- Geodesic Observatory (GPS Observatory)
- Military Geographical Centre
- Information Security Unit
- Financial Comptroller
- National Guards Unit, Sofia (commanded by a Colonel)
- Headquarters
- 1st Guards Battalion
- 2nd Mixed Guards Battalion
- National Guards Unit Representative Military Band
- Armed Forces Representative Dance Company
- Guardsmen Training Centre
- Logistics Support Company
- Military Medical Academy, Sofia (commanded by a Major-General / Rear-Admiral)
- Chief of the MMA, Chief of the MATH - Sofia and General Surgeon of the Bulgarian Armed Forces
- Deputy Chief for Diagnostics and Medical Treatment Activities
- Deputy Chief for Education and Scientific Activities
- Deputy Chief for Medical Support of Military Units and Overseas Military Missions
- Multiprofile Active Treatment Hospital - Sofia
- Multiprofile Active Treatment Hospital (informally known as the Naval Hospital)- Varna
- Multiprofile Active Treatment Hospital - Plovdiv
- Multiprofile Active Treatment Hospital - Sliven
- Multiprofile Active Treatment Hospital - Pleven
- Follow-up Long-term Treatment and Rehabilitation Hospital "Saint George the Victorious" - Pomorie
- Follow-up Long-term Treatment and Rehabilitation Hospital "Caleroya" - Hisar
- Follow-up Long-term Treatment and Rehabilitation Hospital - Bankya
- Military Medical Quick Reaction Force (expeditionary disaster and crisis relief unit)
- Psychological Health and Prevention Centre
- Scientific and Application Centre for Military Medical Expertise and Aviation and Seaborne Medicine
- Scientific and Application Centre for Military Epidemiology and Hygiene
- Military Academy "Georgi Stoykov Rakovski", Sofia (commanded by a Major-General / Rear-Admiral)
- Command
- Commandant of the Military Academy
- Deputy Chief for Study and Scientific Activities
- Deputy Chief for Administrative Activities and Logistics
- Administrative Units
- Personnel and Administrative Support Department
- Logistics Department
- Study and Scientific Activities Department
- Financial Department
- Library and Publishing Activities Sector
- Public Relations, International Activities and Protocol Sector
- Training Units
- National Security and Defence College
- Command Staff College
- Peacekeeping Operations and Computer Simulations Sector
- Foreign Languages Studies Department
- Perspective Defence Research Institute
- Command
- National Military University "Vasil Levski", Veliko Tarnovo (commanded by a Brigade General)
- Combined Arms Education Department, Veliko Tarnovo
- Artillery and Communication Systems Education Department, Shumen
- NCO School, Veliko Tarnovo
- Foreign Languages and Computer Systems Education Department, Shumen
- Higher Air Force School "Georgi Benkovski", Dolna Mitropoliya (commanded by a Brigade General, temporarily a faculty of the NMU, reinstated on January 20, 2020)
- Higher Naval School "Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov", Varna (commanded by a Flotilla Admiral)
- Chief of the Higher Naval Officer School
- Deputy Chief for Administration and Logistics
- Deputy Chief for Studies and Science Activities
- Navigation Department
- Engineering Department
- Post-Graduate Qualification Department
- Professional Petty Officers College
- Defence Institute "Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov", Sofia
- The Defence Institute is the research and development administration of the MoD.[28] It includes the:
- Administration and Financial Management Department
- Military Standardisation, Quality and Certification Department
- Armament, Equipment and Materials Development Department
- Armament, Equipment and Materials Testing and Control Department
- C4I Systems Development Department
- Central Artillery Technical Evaluation Proving Ground, Stara Zagora
- Central Office of Military District, Sofia[29]
- Commandment Service of the Ministry of Defence, Sofia
- The Commandment Service is an institution in charge of real estate management, transportation, library services, documentation publishing and communications support for the central administration of the MoD, transportation support to the immediate MoD personnel, classified information, cryptographic and perimeter security for the MoD administration buildings.
- Director
- Deputy Director
- Chief Legal Advisor
- Financial Comptroller
- Administrative Department
- Financial Department
- Business Department
- Transportation Support Department
- Support Department
- CIS Support Department
- Technical Centre for Armed Forces Information Security
- Executive Agency for the Military Clubs and Recreational Activities, Sofia
- National Museum of Military History, Sofia
Joint Forces Command
The Joint Operational Command (Съвместно оперативно командване (СОК)) was established on October 15, 2004 with HQ in Sofia. The country became member of NATO in the same year and this reorganisation was done to streamline the Bulgarian Armed Forces to NATO practices. The planing and execution of military operation was transferred from the respective armed service commands to a joint organisation.
In 2010 the Ministry of Defence completed a thorough study of the defence policy and issued a White Book, or a White Paper on Defence, calling for a major overhaul of the structure of Defence Forces. On July 1, 2011 the Joint Operational Command was reorganised into the Joint Forces Command (Съвместно командване на силите (СКС)) According to the document the military of the Republic of Bulgaria should include two mechanized brigades, four regiments (Logistics, Artillery, Engineering, SpecOps), four battalions (Reconnaissance, Mechanized, NBC, psychological operations) in the Land Forces; two air bases, SAM air defense base and Air force training base in the Air Force; and one naval base consisting of two homeports in the Navy. There are seven brigade level formations, including the two mechanised brigades and the special forces brigade of the army, the two air bases of the air force, the naval base and the logistical brigade of the JOC.
On September 1, 2021 the Joint Forces Command was reorganised again in accordance with the Development Plant for the Armed Forces until 2026 (План за развитие на Въоръжените сили до 2026 г.), set in action by Resolution of the Government № 183/07.05.2021.[30] The logistics brigade and the movement control units of the JFC formed the Logistics Support Command. Since then the Joint Forces Command has seven units directly subordinated to it:
- Military Command Centre
- Operational Intelligence Information Center
- Centre for Radiological, Chemical, Biological and Ecological Environment Monitoring and Control
- Mobile Communication and Information System
- Operational Archive of the Bulgarian Army
- Joint Forces Training Range "Novo Selo"
- National Military Study Complex "Charalitsa"
- Support and Maintenance Group of the JFC
With the introduction of the new force structure of the Bulgarian Armed Forces the commands of three armed services of the Bulgarian Army - the Land, Air and Naval Forces are responsible for the generation of combat-ready forces, which are transferred under the operational command and control of the JFC.
Under the previous structure they were subordinated to the JFC.
The logistics units of the JFC were re-arranged into the newly-formed Logistical Support Command (Командване за логистична поддръжка (КЛП)):
- Logistical Support Command, Sofia
- Logistics Brigade
- Brigade Headquarters
- 1st Transport Battalion, Sofia
- 2nd Transport Battalion, Burgas
- Central Supply Base, Negushevo[31]
- repair and maintenance bases
- depots, storage facilities and technical inspection units
- Movement Control Headquarters
- Logistics Brigade
The previous 62nd Signals Brigade at
On September 1, 2021 the Stationary Communications and Information System, which was directly subordinated to the Minister of Defence, became the Communications and Information Support and Cyber-Defence Command (Командване за комуникационно-информационна поддръжка и киберотбрана (ККИПКО)).
- Communications and Information Support and Cyber-Defence Command, Sofia
- Communications and Information Centre
- Government Communications Support Centre,
- Operational Centres
- Engineering and CIS recovery Centre
- Stationary Communications Network
Joint Special Operations Command
The 68th Special Forces Brigade was removed from the Land Forces' ORBAT on 1 February 2017,[35] de facto becoming the country's fourth combat service. Unlike Bulgaria's Land, Air and Naval Forces, however, it fell outside of the Joint Forces Command structure, having been assigned directly under the authority of the Chief of Defence. The brigade was transformed into the JSOC, taking effect on November 1, 2019 and its commander, Brigade General Yavor Mateev was promoted to a major general as the chief of the new command.
- Joint Special Operations Command, Plovdiv[36]
- Command Staff and Command Battalion
- 68th Special Forces Group (designated in honour of the former 68th Training Para-Recon Base, Plovdiv)
- 86th Special Forces Group (designated in honour of the former 86th Training Para-Recon Base, Musachevo)
- 1st Special Forces Group (listed on the official JSOC website, missing on the MoD website, status uncertain)
- 3rd Special Forces Group
- Training and Combat Support Center
- Logistics Support Battalion
- Medical Point
Personnel and education
Bulgaria's total military personnel as of 2014 is 37,100, of which 30,400 (80.1%) are active military personnel and 8,100 (11.9%) are civilian personnel. The Land Forces are the largest branch, with at least 18,000 men serving there. In terms of percentage, 53% of all Army personnel are in the Land Forces, 25% are in the Air Force, 13% are in the Navy and 9% are in the Joint Forces Command.[37] Annual spending per soldier amounts to 30,000 leva (~ 15,000 euro) and is scheduled to increase to 43,600 leva by 2014.[38]
Unlike many former Soviet bloc militaries, discipline and morale problems are not common.[39][40] During the Communist era, the army members enjoyed extensive social privileges. After the fall of Communism and Bulgaria's transition to a market economy, wages fell severely. For almost a decade social benefits were virtually non-existent, and some of them have been restored but recently. Nikolai Tsonev, defence minister under the 2005–2009 cabinet, undertook steps to provide the members of the military and their families with certain privileges in terms of healthcare and education, and to improve living conditions.[41]
Military education in Bulgaria is provided in military universities and academies. Due to cuts in spending and manpower some universities have been disbanded and their campuses were included as faculties of other, larger educational entities. The largest institutions of military education in Bulgaria are:
- Vasil Levski National Military University
- Rakovski Defence and Staff College
- Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy
- Military Medical Academy – a mixed military academy/hospital institution
Training
The Land Forces practice extensive year-round military training in various conditions. Cooperative drills with the United States are very common, the last series of them conducted in 2008. Bulgaria's most recent full-scale exercise simulating a foreign invasion was carried out in 2009. It was conducted at the Koren range, and included some 1,700 personnel with tanks, ATGMs, attack aircraft, AA guns and armored vehicles.[42] The combat skills of individual soldiers are on a very high level, on par with troops of the U.S. Army.[43]
Until recent years the Air Force suffered somewhat from fuel shortages; a problem which was overcome in 2008. Fighter pilots have year-round flights, but gunship pilots do not fly often due to the yet unfulfilled modernization of the
The Navy also has some fuel shortage problems, but military training is still effective. The most recent overseas operation of the Navy was along the coast of Libya as part of Operation Unified Protector.