Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova

A Moldovan MiG-29UB trainer on an American C-17 Globemaster III in 1997.

On 2 November 1990, prior to the formation of the state of Moldova, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldovan SSR ordered creation of the Republican Guard (Moldovan: Garda Republicană) as a militarized government agency. This force subsequently became the Moldovan military upon independence.[2][3][4]

Moldova has accepted all relevant arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union. On October 30, 1992, Moldova ratified the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment and provides for the destruction of weapons in excess of those limits. It acceded to the provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in October 1994 in Washington, DC. It does not have nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons.

Moldova joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's Partnership for Peace on March 16, 1994.

A transition to a professional force of 12,000 to 15,000 volunteers was planned at first, but when fighting erupted in 1991 between supporters of the central government in Chișinău and supporters of separatist regions, males between eighteen and forty years of age were mobilized, and the size of Moldova's military was temporarily expanded to meet the demands of the Transnistrian conflict.[5] In early 1995, the armed forces totaled some 11,000 volunteers, and there were plans to gradually create a professional army, similar to that of the United States.

The General Staff of the National Army is currently composed of the following:

• Headquarters of the General Staff (Chisinau)
  • Land Force Command
  • Air Force Command
• Personnel Directorate
• Operations Directorate
• Logistics Directorate
• Strategic Planning Directorate
• Communication and Information Systems Directorate
• Education, Training and Doctrine Directorate
• Planning, Finance and Monitoring
• Legal Section
• Medical Section
• Military police

The Trupele de Carabinieri is the gendarmerie-type force of the military, based on the Italian Carabinieri. The Moldovan Carabinieri is designed to ensure, together with the General Police Inspectorate or independently, public order and the protection of rights and freedoms of citizens.

On 3 September, the National Army marks its professional holiday, Ziua Armatei Naționale (Day of the National Army). The President of Moldova as well as the Prime Minister of Moldova[13] usually present congratulations to all active servicemen. On September 2, the Ministry of Defense organizes large demonstrations on the occasion of holiday.[14][15] Military and civilian staff lay flowers at the Stephen the Great Monument and the Eternity Memorial Complex. There is also a ceremony of the decoration of state and National Army distinctions, as well as honor diplomas to the best military and civilian employees. Festive activities are also organized in Balti, Cahul, Edineţ and Ungheni, in common with the local public administrations.[16] In 2018, the National Army Day silver jubilee celebrations were held at the base of the 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade "Moldova" in Bălți.[17]

On 2 March, the armed forces celebrates its Remembrance Day, which honours the memory of the Transnistria War. Remembrance Day events are usually organized throughout the country from 1-4 March. Flowers are usually laid at the Stephen the Great Monument. The participants have also organized the Memory March, walking from Great National Assembly Square to the Maica Indurerata (Grieving Mother) Monument at Eternitate Memorial.[18]

The veteran's medal

• Medal "10 years of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova"[19]
• Veteran of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova
• Medal "For service to the Motherland"[20]
• Medal "For the strengthening of the military community"[21]
• Medal "For the Merit of the Carabinieri"
• Medal "For Impeccable Service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs"
• Medal "15th anniversary of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan"
• Medal "10 years of the War in Transnistria"
• Medal "10 years of the Border Troops"
• Medal "10 years of the Moldavian Army"
• Medal "10 years of the Carabinieri Troops"
• Commemorative Medal "75 years since the victory in the Second World War[22]
• Commemorative Medal "The 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism in the World War II"[23]

Other military forces also existed within Moldova. In early 1994, the government of the "Dnestr Republic" had armed forces of about 5,000 which included the Dnestr battalion of the Republic Guard and some 1,000 cossacks.[5]

As of early 1994, the former Soviet 14th Guards Army (about 9,200 troops) consisted of one army headquarters, the 59th Guards Motor Rifle Division, one tank battalion, one artillery regiment, and one anti-aircraft brigade. Their equipment and weaponry consisted of 120 main battle tanks, 180 armoured fighting vehicles, and 130 artillery pieces/multiple rocket launchers/mortars. The remainder of the 14th Guards Army had been over the border in Ukraine and was absorbed by the Ukrainian armed forces.

Around 1994, peacekeepers in Transnistria consisted of six airborne battalions supplied by Russia, three infantry battalions supplied by Moldova, and three airborne battalions supplied by the "Dnestr Republic."[5]

Since 2007 the Russian force, now designated the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova, under the command of the Western Military District had withered away to a strength of some 1500 which included two motor rifle battalions, an independent security and support battalion, a helicopter detachment and several smaller, administrative detachments.

• NATO and Moldova

• Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Moldova
• MDNationalArmy