Bulgarian People's Army

The People's Republic of Bulgaria formed the BNA on September 8, 1944 after the Soviet Union invaded Bulgaria and installed the communist government.[1] In 1952 it was officially named the Bulgarian People's Army. In the period between 1948 and 1952 it was involved in repelling attacks by the Greek Army. It joined the Warsaw Pact on May 14, 1955 and activities in the alliance include the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia. On October 23, 1968, the 22 Artillery Regiment that invaded the country withdrew from Czechoslovakia. It advised North Korea in the Korean War and provided medical assistance to the troops of North Korea.[2] It also advised the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. During the 1950s, 60s and 70s the BNA assisted countries like Algeria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Nicaragua, Egypt, and Syria as well as taking part in action in Afghanistan in the 1980s.[3]

The defence policy of the country was managed by the Ministry of People's Defense (Министерство на Народната Отбрана (МНО), headed by a professional officer - a General of the Army or a Colonel General), under the direct supervision of the Bulgarian Communist Party, whose leader was overall commander in chief of the People's Army. The BNA was organized into the following service branches:

• Land Forces (Сухопътни войски (СВ), including the Missile Troops and Artillery (Ракетни Войски и Артилерия (РВА ))). There were three army headquarters, amalgamated with three army districts during peacetime. They were subordinated to the Land Forces Command. In case of war the LFC was to transform into a front command and retain command of the three field armies, as well as the 10th Composite Aviation Corps and other aviation assets. The three army districts were to split from the field army commands, fall under the General Staff of the BPA and take over garrison duties in the rear ares of the armies and provide field replacement personnel for the frontline units. The peacetime tank brigades, motor rifle divisions and the separate motor rifle regiments each had a corresponding "second complement" (втори комплект) cadre). Upon mobilisation the peacetime formations were to deploy to forward positions under the field armies and their second complements were to activate under the army districts. The main peacetime combat formations of the three armies consisted of five tank brigades and eight motor rifle divisions, as reported by Lewis in 1981-82,[4] and unchanged by the IISS in mid-1986. The IISS also reported that the Land Forces included three surface-to-surface missile brigades, four artillery regiments, three AA artillery regiments, two SAM regiments, and a parachute regiment in mid-1986.[5]
• Air Forces and Air Defense (Военновъздушни Сили и Противовъздушна Отбрана (ВВС и ПВО))
• War Fleet (Военноморски флот (ВМФ ), the name followed the Soviet naming convention. In 1990 the name of the service changed to Navy (Военноморски сили (ВМС)))

Several other branches were directly controlled by the Ministry of People's Defense:

• Civil Defense Service (Гражданска Защита (ГЗ))
• Construction Troops (Строителни Войски (СВ ), named Labor Troops (Трудови войски (ТВ )) in the 1940-46 period), directly subordinated to the Ministry of the People's Defense.

Ministry of the Interior troops included:

• Border Troops (Гранични Войски (ГВ ), under the Ministry of People's Defence in the 1962-72 period)
• Interior Troops (Вътрешни войски (ВВ), under the Ministry of the Interior, disbanded in the 1960s, reestablished in the beginning of the 1980s in connection with the Revival Process and the terror attacks of the 1980s)
• People's Militia - the Socialist Era police force, the main arm of the Ministry of the Interior.

Other ministries within the government also maintained uninformed troops:

• Troops of the Post and Telecommunications Committee (Войски на Комитета по Пощи и Далекосъобщения (ВКПД )) - the government communications troops, under military discipline, outside of Ministry of the People's Defense jurisdiction. The troops were tasked with construction and maintenance of civilian communications infrastructure, not with government communications. Unrelated to the Signals Troops of the BPA. The Committee is a ministry within the government.
• Troops of the Ministry of Transportation (Войски на Министерство на Транспорта (ВМТ )) - railway construction brigades under the Ministry of Transport, under military discipline, outside of Ministry of the People's Defense jurisdiction. During wartime the TMT were also task with operating railway head lines to the FEBA. Unrelated to the transport units of the BPA.

Medal for Ten Years of Service in the BNA

The BNA's manpower by the time the People's Republic was dissolved reached 120,000 men, most who were conscripts. The combined strength of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Missile Forces, plus the strength of the People's Militia and the Border Troops reached 150,000 in 1988.[6] The combined strength of all of the forces was 325,000 in 1989.[6]

The equipment of the BNA was mostly equipment provided by the Soviet Union. Some of this equipment were 500 combat aircraft, 3,000 (mostly T-55) tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 2,500 artillery systems, 33 navy vessels, 67 Scud missiles, and 24 SS-23 rocket launchers.[7]

• Defence Assistance Organisation

• International Institute for Strategic Studies (Autumn 1986). The Military Balance 1986-87. London: The International Institute for Strategic Studies.
• William J. Lewis (1982). The Warsaw Pact: Arms, Doctrine, and Strategy. Cambridge, Mass.: Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis/McGraw Hill.

• Daniel N. Nelson (1990). "Political dynamics and the Bulgarian military". Journal of Communist Studies. 6 (4): 200–204. doi:10.1080/13523279008415063.
• Nelson, Daniel N (1989). "WTO Mobilization Potential: A Bulgarian Case Study". Defense Analysis. 5 (1): 31–44.