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Saudi Arabia
THE ARMED FORCES
Under the king, who was president of the Council of Ministers
(effectively prime minister) and commander in chief of the armed
forces, the minister of defense and aviation exercised operational
control and supervision of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (army),
the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, the Royal Saudi Air Force, and the
Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces . The total personnel strength
of the four services was estimated at 76,500 in 1991, rising to
106,000 in 1992.
A National Security Council (also known as the High Defense Council)
had formal responsibility for setting defense policy. Its members
included, in addition to the king and the minister of defense
and aviation, the ministers of interior, foreign affairs, and
finance and national economy, and the chief of staff of the armed
forces. Ultimate decisions about security, however, rested solely
with the king, assisted by such advisers as he chose to consult.
Senior personnel, frequently princes of the royal family, usually
retained their positions for long periods in the Saudi system.
The minister of defense and aviation, Amir Sultan, a full brother
of the king, had been appointed to his position in 1962. Crown
Prince Abd Allah, a half brother of the king, had been commander
of the national guard for the same length of time. The chief of
the general staff, with operational responsibility for the four
services, held the rank of general; the chiefs of the individual
services usually held the rank of lieutenant general.
Similar to the organization of military staffs in the United
States, the Saudi armed forces had four major sections: personnel
(G-1), intelligence (G-2), operations and training (G-3), and
logistics (G-4). The chiefs of the four sections were the principal
advisers to the chief of staff, who invariably has been an army
officer. The armed forces were further distributed among nine
area commands. Their mission was to defend the integrity of the
country's borders and to protect the country against foreign encroachments
or invasion. During episodes of severe internal disorder, the
armed forces had the additional mission of assisting the security
forces in restoring public order.
The national guard was under the personal control of the king
acting through its commander, Amir Abd Allah, the heir apparent
and first deputy prime minister. The national guard's command
structure was entirely separate from that of the regular armed
services. Its mission was primarily internal security, including
protection of the major oil facilities in the Eastern Province
and assistance to the regular forces of public order against civil
disturbances. The service was also expected to assist the regular
armed forces in repelling threats to the security of the kingdom's
borders, as was the case when the national guard participated
in the Persian Gulf War alongside regular army units.
Data as of December 1992
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