Lebanese Navy
The Lebanese Navy was founded in 1950 and stationed out of Lebanon’s first naval base in Beirut. Its modern era began in 1972 with a new naval base at established at Jounieh and a military school a year after. The Lebanese Naval forces suffered their greatest defeat during Lebanon’s Civil War at the hands of militia forces in 1990 when the Jounieh Naval Base was completely destroyed. It was be a year before control of the area the base was reestablished and in 1991 the Jounieh naval base was reconstructed. The Lebanese Naval Forces went on to establish three coastal stations to increase their effectiveness and to prevent stationing all their forces at one location.
The Lebanese Naval Forces send nearly all of their Navy officers for training abroad in a variety of European countries as well as the United States. Each country offers different training depending on the specializations of each officer. Officers sent to the United States have undergone schooling in surface warfare and experienced on job training with the US Coast Guard. Many Lebanese Naval Forces Engineers head to France where they receive education regarding detection, transmission, and artillery. Skills used in much of the domestic duties of the Lebanese Naval Forces from initial staff courses, amphibious training, and maritime drug enforcement are taught at British academies. Lebanon trains their own petty officers and sailors but relies on Syrian military academies for advanced training. The skills of the Lebanese Naval Forces are not incredibly diverse or necessarily advanced to the level of European countries due to their limited resources and equipment.
The abilities of the Lebanese Naval Forces largely reflect their missions which are mostly domestic concerns and their operations mirror that of a coast guard more than a traditional Navy. The Lebanese Naval Forces are supposed to preserve the safety of Lebanese waters and provide naval support to the army their greatest day to day focus is narcotics smuggling. Transshipment and production remain an enormous problem because opium from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey travels to Lebanon for processing into heroin. Much of the processing is done in small, mobile labs in Bekaa valley, where they are then shipped to other countries in the region or to Europe. Lebanese Naval Forces are unable to keep up with smugglers due to limited manpower.
At sea, the Navy focuses on port security in connection with illegal immigration. During the Civil War, militia forces controlled several small harbors along the coast of Lebanon allowing the flow of contraband and illegal aliens. These small harbors have since been shut down by the Navy. Naval Forces have also prepared for contingencies that arrive in international waters and have the ability for search and rescue missions as far as Cypress.
