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Army - Force Development

Romanian Land Forces' reform was initiated in 1990 as a continuous process, and included two major stages of transformation. The first stage 1990 to 1994, focused on rapid structural reorganization and redeployment of the army. Having the war-time strength of about 320,000 troops, the Land Forces redeployed its troops along the national borders to deter any possible aggression. This initiative absorbed most of the military's resources and had no significant contribution to the overall transformation process. The restructuring process was controversial, as it did not have a clear vision and focus.

On March 12 1990, the minister of National Defence issued the # B3/0907 Order to establish MP units/subunits Romania wide. Starting with 15.05.1990, the 265 MP Bn, 286 MP Coy, 282 MP Coy, 295 MP Coy, 302 MP Coy, other MP Coys, platoons and squads were founded by the chief of Land Forces. Due to reorganisation of Romanian Land Forces, starting with 1999 some MP Coys were transformed into MP platoons and squads and some of them were reassigned to logistic or combart support units. Starting with 2006, 4 MP-Guard Battalions were set up. Main misssion is to guard sensitive military HQs and installations. The strength of these Bns was about 3000 personnel.

The Land Forces Headquarters was established in 1993 and consisted of four army headquarters, each having 2-3 divisions, with each division organized in 3-4 combat regiments and 4-5 combat support regiments. In 1994, one army headquarters was disestablished and most of the regiments transformed into brigades.

From 1989 to 2001, the Armed Forces wartime force structure was reduced from 850,000 to 230,000. In 1997, the first strategy for the Armed Forces projected the military strength to be 112,000 military personnel and 28,000 civilians and maintained the Reserve Forces. Considering the budgetary limitations, it was impossible to continue the reform by both restructuring and major acquisition programs and, as a result, equipment modernization was significantly delayed until 2004.

As of 1999 the reserves were an indispensable component of Romania’s national defense. The active reserves consisted of all men and women having completed their military service, up to the age of fifty. Periodically, depending on their category of age, they were called for refreshing courses and exercises (more frequent when they are younger). When the time comes (during mobilization), they were called to serve in the units they are assigned to in peace time. Those units are following a special program of preparation before being sent to the battlefield, a program which is shorter or longer depending upon the function they are supposed to fulfill (for instance, shorter for logistics, longer for combat units). Legally, their activity is regulated through the laws for the preparation of the territory and population for defense. But, following the termination of a long cycle of mass armies inaugurated during the Napoleonic Wars, and given technological revolution and budgetary constraints compounded by the "peace dividend", conscription was becoming more and more questionable.

The National Military Strategy, approved by the Government in April 2000, defined the missions of the Armed Forces in peace, crisis and war, and sets out the structures, level of forces and capabilities needed to deter and defeat any threat that endangers Romania's security, and enable Romania to participate in regional conflict prevention, crisis management and collective defense operations. Also, the National Military Strategy outlines the requirements for military education and training, logistics and infrastructure and establishes the resource priorities during the restructuring period. It directs the Romanian Armed Forces to be functionally organized into active, territorial and reserve forces within the Army and into active and territorial forces within the Air Force and Navy. The National Military Strategy establishes a force level of 112,000 active military and 28,000 civilian personnel.

In 2000, a second plan called "Program Force 2003" eliminated the reserve forces, created rapid reaction components, active and territorial forces, and organized the integrated surveillance and early warning system. Program Force 2003, the military force structure design that was being implemented, sought to ensure that Romania is fully capable of responding to risks and is able to effectively contribute to the maintenance of stability in and beyond the Balkan Region.

During the first NATO Membership Action Plan [MAP] cycle (1999-2000), theParliament approved the defense budget and the distribution of resources. With the approval of the Government White Paper, the Romanian Parliament agreed to increase the level of resources for defense budget, no less than 2% of the GDP. The government allocated $1.004 billion, about 2.47% of GDP, for defense in 2002. The political parties also committed themselves to support a restructured and modernized armed forces, and to sustain the national effort to prepare for NATO accession.

The second MAP cycle (2000 - 2001), adopted a quantitative approach and introduced major changes within the force structure. Within the Army, 8 Brigades and 30 Battalions, 55 subunits, and 602 territorial structures were disestablished; 16 brigades and regiments and 26 battalions were transformed in smaller organizations. At the same time, one brigade was maintained operational for conducting PSO operations.

The third MAP cycle (2001-2002), adopted a qualitative approach focused on building actual capabilities. Restructuring focused on eliminating 3 division headquarters, 5 brigades, 6 mobilization centers, and 5 battalions while maintaining the readiness level for the first operational brigade and initializing the operational program for the second brigade.

The new force structure contains a mixture of active, territorial and reserve units, according to their readiness level. Each unit's mission and composition (i.e., active, territorial or reserve) determine the level of resources allocated to support its readiness. While all units receive their full compliment of equipment, manning levels vary significantly. Active units have the priority for personnel at 80-90% of their total strength. All NATO designated units fall into this category. Territorial forces are manned with 30-70% of their total strength and Reserve forces with less than 30%.

MAP IV (2002-2003) had as objectives reorganizing the force structure according with the provisions of the Objective Force 2007, while maintaining operational two mechanized brigades and initialize the process for 3 more brigades ( Mountain, Logistic, Airborne) and independent battalions such as Special Forces and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN). By the end of 2003, the Army had downsized to 6 combat brigades, 3 combat support (CS) brigades and 1 combat service support (CSS) brigade within Active Forces, and 2 Corps HQ, 9 combat brigades, 5 CS brigades and 2 Logistic Bases within Territorial Forces.

The ongoing transformation program, "Objective Force" (2003-2007), seeks to ensure that the Romanian Armed Forces will be able to meet their national and international commitments. With a peacetime authorized strength of 90,000 (75,000 military and 15,000 civilians), the Objective Force program aims to balance Romania's military requirements and international commitments.

According to the Objective Force program, the Army will have active and territorial forces. Active forces will generate the high-readiness forces capable of deploying rapidly and conducting crisis response operations, counterterrorism operations, humanitarian assistance, and noncombatant evacuation. Active forces will amount to 29,000 troops, with 100 percent personnel and equipment, and self sustainable for 30 days. Their readiness goes from 7 days notice before deployment, for missions within the national territory, to 30 days for missions abroad. Territorial forces will have a lower readiness to support or reinforce the highreadiness forces or to conduct large-scale operations in major contingencies. They will number 19,500 troops, with 100 percent major equipment, and 5 percent to 70 percent personnel having a readiness of 30 to 360 days.

According to the White Paper on Security and National Defense [WPSND], by 2007, the Army will make available for NATO-led collective defense one Mechanized Brigade (high-operational readiness) and one Mountain Troops Brigade (low-operational readiness). By 2009, the offer will increase to one Deployable Division framework with CS and CSS elements and by 2012, a deployable division consisting of 3 brigades and the necessary combat support and combat service support units. The Army Transformation Strategy sets the programmed capabilities to one division and one brigade, by 2015.

By 2009 the Army had downsized due to an end to conscription. It had 4 active and 3 reserve combat brigades, down from 6 active and 9 reserve combat brigades.