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| dates = 1971–1979<br/>1979–1980 (as rebel group)
| disbanded =
| country = {{flag|Uganda}} ([[Second Republic of Uganda|Second Republic]])
| countries =
| allegiance =
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| equipment =
| equipment_label =
| battles = [[1972
| decorations =
| battle_honours =
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| notable_commanders = [[Mustafa Adrisi]]<br/>[[Isaac Lumago]]<br/>[[Isaac Maliyamungu]]<br/>[[Yusuf Gowon]]<br/>[[Ali Fadhul]]
}}
The '''Uganda Army''' (abbreviated '''UA'''), also known as '''Uganda Armed Forces''',{{sfn|Translations|1979|p=159}} served as the national [[armed forces]] of [[Second Republic of Uganda|Uganda]] during the dictatorship of [[Idi Amin]] (1971–1979). It mostly collapsed during the [[Uganda–Tanzania War]], but remnants continued to operate in exile from 1979. These pro-Amin rebel forces continued to be called the "Uganda Army" and maintained a semblance of cohesion until 1980, when they fully fractured into rival factions.
Following Uganda's independence in 1962, colonial units were transformed into the country's first national military which became known as the "[[Uganda Army (1962–1971)|Uganda Army]]". The military suffered from increasing ethnic and political tensions until UA commander Idi Amin overthrew President [[Milton Obote]] in 1971. The military was subsequently purged of perceived pro-Obote elements, resulting in a transformation of its setup and organization. Under Amin's rule, the UA became dominated by people of northwestern Ugandan, Sudanese, and Zairean origin, resulting in it being increasingly perceived as foreign mercenary force by most Ugandans. It was massively expanded and modernized, mostly with weaponry of [[Eastern Bloc]] origin, though Uganda's difficult international relations resulted in shortcomings in the supply of spare parts.
To maintain power, Amin used a complex patronage system
== History ==
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{{main|Uganda Army (1962–1971)}}
[[File:Uganda Army OT-64 APC.jpg|thumb|A Uganda Army [[OT-64 SKOT]] [[armoured personnel carrier]] during a military parade in Kampala in the late 1960s]]
After
Besides defending the country from external foes such as during the [[Congo Crisis]] and battling regional insurgencies like the [[Rwenzururu movement]], the Uganda Army was politicized. It became dominated by people from northern Uganda such as the [[Acholi people|Acholi]], [[Lango people|Langi]], and West Nile tribal people.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Hansen|1977|pp=78–79}} Over the course of the [[Mengo Crisis]] of 1966, Prime Minister [[Milton Obote]] and his ''protégé'', Uganda Army commander [[Idi Amin]], used the military to oust the country's president, [[Mutesa II of Buganda]], and establish a ''de facto'' dictatorship.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=5–6}}{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=84}} This event marked the full entry of the military into the political arena,{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=85}} and the start of ethnic purges in the Uganda Army, as many [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] and [[Teso people|Teso]] troops were ousted from the ranks.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=85}} Obote subsequently assumed the presidency and Amin was appointed head of the Uganda Army, but rifts soon emerged between the two allies. Obote feared that the Uganda Army had become too dominated by West Nile tribesmen who were regarded as partisans of Idi Amin, and reacted by ordering the recruitment of more Langi and Acholi.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=6}}{{sfn|Hansen|2013|pp=85–86}} By 1968, the Uganda Army had been expanded to about 9,800 personnel.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=8}}<ref name=Keatley>{{cite web| url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/aug/18/guardianobituaries| title = Idi Amin| last = Keatley| first = Patrick| date = 18 August 2003| work = The Guardian| access-date = 16 March 2020}}</ref> By 1971 it was rumoured that Obote would have Amin arrested.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=37}} The rivalry culminated in Amin's successful [[1971 Ugandan coup d'état|coup d'état]] of 25 January 1971, when Obote was on a trip abroad.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=6}}<ref>{{cite news| last = Honey| first = Martha| title = Ugandan Capital Captured| newspaper = The Washington Post| date = 12 April 1979| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/04/12/ugandan-capital-captured/1eb604a7-5ff0-4c51-9fa0-527169e5bffa/?noredirect=on|access-date=7 November 2018}}</ref> The takeover was achieved with the support of a small coterie of low ranking army officers—most of whom were of Nubian or West Nile origin—who felt their positions would have been threatened by Amin's arrest.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|pp=37, 39}}
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[[File:West Nile subregion.png|thumb|left|After [[Idi Amin]] assumed power, he filled the Uganda Army's ranks with soldiers from the [[West Nile sub-region|West Nile District]] (dark red) ]]
The coup created unrest in the Uganda Army, as tensions rose between the pre-existing Acholi and Langi-dominated hierarchy and the new command structure consisting of the junior officers who had supported Amin's takeover.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=39}} Amin actually promised reforms in the army to make it more ethnically representative and improve its discipline.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|pp=88–89}} Despite this, hundreds of soldiers were massacred in the coup's immediate aftermath—including chief of staff [[Suleiman Hussein]].{{sfn|Kasozi|1994|pp=249–251}} The early killings—as well as arrests—were largely selective and meant to remove potential dissidents. Nevertheless, the repression disproportionately affected Acholi and Langi officers and thus provoked the flight of hundreds of Acholi and Langi soldiers from the country, who went into exile to link up with Obote.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|pp=38–39, 64}} In April 1971 the full extent of the exodus was revealed when Sudanese authorities interned hundreds of army deserters and returned them to Uganda, where they were then massacred. Realizing that it could not effectively prevent the flight of army personnel from the country and fearing that more Acholi and Langi would join with Obote, Amin's regime resorted to indiscriminate violence{{sfn|Lowman|2020|pp=39–40}} and moved to systematically purge the Uganda Army of Acholi, Langi, and Teso soldiers.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=6}}{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=310}} Teso soldiers were targeted by Amin's supporters despite the fact that many of them did not resist the coup. Researcher Thomas Lowman interviewed several Ugandans who had witnessed the killings of Teso personnel, and all of them said the massacres of these soldiers were a result of "confusion rather than strategy". Lowman concluded that the Teso soldiers were "erroneously targeted".{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=61}}
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==== 1972 invasion, growing factional violence, and Operation Entebbe ====
{{
When Obote's loyalists launched invasions in
▲When Obote's loyalists launched invasions in September 1972 from Tanzania<ref name= lubega1>{{cite web| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Tanzanians-found-Amin---men-weak---Col-Kisuule/688342-2325484-yc2hibz/index.html| title = Tanzanians found Amin men weak - Col Kisuule| last = Lubega| first = Henry| date = 25 May 2014| website = Daily Monitor| access-date = 23 January 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190124102143/https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Tanzanians-found-Amin---men-weak---Col-Kisuule/688342-2325484-yc2hibz/index.html| archive-date = 24 January 2019| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}}</ref> and southern Sudan,{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=262}} they were completely defeated by Amin's troops and allied Libyan soldiers.{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|pp=261–262}}{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=105}} This failed invasion marked the beginning of "a new and unprecedently violent phase"{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=105}} of Amin's reign. His regime greatly empowered and further expanded the military, allowed soldiers to act with impunity,{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=105}} and ultimately caused a "destructive spiral of violence" that destabilized the country.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=95}} As result of the increasing brutality and the growing number of troops of West Nile origin whose primary language was [[Swahili language|Swahili]], Ugandan civilians increasingly began to perceive the military as a "foreign" force.<ref name=Bruce-Lockhart/> At the same time, Amin's following gradually became narrower as he grew paranoid and his resources to buy the troops' loyalty shrank amid Uganda's economic decline.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=105}}{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=6–7, 11–12}} The Alur were the first West Nile group that fell from power. As they were quite numerous and related to the Acholi and Langi, Amin's regime began to regard them as a security risk and purged them.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|pp=96–97}} The highest-ranking Alur officer, Lieutenant Colonel Valentine Ochima, was removed from the Defence Council and imprisoned in July 1971. Following Obote's invasion, Ochima was shot and all other Alur officers removed from important posts.{{sfn|Hansen|1977|p=113}} Next, the Madi were disempowered mostly because they opposed the growing influence of Muslims in the regime. Madi soldiers were also accused of being undisciplined and aiding anti-Amin insurgents.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Hansen|1977|p=114}} The Lugbara also fell under suspicion as they were the largest West Nile tribe.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|pp=96–97}} To replace the purged troops, Amin began to enlist a growing number of Sudanese. The [[First Sudanese Civil War]] had ended in March 1972, and many Anyanya rebels opted to cross the border and enlist in the Uganda Army instead of remaining in their home country.{{sfn|Hansen|1977|p=110}} Some Lugbara, Madi, and Alur officers wanted to stop the growing chaos in Uganda by overthrowing Amin, but their conspiracy was crushed in July 1973.{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|pp=310–311}} The year also witnessed another purge of the military.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=7}} By the end of 1973, the Alur, Lugbara, and Madi were marginalized, and several high-ranking commanders belonging to these tribes had been ousted from the Uganda Army or killed.{{sfn|Kasozi|1994|pp=111–112}} The army also proved incapable of containing incursions from [[Turkana people|Turkana]] cattle raiders from Kenya, though on several occasions they crossed the border in pursuit and carried out reprisals on Kenyans both there and in Uganda.{{sfn|Uganda under Military Rule|1973|p=15}}
{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=[...] when some army officers are promoted they run for big cars and stop buying suits. Some of them are dressed like cowboys in bell-bottom trousers.|source=—President Idi Amin, 1974, about the indiscipline in the Uganda Army{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=155}} }}
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==== Purge of Adrisi and increasing internal strife ====
{{further|1977 invasion of Uganda}}
In 1977, the Uganda Army was subjected to more ethnic purges. These were often met with resistance, and flagrant armed insubordination in the army increased.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=169}} In one case, soldiers were hired by a businessman to rescue his brother, resulting in a successful attack on the prison at [[Iganga]] and the freeing of 600 prisoners.{{sfn|Southall|1980|pp=633–634}} While one lieutenant colonel in the Bondo garrison personally oversaw the instructed execution of his Acholi officers, another opted to send his Acholi and Langi subordinates on leave so that they could flee. The largely Acholi and Langi Chui Battalion began denying access of their barracks to agents of the [[State Research Bureau (organisation)|State Research Bureau]], Amin's state security organisation, which was usually tasked with enforcing purges. Over time they began shooting at the agents when they entered their environs. The purges also sparked additional desertions, as more Acholi and Langi personnel fled the country to join Obote's rebel group.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=169}} Members of the Malire Battalion and air force attempted to kill Amin during [[Operation Mafuta Mingi]] in June.<ref name= "mann">{{cite news| last = Mann| first = Roger| title = Amin Alive| newspaper = The Washington Post| date = 24 June 1977| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/06/24/amin-alive/cccb2d12-ff6f-4b85-b02b-d4c9a990f55a/ |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref><ref name= "escape">{{cite web| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/six-stage-escape-from-the-dreaded-state-research-bureau-1724658?view=htmlamp| title = Six stage escape from the dreaded State Research Bureau| date = 4 November 2017| website = Daily Monitor| access-date = 17 December 2021}}</ref> In late 1977, a rebel group known as "Uganda Liberation Movement" [[1977 invasion of Uganda|attempted to invade from Kenya]], but the insurgents were easily defeated by the Uganda Army.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=44}} Following the bloodshed of 1977, Amin declared that 1978 would be a "year of peace".{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=172}} Nevertheless, infighting and factionalism in the army increased.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=172}}
Beginning in 1977, the Uganda Army had been affected by growing tensions between supporters of Amin and soldiers loyal to Vice President Adrisi. Adrisi intended to purge foreigners in the military, particularly Sudanese,{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=49}} as he felt that foreigners were not dependent enough on the regime to support it, and would at their convenience flee back to their lands of origin. He thought that it would be best if the Uganda Army was made up of northern Ugandans who had a larger stake in fighting for it.{{sfn|Decalo|2019|loc=The Collapse of a Dictator}} By this point, Uganda was already in a state of acute crisis, as its economy and infrastructure collapsed, and the different factions in the Uganda Army increasingly competed for the remaining resources.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2006arch/features/spec/feb/spec200602161.php|title=Not even an archbishop was spared|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012152659/http://ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2006arch/features/spec/feb/spec200602161.php|archive-date=12 October 2007|work=The Weekly Observer|date=16 February 2006}}</ref> Adrisi was outmaneuvered by his political opponents, and relieved of his ministerial portfolios after being injured in a car accident in early 1978. Amin consequently purged Adrisi's loyalists from the military,{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=49–50}}<ref name= darnton3>{{cite news| last = Darnton| first = John| title = Deepening Uganda Crisis Tests Amin| newspaper = The New York Times| page = 8| date = 10 November 1978| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/10/archives/deepening-uganda-crisis-tests-amin-cant-get-any-worsebut-it-does.html| access-date = 19 December 2019}}</ref> including chief of staff [[Isaac Lumago]] and other ranking officers such as [[Moses Ali]],<ref name= darnton3/> [[Juma Oris]],{{sfn|Decker|2014|pp=149–150}} and Nasur Ezega.<ref name= independent>{{cite web| url = https://www.independent.co.ug/how-unity-died-in-uganda/| title = How 'unity' died in Uganda | date = 8 April 2019| website = The Independent (Kampala)| access-date = 7 March 2020 }}</ref> Ultimately, almost 3,000 troops were removed by Amin.{{sfn|Singh|2012|p=123}} These purges reinforced suspicions that Adrisi's "car accident" had been an assassination attempt.{{sfn|Roberts|2017|p=156}} The Lugbara troops were especially upset about Adrisi's fall from power.<ref name= darnton3/>
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The ability of the Uganda Army's ground forces to resist the TPDF was hampered by organizational chaos, indiscipline, and the widespread lack of combat experience among its troops.{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=141}} Well equipped with [[armoured personnel carrier]]s, the Ugandan soldiers usually chose to fight along the country's roads, but deployed their vehicles ineffectively against well-armed Tanzanian troops, resulting in many losses.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=129}}{{sfn|Matatu|1979|p=12}} Though the Uganda Army employed at least 20,000 personnel by 1978/79,<ref name= darnton3/>{{sfn|Paxton|2016|p=1198}} only 3,000 Ugandan soldiers at most were deployed at the front lines at any given time.<ref name=vision>{{cite web| url = https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1508815/amin-annexed-kagera-salient-uganda| title = When Amin annexed Kagera Salient onto Uganda| date = 17 October 2019| website = New Vision| access-date =9 December 2019}}</ref> The 10,000 new recruits had little training, and were used to man roadblocks instead of serving at the front lines.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=228}} Despite being regarded as Amin's "elite" troops, the foreign soldiers of the Uganda Army proved unreliable and often put up little resistance.<ref name=Golooba-Mutebi>{{cite web| last = Golooba-Mutebi | first = Frederick | url = https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/oped/434748-1137972-yudf18/index.html | title = Elite troops turn paper tigers again as Gaddafi's Touaregs melt into the sands | website = [[The EastAfrican]] | date = 4 April 2011 | access-date = 14 October 2018}}</ref> One former Uganda Army officer later attributed his military's inability to organize a proper resistance to the soldiers being more interested in protecting their wealth and families rather than fight; the troops were not properly trained and many had become more akin to wealthy civilians than actual soldiers.{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=66}}
Despite [[Foreign support of Uganda in the Uganda–Tanzania War|support by]] the [[Palestine Liberation Organisation]] and Libya, the Uganda Army was defeated in the war's decisive [[Battle of Lukaya]] on 10–11 March 1979. Thereafter, the Ugandan military completely disintegrated.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=34}} In late March 1979, Darnton estimated that Amin could only rely on about 2,500 Nubians in the Uganda Army; "the loyalty or at least will to fight" of the other troops was "questionable".<ref name= darnton2>{{cite news| last = Darnton| first = John| title = Amin, Living by the Gun| newspaper = The New York Times| page = 3| date = 25 March 1979| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/25/archives/amin-living-by-the-gun-under-the-gun.html| access-date = 19 December 2019}}</ref> In April 1979, the TPDF and its allies [[Fall of Kampala|captured Kampala]]; Amin fled into exile.{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|pp=141–142}} Some Uganda Army troops continued their resistance, but were defeated during Tanzanian mopping-up operations from April to June 1979.{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=142}}{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=194–195}} About 3,000 Uganda Army personnel were taken prisoner during the war.<ref name="prisoner">{{cite news| last = Mugabe| first = Faustin| title = When Brig Gwanga was taken prisoner of war by Tanzanians| newspaper = Daily Monitor| date = 22 November 2016| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/When-Brig-Gwanga-was-taken-prisoner-of-war-by-Tanzanians/689844-2965544-1xma42z/index.html|access-date=11 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930133438/https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/When-Brig-Gwanga-was-taken-prisoner-of-war-by-Tanzanians/689844-2965544-1xma42z/index.html |archive-date=30 September 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most fleeing soldiers focused on plundering shops and banks as well as on stealing cars in hopes of escaping with as much loot as possible.{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=629}}<ref name=Golooba-Mutebi/> The Uganda Army was replaced as Uganda's national armed forces by the [[Uganda National Liberation Army]] (UNLA), a former pro-Tanzanian alliance of rebel militias.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=39}} The air force was left completely destroyed by the war,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=42}} as was the army's lake patrol force.{{sfn|Report of the Uganda Constitutional Commission|1993|p=379}} Meanwhile, Obote returned to power and became president following the disputed [[1980 Ugandan general election|general election]] of 1980.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=39}}
=== Ugandan Bush War and final fracturing ===
Thousands or even tens of thousands{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=649}} of Uganda Army troops managed to flee across the borders to [[Zaire]] and Sudan, however, where they reorganized as insurgents and rallied{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=194–195}} under the leadership of officers such as [[Emilio Mondo]], Isaac Lumago, [[Isaac Maliyamungu]],{{sfn|Africa Confidential|1981|p=8}} [[Elly Hassan]],{{sfn|Harrell-Bond|1982|p=9}} [[Christopher Mawadri]],{{sfn|Africa Confidential|1981|p=8}}{{sfn|Harrell-Bond|1982|p=6}} and Moses Ali.{{sfn|Africa Confidential|1981|p=9}} Most of the Anyanya veterans successfully escaped to [[Juba]].<ref name= harvey>{{cite news| last = Harvey| first = Roy| title = Henry K. M. Kyemba's Inside Story| newspaper = Sepia| pages = 28–30| volume = 28| issue = 7| date = 1979| url = https://books.google.com/books?
In autumn 1980, about 7,100 Uganda Army troops{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=39}} successfully [[West Nile campaign (October 1980)|invaded northwestern Uganda]], starting the [[Ugandan Bush War]].{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=39}} Despite capturing most of the West Nile region from the UNLA, the Uganda Army remained highly factious. Its remaining forces were not truly unified but split into several bands with differing agendas.{{sfn|Africa Confidential|1981|p=8}}{{sfn|Harrell-Bond|1982|p=9}}{{sfn|Golooba-Mutebi|2008|p=14}} Some Uganda Army groups wanted to restore Amin to presidency, whereas others wanted to distance themselves from him.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=39–40}}{{efn|Several rebel factions repeatedly asked Amin to return to lead them during their insurgency in the bush, but he refused, preferring to live the rest of his life in luxury in Saudi Arabia.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=185}} He died there in 2003.<ref>{{cite news| last = Wasswa| first = Henry| date = 17 August 2003| title = Ex-Uganda dictator Idi Amin dies| url = https://www.deseretnews.com/article/1003928/Ex-Uganda-dictator-Idi-Amin-dies.html| work = Deseret News| agency = Associated Press| access-date = 12 March 2019}}</ref>}} Some troops without larger political goals simply did not wish to give up their arms return to civilian livelihoods.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=184}} This rift culminated in open war{{sfn|Harrell-Bond|1982|p=9}} between two rival factions which became known as the "[[Uganda National Rescue Front]]" (UNRF) under Moses Ali,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=39–40}} and the "Former Uganda National Army" (FUNA), led by Elly Hassan.{{sfn|Harrell-Bond|1982|p=9}}{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=39–40}} UNRF mostly defeated FUNA in July 1981,{{sfn|Harrell-Bond|1982|p=9}} but both factions continued to be active in the West Nile region.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=49}}{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=51}} FUNA maintained its claim to be the continuation of the Uganda Army during this time. In August 1985, FUNA leader Isaac Lumago even claimed that the "structure of the army that went into exile after Amin's overthrow remains intact in southern Sudan and eastern Zaire".<ref>{{cite news |author=United Press International | title = Amin's Generals Seek Amnesty for Him | newspaper = Los Angeles Times| date = 12 August 1985| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-12-mn-3930-story.html |access-date=7 January 2020}}</ref> In 1985, President Obote was overthrown by a clique of UNLA officers led by [[Tito Okello]]. Okello's regime consequently convinced several ex-Uganda Army rebel groups to join his forces.{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=51}}
The UNLA was defeated by [[National Resistance Army]] (NRA) rebels in 1986. As result, the [[National Resistance Movement]] (NRM) assumed power, [[Yoweri Museveni]] was installed as president, and the NRA became Uganda's new national military.<ref name=Bruce-Lockhart/> When the NRA advanced into the West Nile region, the local elders convinced most ex-Uganda Army soldiers to peacefully surrender and reconcile with Museveni's government.{{sfn|Leopold|2005|pp=51–52}} Some ex-Uganda Army forces even managed to make favorable deals with the NRM. Moses Ali integrated his private army into the National Resistance Army and subsequently became a high-ranking military officer and official in Museveni's government.{{sfn|Rice|2009|p=264}} Some elements of FUNA and UNRF refused to lay down their weapons, but were consequently forced to retreat back into Zaire and Sudan.{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=52}} Though FUNA and UNRF dissolved afterwards, ex-Uganda Army soldiers formed the [[West Nile Bank Front]] and [[Uganda National Rescue Front|UNRF (II)]] which battled Museveni's government in the 1980s and 1990s.{{sfn|Golooba-Mutebi|2008|pp=14, 17}}{{sfn|Day|2011|pp=451–452}} Some militant Amin loyalists{{sfn|McGregor|2014|p=8}} and Uganda Army veterans such as [[Dusman Sabuni]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://allafrica.com/stories/199810010061.html| title = Uganda: Amin's Son Leads ADF| last = Allio| first = Emmy| date = 1 October 1998| website = allAfrica.com| access-date = 28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.africaintelligence.com/ion/corridors-of-power/1999/11/20/rebels-are-killing-tourism,58633-art| title = Rebels are killing Tourism| date = 20 November 1999| website = Africa Intelligence| access-date = 28 February 2020}}</ref> eventually joined the [[Allied Democratic Forces]] that continue to [[Allied Democratic Forces insurgency|wage an insurgency]] up until the present day.{{sfn|McGregor|2014|p=8}}
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The Uganda Army became closely associated with Idi Amin among Uganda's population, and its veterans remain popularly known as "Amin's soldiers"<ref name=Bruce-Lockhart/> ([[Kiswahili]]: ''Omusilikale wa Amin'')<ref name="prisoner"/> or "Amin's men".{{sfn|Kasozi|1994|p=130}} In the decades since Amin's downfall, the term maintained a negative connotation in much of Uganda due to the Uganda Army's indiscipline, brutal conduct, and corruption. "Amin's soldiers" were stereotypically believed to be uneducated northerners who had only joined the military to maintain Amin's power, despite the existence of many veterans who did not correspond to this image. This negative perception affected their attempted reintegration into civilian communities; their military service was seen as a "shame", they were monitored by authorities, and many were not granted their full pensions. There were also differences between the veterans, as some of those who had peacefully surrendered after the Uganda–Tanzania War became outcasts, whereas those who had joined rebel groups were later "welcomed back to Uganda".<ref name=Bruce-Lockhart/> Some veterans came to resent Amin, especially as he had continued to live in luxury in exile, leaving them to their fate.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|pp=185–186}}
Many issues also remained unresolved in regard to questions of guilt. Victims of Amin's regime believe that many soldiers who had committed human rights violations essentially walked free. This problem is exacerbated by the reconciliation policies of the NRM government that governs Uganda since 1986. Since the 1990s, many Uganda Army veterans have also begun to lobby for their cause, and publicly criticised their stereotypical perception as perpetrators, arguing that they should not be generally blamed for Amin's crimes.<ref name=Bruce-Lockhart/> In the early 2000s veterans of the army from the 1960s and 1970s formed the Uganda Army Service Men Development Association and sued the government, demanding to be properly compensated for their service. In 2007 the Ugandan Court of Appeal ruled that since the Armed Forces of Act of 1964 had not been officially superseded by other legislation until 1992, "the Uganda Army technically remained the national army side by side with the NRA" up to that point and thus its 45,000 members required compensation for those years of duty.<ref>{{cite news|
== Morale, motivations, and role in the patronage system ==
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{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=left|quote=During Amin's time here was nothing. Because when he came here, what he did based here was recuit all the youth [...]. OK, from the army they got ranks and so on. That is what they benefited from. But there was no tangible development here, not here, but people were enjoying themselves all over, all over the big shops in the city, everywhere and so on.|source=—An unnamed elder from the West Nile region{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=65}} }}
Loyal soldiers were also promoted in such great numbers that it created chaos in the chain of command.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=61}} As result of the great power wielded by soldiers, businesses were forced into clientage relationships with officers to avoid being constantly harassed or stolen from. Taken together with the President's own system of favors, the military developed a patronage system in which high-ranking military men combined "military, political, administrative, commercial, and agricultural operations into composite fiefs", becoming autonomous warlords.{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=642}} To keep these officers from becoming too powerful, Amin allowed and even encouraged lower-ranks to ignore their commanders' orders and take orders directly from himself.{{sfn|Southall|1980|pp=642–643}} Troops were also allowed to bend rules and disregard many laws.{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=643}} As result, many soldiers also acted as bandits, were willing to loan or sell their weapons to civilians, and operated as guns for hire.{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=642}} Soldiers also frequently engaged in poaching in national parks and game reserves, dramatically decreasing wildlife populations in the country.<ref>{{cite news| last = King| first = Christabel| title = Hungry Tanzanian troops join poachers in Uganda's game parks| newspaper = The Sunday Telegraph| date = 8 July 1979}}</ref> As they were generally more wealthy and had better access to various goods, clinics, and schools, soldiers were among the most eligible men in the country for marriage.{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=643}} Many Uganda Army troops used their weapons and status to rape women without suffering consequences.{{sfn|Thornton|2008|pp=7, 106–107}} In general, service in the Uganda Army provided great economic and social incentives, providing military men with wealth and power in an increasingly dysfunctional country.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=105}}{{sfn|Southall|1980|pp=642–643}} Military service was especially attractive to West Nile people due to their home area's poverty. Amin did little to actually help West Nile's development during his rule, and the Uganda Army remained one of the few actual employment opportunities for locals. Researcher Mark Leopold consequently described the West Nile soldiers during Amin's rule as "[[Lumpenproletariat#Imitations|lumpen militariat]]", a term originally developed by [[Ali Mazrui]] based on the [[Marxism|Marxist]] concept of ''[[Lumpenproletariat]]''.{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=65}} In addition, the Ugandan urban poor and people from rural low-income families in Zaire as well as Sudan were targeted by recruiters with promises of patronage, power, and adventure.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=7}} By 1977, the higher-ranking officers were effectively the country's economic elite, possessing cars, villas, clubs, and their own [[duty-free shop]] in Kampala, while the country's economy had fallen into chaos.<ref name= herr>{{cite news| title = "Herr über Land, Früchte, Frauen" | trans-title = Lord of land, fruits, women| newspaper = Spiegel| language = de| date = 20 February 1977| url = https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-40350301.html| access-date = 22 April 2021}}</ref>
Even though this patronage system succeeded to keep much of the military somewhat loyal,<ref name= schlange/> it negatively affected the Uganda Army's ability to function. Corruption and indiscipline were widespread, and the soldiers were often unpredictable, especially when they were drunk.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=6–7}}<ref name= schlange/>{{sfn|Southall|1980|pp=642–643}} In addition, the morale of the troops was bound to Amin's ability to keep their needs satisfied.<ref name= schlange/> This was especially the case for the military's foreign troops who were operating as mercenaries and thus only loyal as long as they received their remuneration on time.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=97}} Idi Amin's rule thus remained precarious and he faced repeated coup attempts by dissatisfied elements in the Uganda Army.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=7}} With the Ugandan economy shrinking,{{sfn|Kasozi|1994|pp=111–112}}<ref name= darnton3/> Amin was also unable to provide all troops with ample rewards. He responded by reducing his following,{{sfn|Kasozi|1994|pp=111–112}} promoting factionalism in the military and repeatedly purging senior ranks, thereby making concentrated actions against his regime unlikely.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Rice|2003a|p=10}} The factionalism in the military further reduced the Uganda Army's cohesion, and caused violent infighting.<ref name= darnton3/> By 1978, many troops were discontent due to the lack of proper uniforms and delays in pay<ref name= darnton3/> which resulted in soldiers regularly robbing shopkeepers during "foraging expeditions".{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=639}} When the Uganda–Tanzania War erupted the British authorities also stopped the "whisky run". According to German news magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', this demoralised the cut-off Ugandan troops and negatively affected their willingness to keep fighting.<ref name= schlange/>
Line 133 ⟶ 132:
== Organization ==
=== Command ===
{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=Had ours been a civilized army, [the brigadier] would have simply ordered the colonel to drop the idea and that would have been that. However, ours was a different army. A brigadier was too powerless to check a colonel's powers.|source=—Ugandan soldier [[Bernard Rwehururu]] on the haphazard command structure of the army{{sfn|Rwehururu|2002|p=46}}}}
The Uganda Army suffered from organizational chaos during Idi Amin's rule.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=12}} Many soldiers did not stay at their respective unit's barracks,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=11}} and senior officers were regularly moved from one position to another to prevent them from gaining firm influence over the troops. In addition, the military was affected by factional infighting and regular purges,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=12}} and many officers whom Amin promoted were completely unqualified and corrupt.{{sfn|Rice|2003a|p=10}}{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=6–7, 12}} Their rise in the ranks was attributed to their loyalty to the President and their ethnicity.{{sfn|Nugent|2012|p=233}}{{sfn|Rice|2003a|p=7}} Amin initially had the support of a handful of educated, high-ranking officers in the army, while several more did not oppose him and were accepting of him as President. Over time this group came into repeated conflict with the group of less-educated soldiers whom Amin promoted.{{sfn|Lowman|2020|p=46}} The formal chain of command ceased to function and the ranks of officers gradually became meaningless. People wielded influence in accordance to their connection to Amin, and a junior officer who was liked by the President could easily circumvent or even command a senior officer who was less well connected.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=61}} The power of individuals was also tied to the ability to provide economic resources to supporters.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|p=97}} In order to keep the officers in line, Amin would often call high-ranking commanders in the middle of the night and accuse them of treason "just to shake them up a bit".{{sfn|Rice|2003a|p=10}}
The army's headquarters was located in Republic House in Kampala.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=58–59}} The military was factually controlled by the Defence Council which mostly consisted of Amin's inner circle. As the President was
=== Factionalism and ethnicity ===
Line 154 ⟶ 153:
=== Strength ===
The strength of the Uganda Army is not known for certain during the 1971–1979 period. As result of massive recruitment drives, coupled with regular purges, the number of military personnel fluctuated greatly.{{sfn|Hansen|2013|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Hansen|1977|p=107}} Accordingly, there exist estimates ranging from about 10,000{{sfn|Hansen|1977|p=107}}<ref name= vision/> to more than 40,000 troops.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=226}} The [[Associated Press]] stated in 1974 that the army was around 15,000 strong.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/26/archives/uganda-executions-of-rebels-reported-ugandans-report-killing-of.html | title = Uganda Executions Of Rebels Reported |author=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper = The New York Times | page = 1 | date = 26 March 1974 | access-date = 15 November 2020 }}</ref> According to Cooper and Fontanellaz, the Uganda Army was at least nominally 19,000 soldiers strong by January 1976, of whom 658 were officers
=== Structure ===
Line 175 ⟶ 174:
*First Battalion{{sfn|Smith|1980|p=131}}
| [[Jinja, Uganda|Jinja]]{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| [[Isaac Maliyamungu]] (1974{{sfn|Legum|1975|p=B-308}} – 1975<ref name="broadcast">{{cite news| title = Kampala home service in English 1700 gmt 17 Apr 75 | journal = Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa| issue = 4866| publisher = [[BBC Monitoring]]| date = 1975| url = https://books.google.com/books?
| established in 1960;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}} Langi and Acholi troops in its ranks were massacred in July 1971;{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=125}} the unit was officially renamed to "Eagle Colonel Gaddafi Battalion" in January 1973 following a state visit by Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]];{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=15}}<br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the [[Battle of Tororo]]<ref>{{cite news| agency = [[Associated Press]]| title = Mutiny reported among Amin's troops| newspaper = The News-Herald (Franklin, Pennsylvania)| date = 2 March 1979| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/franklin-news-herald-mar-02-1979-p-1/ |access-date=22 December 2018 }}</ref> and the [[Battle of Jinja]]<ref name="Brittain">{{cite news| last = Brittain| first = Victoria | title = Tanzanians Seize Key Ugandan Town | newspaper = The Washington Post| date = 23 April 1979| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/04/23/tanzanians-seize-key-ugandan-town/853fc20a-9c2d-466d-b94d-e221fd9ddeeb/ |access-date=3 November 2019 }}</ref>
Line 223 ⟶ 222:
*Malire Reconnaissance Regiment{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=140}}
*Bondo Battalion<ref name=kasasira/>
*Bombo Battalion<ref name= "mann"/>
| Camp Malire in Kampala,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}{{sfn|Rice|2003b|p=5}} [[Bombo, Uganda|Bombo]]{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=32}}{{sfn|Mzirai|1980|p=114}}{{efn|According to Tom Cooper and Adrien Fontanellaz, the unit officially relocated from Camp Malire to Masaka in 1971.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}} According to [[Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey]], the unit was posted in Camp Malire as of March 1974 and following a revolt it was moved to Bombo.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=31–32}} [[John Darnton]] stated in 1979 that Bombo served as the unit's headquarters.<ref>{{cite news| last = Darnton| first = John| title = Invaders in Uganda close in on capital| newspaper = The New York Times| page = 1| date = 5 April 1979| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/05/archives/invaders-in-uganda-close-in-on-capital-force-reported-at-military.html| access-date = 1 March 2021}}</ref> }}
| Asumani Mussa{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=132}} (? – July 1973){{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=311}}<br/>[[Juma Butabika]] ({{circa}} 1973<ref name=lubega2/> – ?)<br/>[[Godwin Sule]] ({{circa}} 1974)<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1511184/amin-related-prince-mutebi| title = How Amin Related with Prince Mutebi| date = 25 November 2019| website = New Vision| access-date =23 March 2020}}</ref>
| established in 1967;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}} the unit split into soldiers loyal to Amin and Obote during the 1971 coup;{{sfn|Rice|2003b|p=5}} members of the unit revolted in March 1974{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=31–32}} and tried to overthrow Amin during [[Operation Mafuta Mingi]] in June 1977<ref name= "mann" /><ref name= "escape" /><br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Invasion of Kagera<ref name= lubega1/>
*regarded as one of the last units loyal to Amin; it protected his headquarters in Kampala by late March 1979<ref>{{cite news| last = Darnton| first = John| title = Tanzanian and Ugandan Invaders Close In on Kampala From Two Sides| newspaper = The New York Times| page = 1| date = 29 March 1979| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/29/archives/tanzanian-and-ugandan-invaders-close-in-on-kampala-from-two-sides.html| access-date = 1 March 2021}}</ref> and was reportedly involved in his [[Operation Dada Idi|last attempts to stop the Tanzanian advance]] south of the capital<ref>{{cite news| last = Darnton| first = John| title = Amin's Forces Appear to Fight Harder| newspaper = The New York Times| page = 1| date = 10 April 1979| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/10/archives/amins-forces-appear-to-fight-harder-amins-prospects-called-dim.html| access-date = 1 March 2021}}</ref>
|-
| Suicide Battalion{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=312}}
|
*Suicide Regiment{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
*Mechanised Suicide Battalion{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=312}}
*Revolutionary Suicide Mechanised Regiment{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
*Revolutionary Mechanised Suicide Battalion{{sfn|Southall|1980|p=638}}
*Second Simba Mechanized Battalion{{sfn|Translations|1973}}
*Masaka Mechanised Regiment{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| [[Masaka]]
| Isaac Maliyamungu (1973){{sfn|Translations|1973}}<br>Baker Tretre (? – 1974){{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=312}}<br/>[[Christopher Israel Umba Gore|Christopher Gore]] ({{circa}} 1977){{sfn|Smith|1980|p=131}}<br/>Nasur Ezega (? – May 1978){{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=50}}<br/>[[Bernard Rwehururu]] (? – 1979){{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| Lugbara members of the unit mutinied at Mbarara in November 1974;{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=312}} Adrisi loyalists in the unit allegedly mutinied in October 1978;{{sfn|Mambo|Schofield|2007|p=312}}<br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Battle of Mutukula;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=29}} the [[Battle of Masaka]];{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=30}} and possibly in the Battle of Lukaya<ref name= kato>{{cite web| url = https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1336873/katonga-bridge-jewel-liberation| title = Katonga bridge, the jewel of the liberation| last = Kato| first = Joshua| date = 23 January 2014| website = New Vision| access-date = 12 October 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190123010515/https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1336873/katonga-bridge-jewel-liberation| archive-date = 23 January 2019| url-status = live| df = dmy-all}}</ref> or the Battle of Sembabule{{sfn|Rwehururu|2002|p=120}}
*disintegrated after the Battle of Sembabule; its troops fled to the West Nile region, Sudan and Zaire<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/former-court-martial-boss-rwehururu-dies-1602110| title = Former court martial boss, Rwehururu dies| date = 27 February 2015| website = Daily Monitor| access-date = 9 March 2021}}</ref>
|-
| Chui Battalion<ref name=kasasira/>
Line 247 ⟶ 250:
| [[Gulu]]{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}<ref name=kasasira/>
| Yefusa Bananuka ({{circa}} 1977){{sfn|Smith|1980|p=131}}<br/>"Major Zziwa" ({{circa}} 1978){{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}<br/>Juma Butabika (unspecified date)<ref name=Golooba-Mutebi/>
| established around 1972–1973;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}} defeated an invasion of armed Acholi and Langi militants from southern Sudan in April 1972;{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=262}} Adrisi loyalists in the unit allegedly mutinied in October 1978;{{sfn|Mambo|Schofield|2007|p=312}}<ref name= independent/><br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Battle of Masaka;{{sfn|Rwehururu|2002|p=113}} the Battle of Lukaya<ref name= kato/>
*the unit disintegrated during March 1979,<ref name= amin/> though remnants fought in the Fall of Kampala<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/WarMemories/859092-858444-8abmaxz/index.html | title = NRM BUSH WAR MEMORIES: Risking all to avenge a brother's death - Col. Ggwanga | date = 9 February 2004 | website = Daily Monitor | access-date = 11 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113100550/https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/WarMemories/859092-858444-8abmaxz/index.html |archive-date=13 January 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Line 263 ⟶ 266:
*2nd Para Battalion{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| [[Fort Portal]]{{sfn|Smith|1980|p=131}}{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| "Lieutenant Colonel Ona"{{sfn|Translations|1973}}<br>[[Yorokamu Tizihwayo]] (
| established in 1969;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}<br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Invasion of Kagera,<ref name= lubega1/> and the [[Battle of Gayaza Hills]]{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=82}}{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=30}}
Line 270 ⟶ 273:
|
| [[Tororo]]{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| "Lieutenant Colonel Doka" (1973){{sfn|Translations|1973}}<br>Amin Lomo ({{circa}} 1974)<ref name="arube"/>
| Uganda–Tanzania War:
*split into loyalists and rebels in 1979, fought in the Battle of Tororo{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=62}}
Line 279 ⟶ 282:
* Marine Brigade<ref name= independent/>
| Camp [[Bugoloobi]] in Kampala{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=23}}
| "Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim"<ref name="bbc 1974" /><br>[[Taban Lupayi]]{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=140
| helped to defeat the coup attempt of March 1974;<ref name="gunshots"/> reportedly employed to crush the mutinies of October 1978;<ref name= independent/><br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Invasion of Kagera;<ref name= lubega1/>
Line 296 ⟶ 299:
*Kifaru Mechanised Reconnaissance Regiment{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=289}}
| [[Bondo, Uganda|Bondo]]{{sfn|Smith|1980|p=131}}{{sfn|Mzirai|1980|p=119}}
| "Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel" (
| Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Invasion of Kagera;<ref>{{cite news| title = Uganda: Special 11th November Announcement| journal = Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa| issue = 5967| publisher = [[BBC Monitoring]]| date = 13 November 1978| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SPsrAQAAIAAJ&q=Kifaru}}</ref> and the [[Battle of Bondo]]{{sfn|Mzirai|1980|pp=119–120}}
Line 304 ⟶ 307:
| 1st Infantry Brigade{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=81}}{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=289}}
| [[Mbale]]<ref name=kasasira/><ref name="soldier"/>
| "Lieutenant Colonel Ozo" (1973–?){{sfn|Translations|1973}}<br>[[Yusuf Gowon]] ({{circa}} 1977){{sfn|Smith|1980|p=131}}<br/>Abdulatif Tiyua (1979)<ref name="soldier"/>
| Uganda–Tanzania War:
*fought in the Battle of Masaka;{{sfn|Rwehururu|2002|p=113}} and the Battle of Tororo<ref>{{cite news| last = Mugabe| first = Faustin| title = How Amin escaped from Kampala| newspaper = Daily Monitor| date = 8 May 2016| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/How-Amin-escaped-Kampala/689844-3193498-6w8fhl/index.html |access-date=22 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727162941/https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/How-Amin-escaped-Kampala/689844-3193498-6w8fhl/index.html |archive-date=27 July 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*last Uganda Army unit to [[Eastern Uganda campaign of 1979|exit eastern Uganda in 1979]] (troops fled to Kenya)<ref name="soldier"/>
|-
| Western Brigade{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=140}}
| Western command<ref name= mugabe/>
| [[Kasese]]<ref name=kasasira/>
|
| established April 1978;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=22}}<br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
* Its commander Yorokamu Tizihwayo was executed during the conflict because a Tanzanian propaganda programme claimed that he was in contact with [[Front for National Salvation|FRONASA]] rebels.<ref name= mugabe/>
|-
| 2nd Infantry Brigade{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=81}}{{sfn|Translations|1973}}
| Simba Mechanized Brigade{{sfn|Translations|1973}}
| Masaka (until 1973){{sfn|Translations|1973}}<br>Mbarara (from 1973){{sfn|Translations|1973}}<br>[[Nakasero]]{{sfn|Omara-Otunnu|1987|p=81}}
| Ali Fadhul (from 1973){{sfn|Translations|1973}}
| unit renamed from "2nd Infantry Brigade" to "2nd Mechanized Brigade" and headquarters moved from Masaka to Mbarara in 1973{{sfn|Translations|1973}}
|-
| Special Commando Division{{sfn|Otunnu|2016|p=312}}
Line 352 ⟶ 355:
* Ugandan Air Force
| [[Entebbe]]
| Wilson Toko (? – 1973)<ref name="Muhumza">{{cite web |last = Muhumuza |first = Rodney |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Amin/859112-860922-qex8l1z/index.html |title=What I Know: Former Air Force Commander Tells His Life Under Amin |newspaper=[[Daily Monitor]] |date=15 July 2007 |access-date=1 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407023519/https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Amin/859112-860922-qex8l1z/index.html |archive-date=7 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br/>Smuts Guweddeko (1973 – 1974)<ref name="Muhumza"/><br/>[[Zeddy Maruru]] (1974 – 1975)<ref name="Muhumza"/><br/>Idi Amin (1975 – ?)<ref name="Muhumza"/><br/>Godwin Sule (acting, {{circa}} 1976)<ref>{{cite news| title = Magembe book tells how Amin was declared 'Life President of Uganda'| newspaper = The Observer| date = 10 April 2021| url = https://observer.ug/lifestyle/69226-magembe-book-tells-how-amin-was-declared-life-president-of-uganda| access-date = 19 April 2021}}</ref><br/>Christopher Gore (1978<ref>{{cite news| title = Lt Col Gore appointed air force base commandant| journal = Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa| issue = 1863| publisher = [[United States Joint Publications Research Service]]| date = 1977| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=plZEAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> – 1979){{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=50}}<br/>[[Andrew Mukooza]] (1979){{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=36}}
| established in 1964;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=8}} suffered great losses during [[Operation Entebbe]] in 1976;{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=22}} air force members attempted to overthrow Amin during Operation Mafuta Mingi in June 1977<ref name= "mann" /><br/>Uganda–Tanzania War:
* fought in an [[Air campaign of the Uganda–Tanzania War|air campaign against]] the [[Tanzania Air Force Command|Tanzania Air Defence Command]] during the war, and was involved in the Invasion of Kagera,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=23–29}} Battle of Simba Hills,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=30}} Battle of Tororo,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=62}} and the [[Battle of Entebbe]]{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=32, 36}}
|-
Line 361 ⟶ 364:
[[File:Uganda Army OT-64 APCs, Ferret armoured cars, and jeeps.jpg|thumb|Uganda Army OT-64 APCs, [[Ferret armoured car]]s, and jeeps in the late 1960s]]
The Uganda Army was well-equipped with weaponry during the rule of Idi Amin. Beginning in 1973, he imported large quantities of arms from the [[Soviet Union]] and Libya, ranging from tanks to aircraft to missiles.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=18}} Amin reportedly "loved military pageantry and weaponry", investing much energying in equipping the Uganda Army with military hardware.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|pp=7, 12}} The standard infantry rifle was the [[Heckler & Koch G3]].<ref>ones, Richard D.; Ness, Leland S., eds. (January 27, 2009). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010 (35th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.</ref>
The Uganda Army's [[armoured fighting vehicle]] force was regarded as one of the strongest of the region. The country had already possessed 12 [[M4 Sherman variants|M4A1(76) Sherman tanks]], around 20 [[Ferret armoured car]]s, and 12 [[OT-64 SKOT|OT-64B]] armoured personnel carriers (APCs) before the 1971 coup.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=8}} Amin consequently imported large quantities of armoured fighting vehicles from the Soviet Union and Libya. Uganda received 16 [[T-55A]] tanks and 62 APCS from the Soviets, as well as 16 [[Alvis Saracen]] armoured cars from Libya in 1973 and 1974.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=18}} In 1975, the Soviet Union provided Uganda with military suppiles worth $48 million, compared with just $12 million in economic aid.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=12}} From this time onward, however, relations with the Soviet Union worsened, resulting in the reduction of military aid and supplies.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=18}} Libya also gifted Uganda ten [[T-34 variants|T-34/85]] tanks in 1976.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=22}} From 1977 onward the army made fewer foreign acquisitions.{{sfn|Brandt|1989|p=76}} By 1978, the Uganda Army's ground forces possessed 10 T-34, 15 [[T-54/T-55]], and 10 M-4 tanks, 250 Alvis Saracen armoured cars, and an unspecified number of [[BRDM]] amphibious vehicles, OT-64 APCs, as well as Ferret, [[BTR-40]], and [[BTR-152]] armoured cars.{{sfn|Lagarde|1979|p=8}} At the time of the outbreak of the war with Tanzania, the Uganda Army was one of the most mechanised forces in Africa.{{sfn|Matatu|1979|p=12}}
Line 368 ⟶ 371:
The Uganda Army Air Force (UAAF) was also expanded during Amin's presidency. Before Operation Entebbe, about 65 aircraft and helicopters were in use.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=21}} In 1976 a helicopter and some small transport aircraft were purchased from the United States.{{sfn|Brandt|1989|p=76}} By 1979, the UAAF still had access to several dozen fighter and [[trainer aircraft|trainer]] aircraft, though the exact number remains unclear. It possessed [[List of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 variants#Modernisation – generation three (1968–1972)|MiG-21MFs]], [[List of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 variants#Trainer variants (1960–1968+)|MiG-21UMs]], [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17|MiG-17s]], [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15|MiG-15UTIs]], and [[Aero L-29 Delfín|L-29s]].{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|pp=18–19}}{{sfn|Paxton|2016|p=1198}}{{sfn|Lagarde|1979|p=8}} Furthermore, several [[Military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]] were in service,{{sfn|Paxton|2016|p=1198}}{{sfn|Lagarde|1979|p=8}} including a [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules]] cargo transport.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=180}}
== Foreign trainers, advisers, and military attachés ==
{{further|Foreign support of Uganda in the Uganda–Tanzania War}}
Under Idi Amin's rule, several foreign countries supported the Uganda Army by sending advisers. The first military mission from the Soviet Union was sent to Uganda in 1973.{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=11}} By Amin's late reign, the Soviet experts were headed by Colonel Datsenko until January 1979 when he was replaced by Colonel Protassenia.{{sfn|Translations|1979|pp=159–160}} In addition, Ugandan soldiers were trained and aided by [[Palestine Liberation Organisation]] militants,{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|p=22}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://al-akhbar.com/Opinion/226891 |title= مهمّة "فتح" في أوغندا |trans-title=Fatah's mission in Uganda |author=Janan Osama al-Salwadi |work=Al Akhbar (Lebanon) |language=ar |date=27 February 2017 |accessdate=6 October 2019 }}</ref> Pakistani experts,<ref>{{cite news| title = Africa: The President is helpless | newspaper = Africa| page = 37| date = 1979| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=twHjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> and Iraqi advisors.<ref name= herr/> Military attachés were also attached to several embassies in Kampala and occasionally called on for help by Ugandan authorities.{{sfn|Rwehururu|2002|p=100}}
Thousands of Ugandan troops were sent for training into the Soviet Union, [[Second Czechoslovak Republic]],{{sfn|Avirgan|Honey|1983|p=11}} Libya,<ref name= "monitor" /> and [[North Korea]].{{sfn|Berger|2015|p=80}}
== Notes ==
Line 377 ⟶ 386:
=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Africa Confidential 22 |year=1981 |publisher=Miramoor Publications Limited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AFIOAQAAMAAJ |ref={{harvid|Africa Confidential|1981}} }}
* {{cite book | chapter= Amin announces Military Promotions| title = Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa, No. 1310| publisher = United States Joint Publications Research Service| date = 10 May 1973| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gCYFAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA54| page= 54 | ref = {{harvid|Translations|1973}} }}
* {{cite book|
* {{cite book| last = Berger| first = Andrea| title = Target Markets: North Korea's Military Customers| publisher = Royal United Services Institute | date = 2015| location = Abingdon| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mgkqDwAAQBAJ| isbn = 978-1-138-65493-8}}
* {{cite book| last = Brandt| first = Craig. M| title = Military Assistance and Foreign Policy| publisher = Air Force Institute of Technology| date = 1989| location = [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]]| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QSRFAQAAIAAJ| isbn = 9780916171018}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Brzoska| first1 = Michael| last2 = Pearson| first2 = Frederic S.| title = Arms and Warfare: Escalation, De-escalation, and Negotiation| publisher = University of South Carolina Press| date = 1994| location = Columbia, South Carolina| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=to7hS3Wlro4C| isbn = 9780872499829}}
* {{cite book| last = Clapham| first = Christopher S.|title = African Guerrillas| publisher = James Currey| date = 1998| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iJByAAAAMAAJ| isbn = 978-0253212436}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Cooper |first1 = Tom |last2 = Fontanellaz |first2 = Adrien |title= Wars and Insurgencies of Uganda 1971–1994 |date= 2015 |publisher= Helion & Company Limited |location= [[Solihull]] |isbn= 978-1-910294-55-0 }}
*{{Cite journal |last= Day |first= Christopher R. |title = The Fates of Rebels: Insurgencies in Uganda |date = July 2011 |journal = Comparative Politics |issue = 4 |volume = 43 |pages = 439–458 |doi= 10.5129/001041511796301623 |jstor = 23040638 }}
* {{cite book| last = Decalo| first = Samuel| title = Psychoses Of Power: African Personal Dictatorships| publisher = Routledge| date = 2019| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RKKqDwAAQBAJ | isbn = 9781000308501}}
* {{cite book| last = Decker| first = Alicia C.| title = In Idi Amin's Shadow: Women, Gender, and Militarism in Uganda| publisher = Ohio University Press| date = 2014| location = Athens, Ohio| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9JKdBAAAQBAJ
* {{cite journal| last = Golooba-Mutebi| first = Frederick| title = Collapse, War and Reconstruction in Uganda. An analytical narrative on state-making| journal = Makerere University Crisis States Working Papers Series| issue = 2| date = January 2008| url = http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-development/Assets/Documents/PDFs/csrc-working-papers-phase-two/wp27.2-collapse-war-and-reconstruction-in-uganda.pdf| issn = 1749-1800}}
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite journal| last = Harrell-Bond| first = Barbara| title = Ugandan Refugees in the Sudan. Part I: The long journey| journal = UFSI Reports| issue = 48| date = 1982| url = http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/BHB-26.pdf}}
* {{cite book| last = Hansen| first = Holger Bernt |title = Ethnicity and Military Rule in Uganda: a study of ethnicity as a political factor in Uganda, based on a discussion of political anthropology and the application of its results| publisher = Scandinavian Inst. of African Studies| date = 1977| location = Uppsala| url = http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:275789/FULLTEXT01.pdf}}
* {{cite journal| last = Hansen| first = Holger Bernt| title = Uganda in the 1970s: a decade of paradoxes and ambiguities| journal = Journal of Eastern African Studies| volume = 7| issue = 1| pages = 83–103| date = 2013| doi=10.1080/17531055.2012.755315| s2cid = 144443665}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Herrick| editor-first = Allison Butler| title = Area Handbook for Uganda| publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office| date = 1969| location = Washington D.C.| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U3AsAAAAYAAJ| oclc = 953395330}}
* {{cite book| title = Human Rights Violations in Uganda| publisher = [[Amnesty International]]| date = 1978| location = London| url = https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/204000/afr590071978en.pdf| oclc = 416204012| ref = {{harvid|Human Rights Violations|1978}}}}
* {{cite book| last = Kasozi| first = A.B.K.| editor1 = Nakanyike Musisi| editor2 = James Mukooza Sejjengo|title = Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964–1985| publisher = McGill-Queen's University Press| date = 1994| location = Montreal; Quebec| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YSa7Wxuw50YC
* {{cite book | last= Lagarde| first= Dominique| chapter= Ugandan-Tanzanian war examined. Amin Dada: His War in Tanzania| title = Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa, No. 2073| publisher = United States Joint Publications Research Service| date = 8 March 1979| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DlxEAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA10-PA1 | pages= 1–9 }}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Legum| editor-first = Colin| title = Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents : 1974–1975| publisher = Africana Publishing Company| volume = 7| date = 1975| location = New York| isbn = 9780841901568| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QNDiAAAAMAAJ
*{{cite book |last = Leopold |first = Mark |title= Inside West Nile. Violence, History & Representation on an African Frontier |date= 2005 |publisher= James Currey |location= Oxford |isbn= 0-85255-941-0 }}
* {{cite journal | last = Rice| first = Andrew| title = The General| journal = Institute of Current World Affairs Letters| volume = AR| issue = 12| date = 20 August 2003 | url = http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/AR-12.pdf | ref = {{harvid|Rice|2003a}} }}
* {{cite journal | last = Rice| first = Andrew| title = Thin| journal = Institute of Current World Affairs Letters | volume = AR| issue = 13| date = 1 September 2003 | url = http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/AR-13.pdf| ref = {{harvid|Rice|2003b}} }}
* {{cite book |last = Rice |first = Andrew |title= The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget: Murder and Memory in Uganda |date= 2009 |publisher= Henry Holt and Company |location= New York City |isbn= 978-0-8050-7965-4 }}
* {{cite book | last= Roberts| first= George| chapter= The Uganda–Tanzania War, the fall of Idi Amin, and the failure of African diplomacy, 1978–1979| editor-last = Anderson| editor-first = David M.| editor-last2 = Rolandsen| editor-first2 = Øystein H.| title = Politics and Violence in Eastern Africa: The Struggles of Emerging States| publisher = Routledge| location= London| date = 2017| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AGNQDwAAQBAJ
* {{cite thesis |last= Lowman|first= Thomas James|date= 2020|title= Beyond Idi Amin: Causes and Drivers of Political Violence in Uganda, 1971-1979|type= PhD thesis|publisher= Durham University|url= http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13439/1/Tom_Lowman_-_Thesis_Corrected_Draft.pdf?DDD17+|access-date=6 July 2020}}
* {{cite magazine| last = Matatu| first = Gordon| title = The End of Uganda's Nightmare| magazine = Africa| issue = 93| pages = 10–16| date = May 1979| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=twHjAAAAMAAJ
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite journal| last = McGregor| first = Andrew| title = Congolese Forces Take the Offensive Against Uganda's ADF-NALU Militants| journal = Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor| volume = 12| issue = 6| pages = 7–9| date = 20 March 2014| url = https://jamestown.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TerrorismMonitorVol12Issue6_01.pdf?x17442 }}
* {{cite book| last = Mzirai| first = Baldwin| title = Kuzama kwa Idi Amin| publisher = Publicity International| date = 1980| location = Dar es Salaam| language = sw| oclc = 9084117}}
* {{cite journal|last=Naluwairo|first=Ronald|title=The development of Uganda's military justice system and the right to a fair trial: Old wine in new bottles?|journal=Global Campus Human Rights Journal|volume=2|issue=1|pages=59–76|date=2018|hdl= 20.500.11825/687|url=https://repository.gchumanrights.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11825/687/Global%20article%20NALUWAIRO%202018.pdf|access-date=2020-03-04}}
*{{cite book |last = Nugent |first = Paul |title= Africa since Independence |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LckcBQAAQBAJ |date= 2012 |edition= 2nd |orig-year=1st pub. 2004 |publisher= Red Globe Press |location= London |isbn= 978-0-230-27288-0 }}
* {{cite book |last = Omara-Otunnu |first = Amii |title= Politics and the Military in Uganda, 1890–1985 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=I9evCwAAQBAJ |year = 1987 |publisher= [[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location= London |isbn= 978-1-349-18738-6 }}
*{{cite book |last = Otunnu |first = Ogenga |title= Crisis of Legitimacy and Political Violence in Uganda, 1890 to 1979 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aZDLDQAAQBAJ |date= 2016 |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |location= Chicago |isbn= 978-3-319-33155-3 }}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Paxton| editor-first = J.| title = The Statesman's Year-Book 1978-79| publisher = Springer| edition = reprint| date = 2016| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YI3LDQAAQBAJ
* {{cite book| title = The Report of the Uganda Constitutional Commission: Analysis and Recommendations| publisher = Uganda Constitutional Commission| date = 1993| location = Kampala| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IMXwaFIKTa8C| oclc = 29849572| ref = {{harvid|Report of the Uganda Constitutional Commission|1993}}}}
* {{cite book| last = Rwehururu| first = Bernard| title = Cross to the Gun| publisher = Monitor| date = 2002| location = Kampala| oclc = 50243051}}
* {{cite book| editor-last = Seftel| editor-first = Adam| title = Uganda: The Bloodstained Pearl of Africa and Its Struggle for Peace. From the Pages of Drum| publisher = Fountain Publishers| date = 2010| orig-year=1st pub. 1994| location = Kampala| isbn = 978-9970-02-036-2}}
* {{cite book| last = Singh| first = Madanjeet| author-link = Madanjeet Singh |title = Culture of the Sepulchre: Idi Amin's Monster Regime| publisher = Penguin Books India| date = 2012| location = New Delhi| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=h7YGkcrJZJsC
* {{cite journal| last = Southall| first = Aiden| title = Social Disorganisation in Uganda: Before, during, and after Amin| journal = The Journal of Modern African Studies| volume = 18| issue = 4| pages = 627–656| date = December 1980| jstor = 160801| doi=10.1017/s0022278x00014774| s2cid = 154245518}}
*{{cite book |last = Smith |first = George Ivan |author-link = George Ivan Smith |title= Ghosts of Kampala |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=D14MAQAAIAAJ
* {{cite book| last = Thornton| first = Robert| title = Unimagined Community: Sex, Networks, and AIDS in Uganda and South Africa| publisher = University of California Press| date = 2008| location = Berkeley| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qpa7MZShFIoC| isbn = 978-0-520-25552-4}}
* {{cite book | chapter= Soviet Assistance, Cooperation Reported | title = Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa, No. 2072| publisher = United States Joint Publications Research Service| date = 7 March 1979| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DlxEAQAAIAAJ| pages= 158–160 | ref = {{harvid|Translations|1979}} }}
* {{cite journal| title = Uganda under Military Rule| journal = Africa Today| volume = 20| issue = 2| pages = 11–31| date = 1973| jstor = 4185297| ref = {{harvid|Uganda under Military Rule|1973}}}}
* {{cite book| title = Violations of Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Uganda| publisher = International Commission of Jurists| date = 1974| location = Geneva| url = https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Uganda-violations-of-human-rights-thematic-report-1974-eng.pdf| oclc = 1052819668| ref = {{harvid|Violations of Human Rights|1974}}}}
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{{short description|Ugandan national armed forces under Idi Amin}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uganda Army (1971-1980)}}
[[Category:Military history of Uganda]]
[[Category:20th-century military history]]
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