Syrian Army facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Syrian Arab Army |
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| الجيش العربي السوري | |
Syrian Arab Army Flag
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| Active | 1 August 1945 1971 (current form) |
| Country |  Syria |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Land warfare |
| Size | estimated 100,000 (2019)
Military age: 18 Conscription:
18 years of age for forced and voluntary military service; people who are forced to serve in the military have to serve for 18 months; women are not forced but may volunteer to serve; re-enlistment is for 5 years, with retirement after 15 years or age 40 (enlisted) or 20 years or age 45
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| Part of | Syrian Armed Forces |
| Garrison/HQ | Damascus |
| Motto(s) | "حماة الديار" (Guardians of the Homeland) |
| Colors | Green, Red, White |
| Anniversaries | August 1st |
| Engagements | 1948 Arab–Israeli War War of Attrition |
| Commanders | |
| President of Syria | FM Bashar al-Assad |
| Minister of Defense | Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayyoub |
The Syrian Army, officially the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) (Arabic: الجيش العربي السوري, romanized: al-Jayš al-ʿArabī as-Sūrī), is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It started from local military forces created by France after World War I. These forces became one force in 1945, the year before Syria became independent.
Since 1946, it has played a major role in Syria's politics, doing six military coups: two in 1949, including the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, and one each in 1954, 1963, 1966, and 1970. It has fought four wars with Israel (1948, the Six-Day War in 1967, the October War of 1973, and 1982 in Lebanon) and one with Jordan (Black September in Jordan, 1970). An armored division was also sent to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 during the Persian Gulf War, but it did not do much. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Within Syria, it played a major part in stopping the 1979–82 Islamist uprising in Syria, and since early 2011 has been fighting the Syrian Civil War, the most violent and longest war the Syrian Army has taken part in since it was created in the 1940s.
Images for kids
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Syrian anti-tank teams deployed French-made MILAN ATGMs during the war in Lebanon in 1982.
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A Syrian colonel during the First Gulf War.
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Syrian soldiers manning artillery during the Syrian Civil War in 2015.
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A Syrian soldier aims a 7.62mm PKM light machine gun from his position in a foxhole during a firepower demonstration, part of Operation Desert Shield. The soldier is wearing a nuclear-biological-chemical warfare mask.
See also
In Spanish: Ejército Árabe Sirio para niños
