Army. – The current organization of the Belgian army was reached through successive stages, essentially determined by the political-military conditions of the country after the war.
The command includes: 1. the ministry of national defense, on which the general staff with its head depends; 2. the territorial command, clearly separated from the large unit commands, and which includes: 3 military district commands (Brussels, Antwerp and Liege), 9 provincial commands, 31 square commands.
The troops are organized as follows: three corps, each on two ternary divisions; a cavalry corps; army artillery and air force; the engineering troops and fortifications; the fighting chariots; troops and transport services; the troops and establishments of the health, administration and manufacturing services; schools and autonomous bodies; the special formations of the occupying troops.
Each army corps includes: the general staff, two divisions and an army corps artillery regiment on four groups of two batteries (two gun groups and two heavy howitzers). Each division is made up of: a staff, three infantry regiments on three battalions of 4 companies each, one of which is machine gunners; a machine gun battalion on 3 companies; an infantry battery, an artillery regiment on 4 groups.
The cavalry corps consists of: a general staff; two cavalry divisions; an armored car regiment; a horse artillery regiment on 2 groups of 3 75 batteries; a cavalry school; the army comeback depot.
Each cavalry division includes: a staff, three cavalry regiments, a cyclist regiment on 2 battalions of 3 companies each, one of which is machine gunners.
The army artillery and the air force, united under the same command, comprise: a) a general staff; b) an army artillery brigade, constituted as follows: general staff; 1st AA regiment (3 groups of 155 long guns; 1 group of carried artillery, 75 guns; 1 group of self-trolled artillery, 105 howitzers); 2nd AA regiment (i group of 220 TR mortars; i group of 155 long guns; 1 group of 150 howitzers; each group is on 2 batteries); a park; c) a DTCA artillery regiment (territorial defense against air); d) aeronautics, comprising: a general staff; three aeronautical regiments and a depot, with a total of 9 groups, of which: one for air terminal, 3 for observation, 2 for fighters, 1 for bombing, 1 technician and 1 school.
The engineering troops and fortifications include: a) a general staff; b) three directions of the genius and of the fortifications thus constituted: 1st direction (the general staff, 1 engineering regiment; the cyclist battalion of the genius on 2 companies); 2nd directorate (the general staff, 1 engineering regiment, 5 railway companies, 1 bridging battalion); 3rd direction (the general staff, 1 engineering regiment), the engineering regiments are on 3 battalions of 2 companies; c) troops and transmission services, including a regiment of transmission troops, composed of: 1 telegraph battalion, theradio-telegraph battalion, 1 depot company and dovecotes; d) a technical service which includes: 1 company of workers and 1 school; e) the army park.
The combat tanks s0n0 have been reduced from a regiment to only 2 tank companies and a workshop park depot.
Troops and transport services include: a general staff; 3 bodies of hippomobiles transports; 1 body of motor transport; 1 school of automotive services.
Among the troops and service establishments, those for manufacturing deserve special mention, namely: the large army fleet consisting of: 1 general staff, 2 group staffs, 7 park batteries, 1 storage battery; the administrative companies of military establishments (construction arsenal, cannon foundry, state arms manufacture, ammunition manufacturing plants, car-trailer plants); the truck repair shop; the truck refueling warehouse.
The schools and autonomous bodies are: the war school; the military school; the infantry school with the disciplinary company; the artillery school with the target search service; the cadet schools, 7 in number; the military institute of physical education; the military cartographic institute.
Territorial services include: 25 recruiting offices; the special corps of railway workers, telegraphers and telephone operators on 11 companies; 6 regional parks; 6 deposits.
The special formations of the occupation troops include: a headquarters, command and special organs.
The current location (1928) of the Belgian army is as follows: 1st Army Corps: Brussels; 5th Infantry Division: Mons; 6th Infantry Division: Brussels; 2nd Army Corps: Antwerp; 1st Infantry Division: Ghent; 2nd Infantry Division: Antwerp; 3rd Army Corps: Aix-la-Chapelle; 3rd Infantry Division: Liege; 4th Infantry Division: in the Rhine occupation zone.
Cavalry Corps: Brussels; 1st Cavalry Division: Brussels; 2nd: Namur; cavalry school, army comeback depot: Brasschaet.
Army and Air Force Artillery: Brussels; army artillery brigade: Antwerp; DTCA artillery regiment: Brussels; aeronautics: 1st regiment: Evere; 2nd: Bierset-Awans; 3rd: Evere.
Genius: 1st Directorate of Genius and Fortifications: Brussels; 2nd direction: Antwerp; 3rd direction: Liège; troops and transmission services: Vilvorde.
Fighting chariots: Ghent.
Troops and transport services: 1st transport corps (motor vehicles): Brussels; 2nd: (hippos): Antwerp; 3rd: Namur; 4th: Brussels; automotive service school: Borsbeek.
Recruitment is general and mandatory. The overall duration of the military obligation is 25 years (of which 15 in the active and reserve army and 10 in the territorial army).
The stop was established as follows: 10 months for infantry, cyclists, self-drawn artillery, motor vehicle transport corps; 12 months for engineers, technical troops, combat tanks, transmission troops, auxiliaries; 13 months for cavalry, horse and field artillery.
The peacekeepers are about 50,000; the mobilizable force can reach 805,000 men.
The budget of the Ministry of National Defense for 1926 was calculated at 590 million francs, subsequently reduced to 572 million. For Belgium political system, please check politicsezine.com.
Marina. – Belgium has no navy except for the 1200 ton “Zinnia” notice. and 15 knots, bought from England and used for fisheries surveillance; however, at the 1924 conference in Rome for the limitation of naval armaments, it reserved the right to build 4 10,000-ton monitors for the defense of its coasts.
Aviation. – Military aviation depends on the Ministry of National Defense (Air Force Service). The aeronautics service is made up of 3 offices, of which 2 have exclusively technical duties, while the 3rd also has administrative functions. All air forces, comprising 3 regiments and a central depot, depend on an Air Force Command (General Staff) with corps command functions. The 1st regiment, in Evere, includes an aeronautical group and three observation groups; the 2nd, in Eierset-Awans (Liège), two fighter groups and a bombing group; the third, in Evere, two technical service groups and a school group. The strength in aircraft can be considered to be approximately 250 military aircraft and 40 school aircraft. The personnel amounts to 2000 men, of which 400 sailors.
There are 3 piloting schools in the Belgian Air Force: 2 civilian and one military. The two civil schools are located respectively in Gosselies and Antwerp, using 90 HP Caudron and RSV equipment. and there he obtained the license as a touring pilot. The military school is deployed in Kortrijk, you are for conseguimeuto of military patents and s ‘ employ Avro equipment, Caudron, Fokker, De Havillaud, Morane, Erignet 14. Each year the Kortrijk school is attended by about 20 students. The recruiting school for observers is located in Tuilemont, the course lasts 12 months and is attended annually by about 30 students.
