Ethiopian National Defense Force#Tigray War

Supreme Commander – Taye Atske Selassie

Commander in Chief – Abiy Ahmed Ali

Chief of the General Staff – Field Marshal Birhanu Jula Gelelcha

Deputy Chief of the General Staff – General Abebaw Taddese Asres

Notable High Commanders –

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}

• General Getachew Gudina Selbana- Chief of the intelligence of the Army
• Lieutenant General Alemshet Degife Balcha- Advisor of the CDF and Chief of the Fire Command
• Lieutenant General Solomon Etefa Lemu- Chief Commander of South Command
• Lieutenant General Mesele Meseret Tegegn- Chief Commander of the Western Command
• Lieutenant General Shuma Abdeta Hika- Chief Commander of the Commando and Airborne Command
• Lieutenant General Yilma Merdassa Napa- Chief Commander of the Ethiopian Airforce
• Lieutenant General Abdurahman Ismael Alo- Commander of Head of Logistics
• Lieutenant General Zewdu Belay Malefya- Chief Commander of Central Command
• Lieutenant General Birhanu Bekele Bedada- Chief Commander of Northwestern Command
• Lieutenant General Hachaalu Sheleme Merga- Commander of Head of Human resource
• Lieutenant General Desalegn Teshome Abitew- Inspector General
• Lieutenant General Desta Abiche- Commander of Head of Mehandis
• Major General Kefyalew Amde- Chief Commander of the Mechanised command
• Rear Admiral Kindu Gezu- Chief of the Navy Force {{Cite web |website=www.pmo.gov.et |title=High Commanders of Ethiopian National Army |url=https://www.pmo.gov.et/articles/9/ |access-date= |publisher=ETHIOPIAN PMO OFFICE}}

{{div col end}}

Ethiopia presents this award for citizens who have a Great achievement in the country.

There are two highest awards presented by President of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Prime minister of the Federal Democratic republic of Ethiopia. These are

1. The Black Lion Heroes High Medal

2. The Adwa heroes High Medal

The Black Lion award is presented to

- Field Marshal Birhanu Jula Gelelcha

- General Abebaw Taddesse Asres

- General Bacha Debele Buta

- Lieutenant General Alemshet Degife Balcha by the President of Ethiopia and Prime Minister of Ethiopia on Jan 9, 2022

The Adwa Heroes medal is presented to

- General Getachew Gudina Selbana

- Lieutenant General Solomon Etefa Lemu

- Lieutenant General Mesele Meseret Tegegn

- Lieutenant General Yilma Merdassa Napa

- Lieutenant General Abdurahman Ismael Alo

- Lieutenant General Zewdu Belay Malefya

- Lieutenant General Shuma Abdeta Hika

- Lieutenant General Belay Seyoum Akele by the President of Ethiopia and the Prime minister of Ethiopia on Jan 9, 2022

You can see the page "List of Equipment of Ethiopian Army"

{{Main|Military history of Ethiopia}}

Ethiopian is the only uncolonized country in Africa. The Ethiopian army's origins and military traditions date back to the earliest history of Ethiopia. Due to Ethiopia's location between the Middle East and Africa, it has long been in the middle of Eastern and Western politics and has been subject to foreign invasion and aggression. In 1579, the Ottoman Empire's attempt to expand from a coastal base at Massawa during the Ottoman conquest of Habesh was defeated.{{Cite book|title=The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism: The Nation-State at Bay?|last=Rothchild|first=Donald|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=1994|page=139}} The Army of the Ethiopian Empire was also able to defeat the Egyptians in 1876 at Gura, led by Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/pages/yohannes.htm|title=Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-1889)|access-date=29 December 2018|archive-date=13 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113195456/http://ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/pages/yohannes.htm}} Clapham wrote in the 1980s that the "Abyssinians [had suffered] from a 'superiority complex' which may be traced to Gundet, Gura and Adwa".Clapham, Christopher 1987. Transformation and Continuity in Revolutionary Ethiopia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crabites, Pierre.

Following the order of the emperor of Ethiopia, Nikolay Leontiev directly organized the first battalion of the regular Ethiopian army in February 1899. Leontiev formed the first regular battalion, the kernel of which became the company of volunteers from the former Senegal shooters, which he chose and invited from Western Africa, with the training of the Russian and French officers. The first Ethiopian military band was organized at the same time.{{cite web|url=http://www.proza.ru/2011/06/29/667|title= Count Leontiev is spy or adventurer...|access-date=27 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc_biography/71087/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2|title= Nikolay Stepanovich Leontiev|work=Словари и энциклопедии на Академике|access-date=27 October 2014}}

The Battle of Adwa is the best-known victory of Ethiopian forces over foreign invaders. It maintained Ethiopia's existence as an independent state. Fought on 1 March 1896 against the Kingdom of Italy near the town of Adwa, it was the decisive battle of the First Italo–Ethiopian War. Assisted by all of the major nobles of Ethiopia, including Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, Ras Makonnen, Ras Mengesha Yohannes, Mikael of Wollo, and Menelik II struck a powerful blow against the Italian army.

During the Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia remained the only nation that had not been colonized by European colonial powers, due in part to their defeat of Italy in the First Italo-Ethiopian War. However, with Ethiopia surrounded by European colonies, the necessity of ensuring that the Ethiopian army was well-maintained became apparent to the Ethiopian government. The Ethiopian government trained its troops to a very high degree, with Imperial Russian Army officer Alexander Bulatovich writing thus:

"Many consider the Ethiopian army to be undisciplined. They think that it is not in any condition to withstand a serious fight with a well-organized European army, claiming that the recent war with Italy doesn't prove anything. I will not begin to guess the future and will say only this. Over the course of four months, I watched this army closely. It is unique in the world. And I can bear witness to the fact that it is not quite so chaotic as it seems at first glance, and that on the contrary, it is profoundly disciplined, though in its own unique way. For every Abyssinian, war is normal business, and military skills and rules of army life in the field enter in the flesh and blood of each of them, just as do the main principles of tactics. On the march, each soldier knows how to arrange necessary comforts for himself and to conserve his strength; but on the other hand, when necessary, he shows such endurance and is capable of action in conditions which are difficult even to imagine.

You see remarkable expediency in all the actions and skills of this army, and each soldier has an amazingly intelligent attitude toward managing the mission of the battle.

Despite such qualities, because of its impetuousness, it is much more difficult to control this army than a well-drilled European army, and I can only marvel at and admire the skill of its leaders and chiefs, of which there is no shortage."{{sfn|Bulatovich|1993}}

In obedience to the agreement with Russia and the order of Menelik II, First Ethiopian officers began to be trained at the First Russian cadet school in 1901. 30 to 40 Ethiopian officers were trained in Russia from 1901 until 1913.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

File:Ethiopian camel troops.jpg.]]

{{Further|Ethiopian order of battle in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War}}

Under the regency of Tafari Mekonnen, the army was modernized. He created an Imperial Bodyguard, the Kebur Zabagna, in 1917 from the earlier Mahal Safari who had traditionally attended the Ethiopian Emperor. Its elite was trained at the French Saint-Cyr military academy or by Belgian military advisers. He also created his own military school at Holeta in January 1935.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|p=273}}

Ethiopian military aviation efforts were initiated in 1929 when Tafari Mekonnen hired two French pilots and purchased four French biplanes.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|p=279}} By the time of the Italian invasion of 1935, the air force had four pilots and thirteen aircraft.

However, these efforts were not sufficient nor instituted in enough time to stop the rising tide of Italian fascism. Ethiopia was invaded and occupied by Italy during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia of 1935–36, marked for Ethiopia's first time being occupied by a foreign power. Ethiopia's patriots managed to resist and defeat the fascist Italian force after the 1941 East African Campaign of World War II with the help of British, South African and Nigerian forces. This made Ethiopia the only country in Africa that has never been colonized. After the Italians had been driven from the country, a British Military Mission to Ethiopia (BMME), under Major General Stephen Butler, was established to reorganize the Ethiopian Army.{{sfn|Ayele|2014|p=7}} The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1944 removed the BMME from the jurisdiction of East Africa Command at Nairobi and made it responsible to the Ethiopian Minister of War.Spencer, Ethiopia at Bay, 2006, 148. Heads of the British Military Mission to Ethiopia were 1941-1943: Major General Stephen Seymour BUTLER, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Reserve of Officers (b. 1880 – d. 1964); April 1943 – 1949: Major General Algernon Edward COTTAM, O.B.E., M.C. (b. 1893 – d. 1964).

Ethiopia bought twenty AH-IV tankettes from Czechoslovakia in the late 1940s. They were based on the Romanian R-1 variant and arrived in Djibouti on 9 May 1950 after which they were carried by rail to Addis Ababa. They were used until the 1980s when they participated in the fighting against Somalia.Kliment, Charles K.; Francev, Vladimír (1997). Czechoslovak Armored Fighting Vehicles. Atglen, PA: Schiffer. {{ISBN|0-7643-0141-1}}, 134.

File:Ethiopian soldiers Korea1951.JPG, 1951]]

In keeping with the principle of collective security, for which Haile Selassie was an outspoken proponent, Ethiopia sent a contingent under General Mulugeta Buli, known as the Kagnew Battalion, to take part in the Korean War. It was attached to the American 7th Infantry Division, and fought in several engagements including the Battle of Pork Chop Hill.As described at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20081225170405/http://www.geocities.com/lmak27455/Ethiopian_Korean_War_Veterans/help.html Ethiopian Korean War Veterans] website. 3,518 Ethiopian troops served in the war, of which 121 were killed and 536 wounded.{{cite web|title=U.S. Forces/Allies in the Korean War: Factsheet |url=http://korea50.army.mil/history/factsheets/allied.shtml |access-date=2007-02-15 |publisher=United States Army |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716130959/http://korea50.army.mil/history/factsheets/allied.shtml |archive-date=July 16, 2007 }}

On May 22, 1953, a U.S.-Ethiopian Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement was signed. A U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group was dispatched to Ethiopia and began its work by reorganizing the army into three divisions. On 25 September 1953, Selassie created the Imperial Ministry of National Defense that unified the Army, Air Force, and Navy.{{sfn|Shinn|Ofcansky|2004|p=40}} By 1956, the First Division had its headquarters at Addis Ababa (First, Second, Third Brigades, 5,300 strong); the Second Division was headquartered at Asmara, with the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Twelfth Brigades (4,500 strong); and Third Division Harar (with the Fourth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Brigades, 6,890 strong) respectively.{{sfn|Ayele|2014|p=10}} The three divisions had a total of 16,832 troops. In May 1959, the Emperor established the Imperial Territorial Army as a reserve force that provided military training to civil servants.

In 1960 the U.S. Army Area Handbook for Ethiopia described the very personalized command arrangements then used by the Emperor:{{sfn|Lipsky|Barnett|Blanchard|Hirsch|1964|p=608}}

The Emperor is by constitutional provision Commander-in-Chief, and to him are reserved all rights respecting the size of the forces and their organization and command, together with the power to appoint, promote, transfer and dismiss military officers. He seeks the advice and consent of Parliament in declaring war. Traditionally, he assumes personal command of the forces in time of war.'

The Office of the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Ethiopian Armed Forces directed the Commanders of the Army, Air Force, and Navy, and the three army divisions were directly responsible to the Commander of the Army.{{sfn|Lipsky|Barnett|Blanchard|Hirsch|1964|pp=608–9}} The three divisions seemingly included the Third Division in the Ogaden, seen as a hardship post.{{sfn|Shinn|Ofcansky|2004|p=280}} While technically the Imperial Bodyguard (Kebur Zabagna) was responsible to the Army Commander, in reality, its commander received his orders directly from the Emperor.

Balambaras Abebe Aregai was one of the noted patriotic resistance leaders of Shoa (central Ethiopia) that rose to preeminence in the post-liberation period.[http://forumonpublicpolicy.com/summer09/archivesummer09/getahun.pdf Solomon Addis Getahun, Ethiopia in the New Millennium: Issues of Democratic Governance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044040/http://forumonpublicpolicy.com/summer09/archivesummer09/getahun.pdf |date=2016-03-05 }}, accessed July 2012. He became Ras, a general and minister of defense of the Imperial Ethiopian Armed Forces until his death in the 1960 Ethiopian coup attempt.

Ethiopia contributed troops for the United Nations operation in the Congo – the United Nations Operation in the Congo - from July 1960. By 20 July 1960, 3,500 troops for ONUC had arrived in the Congo.{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/dag/docs/congo60.pdf|title=Questions Relating to the Situation in the Republic of the Congo (LEOPOLDVILLE)|last=United Nations|date=1960|website=United Nations|access-date=2016-12-29}} Initial reports on the deployment of troops appear to be S/4389 (18 July 1960), S/4417 (c. 23 July 1960), S/4475 (August 1960), and S/4482. The 3,500 consisted of 460 troops from Ethiopia (later to grow into the Tekil Brigade){{cite web| url = http://ethiopiansoldiers.com/the-congo-crisis/| title = The Congo Crisis {{!}} The Ethiopian Soldier| date = 28 May 2014| access-date = 30 December 2016| archive-date = 31 December 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075848/http://ethiopiansoldiers.com/the-congo-crisis/| url-status = usurped}} as well as troops from Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie raised some 3,000 Imperial Bodyguard personnel- about 10 percent of the Ethiopian army's entire strength at that time-and made it part of the UN peacekeeping force in the Congo, along with an air force squadron.http://ethioembassyuganda.org/democratic-republic-of-congo-unveils-its-keenness-to-strengthen-its-wide-ranging-relations-with-ethiopia/{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} This volunteer battalion from the Imperial Bodyguard were authorized by the Emperor. The Tekil (or "Tekel") Brigade was stationed in Stanleyville.

Aman Mikael Andom commanded the Third Division during the 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War. He later became chief of staff of the Armed Forces in July 1974, and then Minister of Defense.{{sfn|Shinn|Ofcansky|2004|p=26}} He then became chairman of the Derg from September to December 1974.

Emperor Haile Selassie divided the Ethiopian military into separate commands. The US Army Handbook for Ethiopia notes that each service was provided with training and equipped from different foreign countries "to assure reliability and retention of power."Cited in Marina and David Ottaway, Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution (New York: Africana, 1978), p. 45. The military consisted of the following: Imperial Bodyguard (also known as the "First Division", 8,000 men); three army divisions; services which included the Airborne, Engineers, and Signal Corps; the Territorial Army (5,000 men); and the police (28,000 men).

Among reported U.S. equipment deliveries to Ethiopia were 120 M59 and 39 M75 armored personnel carriers.

The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, or the Derg (Amharic "Committee"), was officially announced 28 June 1974 by a group of military officers to maintain law and order due to the powerlessness of the civilian government following widespread mutiny in the armed forces of Ethiopia earlier that year. Its members were not directly involved in those mutinies, nor was this the first military committee organized to support the administration of Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen: Alem Zewde Tessema had established the Armed Forces Coordinated Committee on 23 March. However, over the following month's radicals in the Ethiopian military came to believe he was acting on behalf of the hated aristocracy, and when a group of notables petitioned for the release of several government ministers and officials who were under arrest for corruption and other crimes, three days later the Derg was announced.Marina and David Ottaway, Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution (New York: Africana, 1978), p. 52

The Derg, which originally consisted of soldiers at the capital, broadened its membership by including representatives from the 40 units of the Ethiopian Army, Air Force, Navy, Kebur Zabagna (Imperial Guard), Territorial Army and Police: each unit was expected to send three representatives, who were supposed to be privates, NCOs, and junior officers up to the rank of major. According to Bahru Zewde, "senior officers were deemed too compromised by close association to the regime."

File:Ethiopian military parade marks anniversary of Derg takeover.jpg in Ethiopia, 1978]]

Bahru Zewde, 2000, p. 234

The committee elected Major Mengistu Haile Mariam as its chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as its vice-chairman. The Derg was initially supposed to study various military units' grievances, investigate abuses by senior officers and staff, and root out corruption in the military. In the months following its founding, the power of the Derg steadily increased. In July 1974 the Derg obtained key concessions from the Emperor, Haile Selassie, which included the power to arrest not only military officers but government officials at every level. Soon both former Prime Ministers Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold, and Endelkachew Makonnen, along with most of their cabinets, most regional governors, many senior military officers, and officials of the Imperial court found themselves imprisoned.

When the Derg gained control of Ethiopia, they lessened their reliance on the West. Instead, they began to draw their equipment and their sources for organizational and training methods from the Soviet Union and other Comecon countries, especially Cuba. During this period, Ethiopian forces were often locked in counter-insurgency campaigns against various guerrilla groups. They honed both conventional and guerrilla tactics during campaigns in Eritrea, and by repelling an invasion launched by Somalia in the 1977–1978 Ogaden War.See Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopia-Somalia War of 1977 Revisited, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3 (2000), pp. 635-667.

The Ethiopian army grew considerably under the Derg (1974–1987), and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia under Mengistu (1987–1991), especially during the latter regime. The Library of Congress estimated forces underarms in 1974 at 41,000.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|p=278}} By July 1975 the International Institute for Strategic Studies was listing a mechanised division in addition to three infantry divisions.IISS 75-76, p. 42 Ayele writes that in November 1975, the "Nabalbal" ("Flame") force was created, subdivided into battalion-sized units of 400. Each battalion-sized unit was known as a hayl (force), and 20 were created within sixteen months.{{sfn|Ayele|2014|p=55}} The "Nabalbal" units entered combat in 1977. When Ethiopian intelligence sources discovered Somali planning to seize the Ogaden, militia brigades were also created; first 30, then a total of 61 brigades totaling 143,350 by 1977–78.{{sfn|Ayele|2014|pp=29–30}} It appears that there were five regular line divisions active by the time of the 1977 Ogaden War, and the Library of Congress estimated the force size at the time as 53,500. With significant Soviet assistance, after that point the army's size grew rapidly; in 1979 it was estimated at 65,000.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|p=278}} The 18th and 19th Mountain Infantry Divisions were then established in 1979-80 originally to seize Nakfa, in the Sahel Mountains, one of the remaining strongholds of the Eritrean insurgents.{{sfn|Ayele|2014|p=31}} By the beginning of 1981 recruitment for the 21st and 22nd Mountain Infantry Divisions was underway; soon afterward, preparations for the large Operation Red Star were stepping up.{{sfn|Ayele|2014|pp=32–33}}

File:Military parade in communist Ethiopia, early 1980s (3).jpg

In April 1988 the Derg reorganized the army. The restoration of relations with Somalia meant that forces could be transferred from the First Revolutionary Army in the Ogaden, to the Second and Third Revolutionary Armies, the Third (TRA) being responsible for the provinces of Assab, Tigray, Wello, Gondar, and Gojjam. The very small Fourth Revolutionary Army became responsible for protecting the border with Kenya and those with Somalia and Sudan. In the place of the previous commands, thirteen corps were established instead, distributed amongst the army headquarters. Intensive efforts were made to enlist additional personnel. Total manpower after the reorganization reached a reported 388,000.{{sfn|Fontanellaz|Cooper|2018|p=9}}

In May 1988 the Derg decided that before it could concentrate on destroying the EPLF, it would have to first eliminate the TPLF.{{sfn|Fontanellaz|Cooper|2018|p=13}} Thus Operation Adwa was devised to seize the main TPLF base at Adi Ramets in Gondar Province. The Third Revolutionary Army's 603rd and 604th Corps were to play the main role, while the 605th Corps secured the rear, in Wello. The TRA's command structure was disrupted when Major General Mulatu Negash, the army commander, was supplanted by the arrival of Mengistu's favorite, Captain Lagesse Asfaw.

Cuba provided a significant influx of military advisors and troops over this period, with the largest escalation during the Ogaden War with Somalia, supported by a Soviet airlift:{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|pp=297–8}}

• 1977–1978: 17,000 (Ogaden War)
• 1978: 12,000
• 1984: 3,000
• 1989: All forces withdrawn

Gebru Tareke listed Ethiopian ground forces in 1990 as comprising four revolutionary armies organized as task forces, eleven corps, twenty-four infantry divisions, and four mountain divisions, reinforced by five mechanized divisions, two airborne divisions, and ninety-five brigades, including four mechanized brigades, three artillery brigades, four tank brigades, twelve special commandos and para commandos brigades – including the Spartakiad, which became operational in 1987 under the preparation and guidance of North Koreans – seven BM-rocket battalions, and ten brigades of paramilitary forces.Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (New Haven: Yale University, 2009), p. 120

Forces underarms were estimated at 230,000 in early 1991.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|p=278}} Mengistu's People's Militia had also grown to about 200,000 members. The mechanized forces of the army comprised 1,200 T-54/55, 100 T-62 tanks, and 1,100 armored personnel carriers (APCs), but readiness was estimated to be only about 30 percent operational, because of the withdrawal of financial support, lack of maintenance expertise and parts from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and other nations.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|pp=278–9}}

Image:T-55s civil war.JPG tanks at the end of the Ethiopian Civil War.]]

The army commands consisted of the:

• First Revolutionary Army (headquartered at Harar, 1988: 601st and 602nd Corps{{sfn|Fontanellaz|Cooper|2018|p=10}})
• Second Revolutionary Army (headquartered at Asmera, 1988: 606th-610th Corps)
• Third Revolutionary Army (headquartered at Kombolcha, 1988: 603rd, 604th, 605th Corps)
• Fourth Revolutionary Army (headquartered at Nekemte, 1988: 611th, 612th, 614th Corps)
• Fifth Revolutionary Army (headquartered at Gondar)Creation noted by "Ethiopia: Mengestu Survives By His Fingertips", Africa Confidential (London: Miramoor Publications, 3 November 1989)

To these armies were assigned the operational forces of the army, comprising:

• 31 infantry divisions.{{sfn|Ofcansky|Berry|1993|p=278}} The 30th and 31st Infantry Divisions were the last formed, circa November–December 1989.{{sfn|Fontanellaz|Cooper|2018|p=10}} There were also the 102nd Airborne Division and 103rd Commando Divisions, which began training in January 1987.{{sfn|Fontanellaz|Cooper|2018|pp=18, 68}}
• 32 tank battalions
• 40 artillery battalions
• 12 air defense battalions
• 8 commando brigades

Ethiopian soldiers have also committed many atrocities in the region of Tigray. They have used food and rape as weapons of war.

In 1991 Mengistu's government was overcome by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ, former EPLF), Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and other opposition factions. After the defeat of the military government, the provisional government disbanded the former national army and relied on its own guerrilla fighters.Library of Congress Federal Research Division, [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Ethiopia.pdf Country Profile: Ethiopia, April 2005], accessed July 2012 In 1993, however, the Tigrayan-led government announced plans to create a multi-ethnic defense force. This process entailed the creation of a new professional army and officer class and the demobilization of many of the irregulars who had fought against the military government. With the collapse of the Soviet Union Ethiopia again turned to the Western powers for alliance and assistance. However, many Tigrayan officers remained in command positions. This transformation was still underway when war with Eritrea broke out in 1998, a development that saw the ranks of the armed forces swell along with defense expenditures.

Although the armed forces have significant battlefield experience, their militia orientation has complicated the transition to a structured, integrated military. Ranks and conventional units were only adopted in 1996. A United States-assisted effort to restructure the armed forces was interrupted by mobilization for the war with Eritrea.

File:Afrimil-ethiopiansoldier.jpg

The former allies EPRDF and PFDJ (former EPLF) led their countries Ethiopia and Eritrea, respectively, into the Eritrean-Ethiopian War of 1998. The war was fought over the disputed region of Badme. During the course of the war, some commanders and pilots from the former army and air force were recalled to duty. These officers helped turn the tide decisively against Eritrea in 2000. Following the war's end, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, a body founded by the UN, established that the Badme region had in fact belonged to Eritrea.{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/NewLinks/eebcarbitration/ |title=Recent Additions |access-date=27 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130110233/http://www.un.org/NewLinks/eebcarbitration/ |archive-date=January 30, 2011 }} Although the two countries are now at peace, Ethiopia rejected the results of the international court's decision, and continued to occupy Badme. Most observers agree that Ethiopia's rejection of international law, coupled with the high numbers of soldiers maintained on the border by each side – a debilitatingly high number, particularly for the Eritrean side – means that the two countries are effectively still in conflict.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Ethiopian army began to train with the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) established in Djibouti. Ethiopia allowed the US to station military advisors at Camp Hurso.{{cite news|url=http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=41429&archive=true|title=U.S. trainers prepare Ethiopians to fight|newspaper=Stars and Stripes|date=2006-12-30|access-date=2007-01-14|archive-date=2009-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529085041/http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=41429&archive=true}} Part of the training at Camp Hurso has included U.S. Army elements, including 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, training the 12th, 13th and 14th Division Reconnaissance Companies, which from July 2003 were being formed into a new Ethiopian anti-terrorism battalion.Memo: Meritorious Unit Commendation for 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, 2d Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (LI), Fort Drum, NY 13602, from 2nd Brigade, 10th MD(LI), 21 January 2004, downloaded from Internet and accessed mid-September 2007. {{Dead link|date=January 2022}}

{{further|Somalia War (2006-2009)}}

Approximately 50,000 to 60,000 ENDF troops backed by tanks, helicopter gunships and jets were involved in the military offensive against the Islamic Courts Union during December 2006.{{Cite magazine |last=Axe |first=David |date=2 December 2010 |title=WikiLeaked Cable Confirms U.S.' Secret Somalia Op |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/12/wikileaked-cable-confirms-u-s-secret-somalia-op/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329233234/http://www.wired.com/2010/12/wikileaked-cable-confirms-u-s-secret-somalia-op/ |archive-date=29 March 2015 |magazine=Wired}}{{Cite news |date=23 November 2007 |title=Ethiopian army pays tribute to its soldiers that died in Somalia |url=http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Ethiopian_army_pays_tribute_to_its_soldiers_that_died_in_Somalia.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126124642/http://www.garoweonline.com:80/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Ethiopian_army_pays_tribute_to_its_soldiers_that_died_in_Somalia.shtml |archive-date=26 November 2007 |work=Garowe Online |quote=There have been no official numbers of the Ethiopian troop presence in Somalia. But military sources suggest that the initial Ethiopian offensive in December 2006 used as many as 60,000 troops}}{{Cite book |last=Scahill |first=Jeremy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FEcZCAAAQBAJ |title=Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield |date=2013-04-23 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-56858-727-1 |pages=208 |language=en}} Colonel Gabre Heard, a senior ENDF officer and Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) official, was commander-in-chief of Ethiopian troops during the invasion.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-30 |title=Ethiopia issues arrest warrant for Colonel who led deadly Somalia invasion |url=https://www.garoweonline.com/en/world/africa/ethiopia-issues-arrest-warrant-for-general-who-led-deadly-somalia-invasion |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Garowe Online |language=en}} During 2007 military experts estimated 50,000 Ethiopian troops were occupying parts of Somalia.{{Cite web |last=Heinlein |first=Peter |date=19 October 2007 |title=Somali Prime Minister Conciliatory After Talks About His Future |url=http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2007/Oct/4654/somali_prime_minister_conciliatory_after_talks_about_his_future.aspx |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Hiiraan Online |language=en-US |agency=Voice of America}}{{Cite web |last=Heinlein |first=Peter |date=13 November 2007 |title=Somali Capital Empties as Residents Flee Renewed Violence |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2007-11-11-voa20/347096.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114150747/http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-11-voa20.cfm |archive-date=14 November 2007 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Voice of America |language=en}} During the war, US Special Forces, CIA paramilitary units, and Marine units, supported by American AC-130s and helicopter gunships, directly intervened in support of the ENDF.{{Cite journal |last=Hollar |first=Jullie |date=March–April 2008 |title=Rediscovering Somalia |journal=Extra! |publisher=Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting |pages=13–15}}{{Cite book |last=Polk |first=William R. |author-link=William R. Polk |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/982652240 |title=Crusade and jihad: the thousand-year war between the Muslim world and the global north |date=2018 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-22290-6 |series=The Henry L. Stimson lectures |location=New Haven ; London |pages=459 |oclc=982652240 |quote=Since the Bush administration doubted that the Ethiopians would use the new equipment effectively, it decided to participate in the campaign with American Special Forces and agents of the CIA. It was an offer Ethiopia could not refuse: money, arms, and the creation of an American shield to protect the regime. It began its unprovoked and ultimately unsuccessful invasion...}} In early 2007, after the military occupation of Mogadishu and Somali insurgency began, Ethiopian troops launched major offensives in Mogadishu. Large scale bombardments were carried out on Mogadishu neighborhoods deemed to be insurgent strongholds. ENDF forces were primarily responsible for the large scale bombardment and significant civilian losses that occurred in the city.{{Cite web |date=31 Jan 2008 |title=World Report 2008 - Somalia |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/hrw/2008/en/54691 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Refworld |language=en |agency=Human Rights Watch}} Human Rights Watch reported that the Ethiopian army extensively utilized BM-21 Grad rocket shelling to bombard densely populated Mogadishu neighborhoods.{{Cite journal |last=Albin-Lackey |first=Christopher |date=8 December 2008 |title=So Much to Fear: War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/08/so-much-fear/war-crimes-and-devastation-somalia |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=en}} The ENDF characterized the violence in this period as being part of a 'final push' against the rebels,{{Cite web |date=26 April 2007 |title=SOMALIA: Resistance to TFG deepens and diversifies |url=https://dailybrief.oxan.com/Analysis/DB133962 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=Oxford Analytica Daily Brief |publisher=Oxford Analytica |language=en}} but the fierce fighting in Mogadishu during the first half of 2007 failed to quell the growing insurgency.{{Cite web |date=31 Jan 2008 |title=World Report 2008 - Somalia |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/hrw/2008/en/54691 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Refworld |language=en |agency=Human Rights Watch}}

Urban warfare in Mogadishu proved to be especially difficult for the ENDF and caused heavy losses,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qeu9DwAAQBAJ |title=African Standby Force |date=2017-10-28 |publisher=AFRICAN SUN MeDIA |isbn=978-1-928357-57-5 |editor-last=Vrey |editor-first=Francois |pages=56 |language=en |editor-last2=Mandrup |editor-first2=Thomas}} which had reached unsustainable levels by the end of 2007.{{Cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Paul D. |url=http://www.dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/2015/apr/att-0161/Counterinsurgency_in_Somalia-Lessons_Learned_from_the_African_Union_Mission_in_Somalia__2007-2013.pdf |title=Counterinsurgency in Somalia: Lessons Learned from the African Union Mission in Somalia, 2007-2013 |last2=E. Bruton |first2=Bronwyn |publisher=Joint Special Operations University |year=2014 |pages=11, 94}} Thousands of Ethiopian troops had been killed during fierce fighting for Mogadishu during 2007.{{Cite magazine |last=Perry |first=Alex |date=12 November 2007 |title=Somalia's War Flares Up Again |url=https://time.com/archive/6941817/somalias-war-flares-up-again/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307181237/https://time.com/archive/6941817/somalias-war-flares-up-again/ |archive-date=7 March 2025 |magazine=Time |quote=The Ethiopian army, which invaded last December, had killed thousands of Somalis and lost thousands of its own in some of the fiercest fighting that the capital, Mogadishu, had seen in 16 years of civil war.}} Oxford Analytica observed at the that the Ethiopian military aimed to win a war of attrition against the Somali insurgency.{{Cite web |date=2007-12-27 |title=Prospects 2008: Worsening crises wrack Horn of Africa - Ethiopia |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/prospects-2008-worsening-crises-wrack-horn-africa-06-dec-2007 |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=ReliefWeb |publisher=Oxford Analytica |language=en}} ENDF troops were bogged down and facing a multi front war with no prospect of victory.{{Cite news |last=Plaut |first=Martin |date=2007-12-28 |title=Ethiopia in Somalia: One year on |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7155868.stm |access-date=2024-08-25 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} By Autumn of 2008, the insurgency controlled more than 80% of the territory that had been previously lost in the invasion.{{Citation |last=Samatar |first=Abdi Ismail |title=The Production of Somali Conflict and the Role of Internal and External Actors |date=2013 |work=The Horn of Africa |pages=156–177 |editor-last=Bereketeab |editor-first=Redie |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183p650.14 |access-date=2024-01-11 |series=Intra-State and Inter-State Conflicts and Security |publisher=Pluto Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctt183p650.14 |isbn=978-0-7453-3311-3 |jstor=j.ctt183p650.14|url-access=subscription }} As the situation rapidly deteriorated for the military occupation in mid-2008, Ethiopian troops started experiencing desertions. The ENDF began to draw down its forces deployed in Mogadishu and across towns in Somalia.{{Cite book |url=https://icg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/147-somalia-to-move-beyond-the-failed-state.pdf |title=Somalia: To Move Beyond the Failed State |publisher=International Crisis Group |publication-date=23 December 2008}}{{Cite web |date=2008-11-05 |title=Horn of Africa's challenges grow - Somalia |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/horn-africas-challenges-grow-05-nov-2008 |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=ReliefWeb |publisher=Oxford Analytica |language=en}} The occupation had a 'corrosive effect' on the ENDF and the Somalia deployment was viewed as a hardship post.{{Cite news |last=Middleton |first=Roger |date=2008-12-02 |title=Ethiopia's Somalia dilemma |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7760271.stm |access-date=2024-05-29 |work=Chatham House |language=en-GB |agency=BBC News}} By November 2008, insurgency had effectively won. The majority of south and central Somalia, along with the capital was now under the control of Islamist factions. Ethiopia had redeployed much of its army out of Somalia by the end of the year. On 16 January 2009, Ethiopian troops withdrew from Mogadishu.{{Cite news |date=2009-01-16 |title=Thousands cheer Ethiopia pull-out |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7833250.stm |access-date=2024-03-09 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |date=26 Jan 2009 |title=Ethiopia ends Somalia occupation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/26/ethiopia-ends-somalia-occupation |work=The Guardian |quote=Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in December 2006 to crush the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)}}

Under the command of Colonel Gabre Heard, nicknamed 'Butcher of Mogadishu', the ENDF routinely bombed civilian areas and killed thousands of civilians.{{Cite web |last=Osman |first=Jamal |date=2021-05-27 |title=TPLF loyalists should understand that selective justice is injustice |url=https://www.fanabc.com/english/tplf-loyalists-should-understand-that-selective-justice-is-injustice/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Fana Broadcasting Corporate |language=en-US |quote=In Somalia, nicknamed as the butcher of Mogadishu, General Gebre and his TPLF soldiers killed tens of thousands of civilians.}} Reports of atrocities by forces under his command have made him infamous in Somalia. American reporters touring rural Somalia reported that in village after village, locals had described a reign of terror by the Ethiopian army.{{Cite book |last=Polk |first=William R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/982652240 |title=Crusade and jihad: the thousand-year war between the Muslim world and the global north |date=2018 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-22290-6 |series=The Henry L. Stimson lectures |location=New Haven ; London |pages=458–461 |oclc=982652240}} In late 2011, Ethiopian troops returned to Somalia (coinciding with Kenya's invasion) in large numbers for the first time since their 2009 withdrawal.{{Cite news |date=11 January 2012 |title=Ethiopia Invades Somalia In Fight Against Al-Shabab |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/01/11/145046988/ethiopia-invades-somalia-in-fight-against-al-shabab |work=NPR}} In 2014 the Ethiopian troops that deployed to a buffer zone in some parts of southern Somalia were integrated into AMISOM.{{Cite web |date=2014-01-22 |title=Ethiopian Forces formally integrated into AMISOM |url=https://amisom-au.org/2014/01/ethiopian-forces-formally-integrated-into-amisom/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=AMISOM |language=en-US}}

Information regarding casualties in Somalia is unknown as the ENDF designates all operations in the country "Top Secret".{{Cite web |last=Rousselle |first=Adam |date=8 September 2023 |title=Al-Shabaab Threatens Ethiopian Security Ahead of ATMIS Withdrawal from Somalia |url=https://jamestown.org/program/al-shabaab-threatens-ethiopian-security-ahead-of-atmis-withdrawal-from-somalia/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Jamestown Foundation |language=en-US |quote=Ethiopia designates all military operations in Somalia as “top secret”}}

{{Unreliable sources section|date=December 2021}}

{{further|Tigray War}}

File:VOA Hawzen5.jpg

On 8 November 2020, ENDF troops backed by militias from the Amhara and the Eritrean Defence Forces regions were deployed to the Tigray Region in response to a coordinated 'preemptive strike' by TPLF against the Northern Command of ENDF. Since the beginning of the conflict, ENDF personnel has been accused of involvement in alleged war crimes against civilians in the Tigray Region. These mere accusations include rape and other gender based violence, as well as extrajudicial killings in Hagere Selam, Hitsats, Humera, Debre Abbay, and other areas where the conflict is ongoing. The prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, has publicly acknowledged the possibility of war crimes taking place within the Tigray Region. Abiy did not however link these actions to the Ethiopian military, and instead cited such reports were likely "propaganda of exaggeration" by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, currently opposing federal forces in the northern region.Associated Press, 23 March 2021. [https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-abiy-ahmed-atrocities-commited-tigray-war-3c4a7a322b1cafb687bd1a224e69ff78 Ethiopia's leader says atrocities reported in Tigray war]

The Italian weekly magazine Panorama published a graphic video in which Amharic-speaking ENDF soldiers killed a group of 9 people in Humera in August 2021 and then put their bodies on fire. The video also shows torturing of one man by soldiers, then tying him up, preparing to throw him in the river.Panorama, 30 September 2021: [https://www.panorama.it/news/dal-mondo/tigray-eccidi-soldati-amhara Le atrocità commesse dai soldati amhara in Tigray]

The professional army of ENDF took significant casualties during the war, forcing the ENDF to rely on citizen soldiers until it was prepared for a counter-offensive, while it retreated from the northern part of Ethiopia.{{Cite news |date=2021-11-18 |title=Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: How the TPLF has outflanked the army |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59288744 |access-date=2023-06-05}}{{Cite news |date=2021-10-03 |title=Ethiopia Tigray crisis: From monk to soldier - how war has split a church |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58742178 |access-date=2023-06-05}} When the ENDF took high casualties and the need for more manpower arouse, the government started recruiting soldiers en-masse, with The Prime Minister himself leading by example the recruitment effort as well as the war from the frontlines, this happened during the TDF–OLA joint offensive which threatened Addis Abeba.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-26 |title=Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed joins army on frontline in Tigray conflict - state TV |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ethopian-prime-minister-tigray-conflict-b1964772.html |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=The Independent |language=en}} Human wave attacks accusations were made during the war on the ENDF, such tactics are usually very costly in human life.{{Cite news |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |last3= |first3= |date=2022-10-03 |title=How a new 'Great War of Africa' is raging under the cover of a media blackout |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/how-tigrays-great-war-africa-raging-cover-media-blackout/ |access-date=2023-06-05 |issn=0307-1235}} In addition, in the lead-up and early on in the war, tigrayan military officers of the ENDF—which had constituted 80% of the officer corps of the ENDF—had defected to the TPLF.{{Cite news |date=2020-11-19 |title=Ethiopia crisis: Arrest warrants for officers amid Tigray fighting |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54996795 |access-date=2023-06-05}}{{Cite web |title=Ethiopia's Security Dilemmas |url=https://www.rusi.orghttps//www.rusi.org |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=www.rusi.orghttps |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} This greatly reducing the amount of capable COs and NCOs. This all indicates that the ENDF is coming out of the war enlarged in size, but with significant leadership/officer shortages that raises questions for the future, as in, can the ENDF control the regional militias that has sprung up and that could pose future threats to Ethiopia.{{cite web | url=https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/ethiopias-security-dilemmas | title=Ethiopia's Security Dilemmas }} With already signs of tensions arising between the central government and militias, with militias such as Fano, where the government arrested 4,000 militia members due to its "illegal activities".{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2022-05-30 |title=More than 4,000 arrested in Amhara as Ethiopia cracks down on militia |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/30/more-than-4000-arrested-in-amhara-as-ethiopia-cracks-down-on-militia |access-date=2023-06-05 |issn=0261-3077}} The ENDF has significant challenges coming out of the Northern war, such as coping with potential loss of leadership due to casualties, logistics or equipment losses.

The size of the ENDF has fluctuated significantly since the end of the Ethiopia-Eritrea war in 2000. In 2002 the Ethiopian Defense Forces had a strength of approximately 250,000-350,000 troops.

{{cite web|title=Ethiopia Armed Forces|url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Ethiopia-ARMED-FORCES.html|publisher=Nations Encyclopedia}} This was roughly the same number maintained during the Derg regime that fell to the rebel forces in 1991. However, that number was later reduced, and in January 2007, during the War in Somalia, Ethiopian forces were said to comprise about 300,000 troops.{{cite news|title=Ethiopian army eager to learn from U.S. soldiers|url=http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=41521&archive=true|newspaper=Stars and Stripes|date=2007-01-07|access-date=2007-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015130/http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=41521&archive=true|archive-date=2007-09-28}} In 2012, the IISS estimated that the ground forces had 135,000 personnel and the air force 3,000.IISS Military Balance 2012, 434-5.

As of 2012, the ENDF consists of two separate branches: the Ground Forces and the Ethiopian Air Force. Ethiopia has several defense industrial organizations that produce and overhaul different weapons systems. Most of these were built under the Derg regime which planned a large military industrial complex. The ENDF relies on voluntary military service of people above 18 years of age. Although there is no compulsory military service, armed forces may conduct call-ups when necessary and compliance is compulsory.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2024.html|title=The World Factbook|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=22 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322125136/https://www.cia.gov/library//publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2024.html}}

Modern day Ethiopia, being a landlocked country, has no active navy. Ethiopia reacquired a coastline on the Red Sea in 1950 and created the Ethiopian Navy in 1955. Eritrean independence in 1991 left Ethiopia landlocked again, but the Ethiopian Navy continued to operate from foreign ports until it finally was disbanded in 1996.

In June 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for the eventual reconstitution of the Ethiopian Navy as part of a wider program of security sector reforms, saying that "we should build our naval force capacity in the future".{{cite news |last1=Maasho |first1=Aaron |title=Landlocked Ethiopia plans new navy as part of military reforms |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-military/landlocked-ethiopia-plans-new-navy-as-part-of-military-reforms-idUSKCN1IZ0ML |work=Reuters |date=3 June 2016}}

In March 2019, Abiy Ahmed signed defense accords with France's Emmanuel Macron, including on support in establishing a naval component.{{cite web |title=Ethiopia, France Sign Military, Navy Deal, Turn 'New Page' in Ties |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/ethiopia-france-sign-military-navy-deal-turn-new-page-in-ties/4826280.html |website=Voice of America |publisher=Reuters |access-date=13 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313201804/https://www.voanews.com/a/ethiopia-france-sign-military-navy-deal-turn-new-page-in-ties/4826280.html |archive-date=13 March 2019 |location=Addis Ababa |date=13 March 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Forrester |first1=Charles |title=France, Ethiopia sign defence accords to create navy |url=https://www.janes.com/article/87195/france-ethiopia-sign-defence-accords-to-create-navy |website=Jane's 360 |access-date=13 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313201834/https://www.janes.com/article/87195/france-ethiopia-sign-defence-accords-to-create-navy |archive-date=13 March 2019 |location=London |date=13 March 2019 |url-status=live }}

The Ethiopian Navy is based in Djibouti, and its headquarters is in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.{{Cite web|url=https://borkena.com/2019/12/02/ethiopias-navy-will-be-based-in-djibouti/|title=Ethiopia's navy will be based in Djibouti|date=3 December 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.africanews.com/2019/12/03/ethiopia-navy-to-be-based-in-djibouti-command-hq-in-bahir-dar-report/|title = Ethiopia Navy to be based in Djibouti, command HQ in Bahir Dar (Report)|date = 3 December 2019}}

Ethiopia has served in various United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions. These have included Ivory Coast,{{cite web|url=http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/pr1208.html|title=Ethiopian peacekeeping in Africa|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028023814/http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/pr1208.html|archive-date=28 October 2014|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2008/Apr/17Apr08/55692.htm |title=Ethiopian peacekeeping missions |access-date=2009-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628121051/http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2008/Apr/17Apr08/55692.htm |archive-date=2009-06-28 }} on the Burundi border,{{Cite web |url=http://www.capitalethiopia.com/archive/2008/april/week3/in_briefs.htm |title=Ethiopian peacekeeping missions in Burundi |access-date=8 May 2009 |archive-date=28 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628181050/http://www.capitalethiopia.com/archive/2008/april/week3/in_briefs.htm }} and in Rwanda.

Two major previous Ethiopian missions were in Liberia and Darfur. The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1509, of 19 September 2003, to support the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace process, protect United Nations staff, facilities and civilians, support humanitarian and human rights activities; as well as assist in national security reform, including national police training and formation of a new, restructured military.{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmil/index.html|title=UNMIL in Liberia|access-date=27 October 2014}} In November 2007, nearly 1,800 Ethiopian troops serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) were presented with UN Peacekeeping medals for their "invaluable contribution to the peace process."{{cite web|url=http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=ethiopia_ethiopian_troops_awarded_un_pea&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1|title=Ethiopian troops awarded UN peacekeeping medals|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=29 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629213731/http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=ethiopia_ethiopian_troops_awarded_un_pea&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1}} Up to three Ethiopian battalions used to constitute Sector 4 of the UN Mission, covering the southern part of the country. The mission ended in 2018.

Many thousands of Ethiopian peacekeepers were also involved in the hybrid United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in western Sudan. The Security Council authorized a force of about 26,000 uniformed personnel.{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29348&Cr=unamid&Cr1=|title=More Ethiopian troops arrive in Darfur bolstering peacekeeping operation|date=17 December 2008|work=UN News Service Section|access-date=27 October 2014}} and {{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/index.html|title=UNAMID|access-date=27 October 2014}} The Darfur mission was shut down in 2020–21.

Ethiopia also provides the entire force for the UN's Abyei mission, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei. An Ethiopian officer commands the force.

{{Main|Defense Day (Ethiopia)}}

File:Abiy Ahmed parade 2019.jpg

The National Defense Day is celebrated annually as the holiday of the ENDF on October 26. The day celebrates the establishment Ethiopian National Defense force for the first time in Ethiopian history, on 26 October 1907.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-14|title=Ethiopia celebrated 7th National Defense Day|url=https://borkena.com/2019/02/14/ethiopia-celebrated-7th-national-defense-day/|access-date=2021-06-25|website=Borkena Ethiopian News|language=en-US}} It is celebrated for four days.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-15|title=RDF Joins Ethiopia For Defense Day Celebration|url=https://taarifa.rw/rdf-joins-ethiopia-for-defence-day-celebration/|access-date=2021-06-25|website=Taarifa Rwanda|language=en-US|archive-date=25 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625191952/https://taarifa.rw/rdf-joins-ethiopia-for-defence-day-celebration/}}

• African military systems after 1900
• DAVEC
• Ethiopian Air Force
• Ethiopian Navy

{{country study|country=Ethiopia|abbr=et}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Ayele |first1=Fantahun |title=The Ethiopian Army: from Victory to Collapse 1977-91 |place=Evanston |publisher=Northwestern University Press |year=2014}}
• {{cite book |last1=Bulatovich |first1=Alexander K. |author1-link=Alexander Bulatovich |translator-last1=Seltzer |translator-first1=Richard |title=With the Armies of Menelik II: Journal of an expedition from Ethiopia to Lake Rudolf |date=1993 |orig-date=1900 |url=http://www.samizdat.com/armies.html |access-date=21 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414223626/http://www.samizdat.com/armies.html |archive-date=14 April 2014}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Fontanellaz |first1=Adrien |last2=Cooper |first2=Tom |title=Ethiopian-Eritrean Wars: Volume 2: Eritrean War of Independence, 1988-1991 & Badme War, 1998-2001 |publisher=Helion & Company |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-912390-30-4 |location=Warwick |series=Africa@War No. 30}}
• Library of Congress Federal Research Division, [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Ethiopia.pdf Country Profile: Ethiopia, April 2005], accessed July 2012.
• {{cite book |last1=Lipsky |first1=George A. |last2=Barnett |first2=Clifford R. |last3=Blanchard |first3=Wendell |last4=Hirsch |first4=Abraham M. |last5=Maday |first5=Bela C. |last6=Teleki |first6=Suzanne |title=U.S. Army Area Handbook for Ethiopia |date=1964 |publisher=American University, for U.S. Govt. Printing Office |location=Washington DC. |edition=2nd |chapter=Section IV: Military Background |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x030449806&view=1up&seq=615&skin=2021 |access-date=21 December 2021}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Ofcansky |editor1-first=Thomas P. |editor2-last=Berry |editor2-first=LaVerle Bennette |title=Ethiopia: a country study |series=Area Handbook |date=1993 |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |lccn=92000507 |edition=4th |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/92000507/ |access-date=21 December 2021 }}
• {{cite book| title=Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia|last1=Shinn|first1=David Hamilton|last2=Ofcansky|first2=Thomas P.|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2004|isbn=0-8108-4910-0}}

• Adejumobi and Binega, Budgeting for the Military Sector in Africa, Ch. 3
• {{cite journal|first=Lemmu|last=Baissa|title=United States Military Assistance to Ethiopia, 1953-1974: A Reappraisal of a Difficult Patron-Client Relationship|journal=Northeast African Studies|volume=11|number=3|date=1989}}
• Bendix, Daniel ; Stanley, Ruth. / Security Sector Reform in Africa. The Promise and the Practice of a New Donor Approach. In: Accord Occasional Paper Series. 2008 ; Vol. 3, No. 2 - includes a note indicating British supported SSDAT/DfID/FCO/MOD defense transformation in Ethiopia.
• Prof Laura Cleary, Ethiopia, in Security Sector Horizon Scanning 2016 - to support Agile Warrior Director Strategy, British Army, Andover, c2016, {{ISBN|978-1-907413-35-3}}
• Jeffrey Isima, Report on the current position with regard to the security sector in Ethiopia, 2003
• Mesfin, Berouk, Rebel Movements in Ethiopia, in Caroline Varin, Dauda Abubakar (eds) Violent Non-State Actors in Africa: Terrorists, Rebels and Warlords, Springer, 2017.
• Laurie Nathan, No Ownership, No Commitment, GfN-SSR/University of Birmingham, 2007. Section on DDR Commission.
• Colin Robinson, Defence Reform since 1990 in Atieno and Robinson (eds.), Post-conflict Security, Peace and Development: Perspectives from Africa, Latin America, Europe and New Zealand, Springer, 2018.
• {{cite book |author=Haile Selassie I |editor=Harold Marcus |display-editors=etal |translator=Ezekiel Gebions |display-translators=etal |title=Haile Selassie I: My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings and Lord of Lords |volume=II |publisher=Research Associates School Times Publications |year=1999 |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-948390-40-1}}
• Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa, Yale Library of Military History

Further sources on defense in Ethiopia include SSR in Ethiopia, A Prerequisite for Democracy.

• {{cite web |title=Official website |url=http://www.fdremod.gov.et/?lang=en |website=fdremod.gov.et |access-date=21 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921093319/http://www.fdremod.gov.et/?lang=en |archive-date=21 September 2020 }}
• {{cite web |title=Ethiopia: World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ethiopia/ |website=cia.gov |date=14 December 2021 |access-date=21 December 2021}}

{{Ethiopia topics}}

{{Portal bar|Ethiopia|Africa}}

{{Military of Africa}}

{{CIA World Factbook}}

Category:Military of Ethiopia