Senegal

Republic of Senegal

The territory making up the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal) was once part of the Ghana Empire, during which time Islam came to predominate the religious beliefs of native Senegalese. The Wolof (or Jolof) Empire emerged in the region in 1360, dominating much of the region until 1549. Beginning in the 15th century, various European nations competed for trade with coastal chiefdoms, including trade in slaves. In the 1850s, France began to expand inland, subduing the indigenous population with military force as necessary.

Merging briefly with French Sudan in 1959 to form the Mali Federation, Senegal achieved full independence in August of 1960. The nation joined briefly with its neighbor, Gambia to form Senegambia in 1982, but the union was dissolved after seven years.

The Senegalese Armed Forces consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, and the National Police, with approximately 19,000 active personnel. The nation has enjoyed relative stability in all the years of its independence, and has been a committed participant in many peacekeeping efforts including those with ECOMOG and the United Nations.

Senegalese Camouflage Patterns

• The French tenue de leópard or lizard camouflage pattern was in service with Senegalese forces from the 1970s into the 1990s. Due to the wide number of supppliers, several variations and styles of uniform have been worn.

• In the present era, some Army units have worn the m81 woodland camouflage pattern. These may have been supplied by the USA as part of a training program conducted by the US Army Special Forces.

• In the early 2000s, the older lizard camouflage pattern was replaced by a copy of the French CE woodland design, which is the standard operational design of the Senegalese Armed Forces.

• The National Gendarmerie has worn an urban DPM camouflage pattern with a strong purple-blue colorway.

• The interesting French lizard variation seen below is being worn by the Gendarmerie Nationale of this nation. It was first observed publicly in early 2014, but may have been adopted earlier than this.