Guinea

Republic of Guinea

The Republic of Guinea (République de Guinée) was formerly French Guinea, and is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbor Guinea-Bissau. The region was claimed as a colonial territory of France in the 1890s, part of a greater region known as French West Africa. Under President Charles de Gaulle, French colonies were faced with a choice to remain within the French Community but with greater autonomy, or to be granted immediate independence. Guinea was one of the few African nations to choose the latter, which was granted in October of 1958 under the leadership of Ahmed Sékou Touré and his Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG).

In 1960 Touré declared the PDG the only legitimate political party, paving the way for his reelection as president for the next twenty-four years, while solidifying his power through heavy handed actions such as imprisonment or exile for any oppositional voices. In November 1970, the government of Portugal launched Operation Green Sea (Operação Mar Verde), an amphibious assault on Conakry from neighboring Portuguese Guinea and an attempt to remove Touré from power and capture the leader of the PAIGC at the same time. Although unsuccessful in its primary goals, a number of PAIGC water vessels were destroyed and Guinea's own Air Force was crippled.

Sékou Touré died of a heart attack on March 26, 1984 but before the PDG could replace him with a new president Colonels Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré siezed power in a bloodless coup d'etat, with Conté assuming the role of president and Traoré serving as prime minister. Although he made a number of statements and gestures promoting human rights and a more democratic government, Conté retained his grip on the presidency and in September 2001 even imprisoned opposition leader Alpha Condé for reputedly "endangering state security." Beginning in 2000, the country was pulled into conflicts in both Liberia and Sierra Leone as rebel forces crossed the borders into Guinean territory. Conté survived an attempted assassination attempt in January 2005, but succumbed to health problems on 22 December 2008, leaving the country temporarily leaderless again.

Within hours of Conté's death, Army Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and supporters from the Army seized control of the country as the Conseil national pour la démocratie et le développement (CNDD) or National Council for Democracy and Development. The following year, in September 2009, the junta issued orders for the Presidential Guards ("red berets") to attack civilian protesters in Conakry, leading to dozens of rapes and the death of at least 150 people. In December that year, Camara was shot by an aide during a despite and flown to Morocco for medical treatment. In January 2010 an agreement was made to hold elections that would return the country to civilian rule. These were held in June and July, with runoffs in November 2010, resulting in the election of Alpha Condé as president, leader of the RGP (Rassemblement du Peuple Guinéen).

In July 2011, the presidential residence was attacked in an attempted coup d'etat, although Condé survived and succeeded in winning elections held in 2013, and again in October 2020. Allegations of election fraud and criticism of Condé serving more than two terms as president sparked violent protests. The following year, in September 2021 Alpha Condé was desposed in a coup d'etat and the commander of the Army's Special Forces Group, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, took over the presidency. This action was universally condemned by the United Nations, the African Union, and ECOWAS. The military junta has officially adopted the name Comité national du rassemblement et du développement or CNRD (National Committee of Reconciliation and Development). The following month, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as interim president and retains that position to this day, despite assurances that it would take only eighteen months to steer the country back to civilian control. Internationally, Guinea remains in a state of limbo as the government and the constitution were dissolved by the CNRD, leaving control firmly in the hands of the military.

The Republic of Guinea Armed Forces (Forces Armées Guinéennes, or FAG) consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The Gendarmerie also includes the Republican Guard and the Presidential Guard. There are nearly 20,000 active duty personnel among the four branches. The Navy consists primarily of patrol craft and barges, while the Air Force has minimal offensive capability. The Milices Populaires (Popular Militia) act as a counter-balance to the armed forces, providing security against coup d'etat and greater protection for individual villages. There are reputedly 100 militia members in each of the country's 4,000 villages.

The use of camouflage by Guineean forces has been lacking in uniformity until very recently. Photographic documentation suggests a history of individuals in the same unit (both Army and Gendarmerie) wearing a multitude of camouflage patterns at the same time. Additionally, high ranking officers and even some commissioned soldiers have been known to wear privately-obtained uniforms in a variety of camouflage designs never officially approved for wear, and some of which may have been traded or purchased from military personnel in other countries. This reality has made documentation of approved designs more challenging than with many countries, even for Africa. Nevertheless, it has been possible to draw reasonable conclusions as to what patterns have been worn within a rough time frame, and even single out certain units or branches of service that were issued them. Historically, there were no indigenous Guinean camouflage patterns, and personnel had always worn designs developed by other nations. This seems to have changed in the 21st century, although documentation still shows the use of more comment camouflage themes.

Camouflage Patterns of Guinea

• The armed forces no doubt inherited French lizard camouflage during its formative years, and a number of photographs from 1970 through the 1980s show some personnel wearing either French-made or Asian-produced camouflee de leópard pattern uniforms.

• Another early camouflage design worn by this nation was a variation of the French tenue du leopard with a grey colorway. Some versions appear on video footage to have a more greenish tinge. The pattern is most likely either of Cuban or Yugoslavian origin. Use of this design was documented during the 1984 coup d'etat, but does not appear in later photographs of armed forces personnel.

• Probably adopted in the mid-1990s as a replacement for the faithful copies of French tenue de leopard, an Asian-manufactured version of lizard camouflage continues to be worn by with this country into the present era. During the 2021 Coup it was evidently in use primarily with members of the Special Forces Group, and later by the CNRD. Its use would continue for another year before being replaced with the current issue digital camouflage pattern.

• US m81 woodland camouflage uniforms in several styles and variations have been in circulation with many units from the 1990s until around 2020.

• The Chinese woodland camouflage design was worn previously by some units, possibly only the Groupement Forces Speciales (GFS). or Special Forces Group. Photographs suggest the pattern fell into disuse by late 2016.

• In 2010, some members of the Gendarmerie were observed wearing German Army flecktarn pattern camouflage uniforms, of undetermined origins.

• Circa 2010, members of the Garde Présidentielle (Presidential Guard) as well as other armed forces personnel were observed wearing lizard camouflage uniforms using the same reddish-brown dominant color palette as found in Morocco. Based on the construction of the uniforms, these are likely to have been produced by the same factory that made them for Morocco and may have been factory overruns.

• In 2010, the Sécurité Présidentielle (Presidential Security Unit) adopted a garish camouflage pattern, consisting of blotches in black, dark olive, lime green and royal blue on a white background tinged with yellow. This pattern only appeared in photographs from 2010, and was probably purchased but a single time from the manufacturer.

• Units of the Guinean Armed Forces have also worn the US-designed tricolor desert pattern, both domestically and (more commonly) while deploying with the United Nations.

• A copy of the French CE woodland design in different uniform styles has also been worn by both the Army and Gendarmerie, although after the coup in 2021 it appears to have largely been phased out.

• By contrast, copies of the French Daguet desert design have been in use both before, and following the coup d'etat, although after 2021 it appears to have been adopted specifically by units of the GFS (Special Forces Group).

• In service since at least 2016, members of the National Police and the Army have worn a copy of the USMC temperate MARPAT camouflage pattern.

• Circa 2018, a quantity of Italian Army vegetato pattern camouflage uniforms were observed within the armed forces, primarily on members of the Special Forces Group. Use of this pattern appears to be fairly limited.

• First introduced in late 2019, and seen widely during the September 2021 coup d'Etat, this pixelated design is being worn by members of the Groupement de Forces Spéciales, which in the past has also worn copies of woodland and lizard patterns. As of 2022, this pixelated design appears to have been adopted by the entire Army (CNRD).

• Introduced around June 2022 and incorporating the same pixelated design with a blue-dominant color palette, the pattern seen here is worn by the Guinean National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale guinéenne) and has largely replaced previously issued designs.

• In charge of preserving and protecting natural resources, the Direction Générale des Conservateurs de la Nature Brigade Nationale employs several hundred forest police officers, many of whom wear an interesting camouflage design featuring sparse medium green rain flecks on a light green background. The pattern is lacking contrast and actually appears solid green at a distance.