Botswana

Republic of Botswana

The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana) was previously the British protectorate of Bechuanaland. When hostile Ndebele began pushing their way onto lands traditionally held by the Tswana-people in the late 19th century, several of the Batswana leaders requested help from the British government. Between 1885 and 1964, the land was administered by Britain, but proposals were made for democratic self-government and were granted in 1966, with general elections and ratification of a constitution leading to full independence in September of that year. Botswana is one of very few nations in Africa to have never suffered a coup d'etat, dictatorship, civil war, or armed conflict with any of its neighbors, although during the Rhodesian Bush War era the country tightened its borders to prevent cross-border operations from Rhodesia and South Africa into its territory (which was being used by insurgent groups to launch their own operations into both countries).

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) or Sesole Sa Botswana was created in 1977, eleven years after the country had declared independence from Britain. The BDF is composed of approximately 12,000 personnel, organized into the Botswana Ground Force and the Air Arm Command. The Botswana Ground Force includes three infantry brigades, four independent infantry battalions, an armored brigade, a combat engineer regiment, the Army River Wing (for maritime operations) and the 1st Commando Regiment. In addition to providing national security and internal stability, the BDF has a strong focus on anti-poaching, peacekeeping operations, and disaster preparedness & response.

The Botswana Police Service traces its history to the Bechuanaland Mounted Police, formed in 1884. It became the Botswana Police Force in 1971, and in 2009 the Botswana Police Service after absorbing all of the nations's local police units. The Special Support Group (SSG) is a paramilitary formation with a number of specialized duties, including anti-poaching, border operations, emergency response/SWAT operations, and targeting transnational crime.

The BDF have participated in a number of United Nations-sponsored missions, including UNOSOM II (Somalia, 1992-93), ONUMOZ (Mozambique, 1993), and UNAMIR II (Rwanda, 1993-94), and UNAMID (Sudan). Botswana sent personnel to serve with the African Union in Ethiopia & Eritrea. BDF personnel have served in Lesotho and Mozambique with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to assist in quelling regional violence.

Camouflage Patterns of Botswana

• Following the British standard, Botswana has issued DPM pattern camouflage to its service members since the mid-1980s or early 1990s. As with many nations, sources for both printed fabrics and completed military uniforms have varied so considerably over the years that a number of different versions of DPM would have likely been in the Armed Forces supply system at any one time.

• A para-military branch of the Botswana Police Service (BPS), known as the Special Support Group (SSG), at one time wore this unique camouflage design having olive green, black and blue-green shapes on a light brown background. At least two fabric weights have been documented. Unfortunately, after years of trying to track down photogarphs of the pattern being worn, nothing has emerged, so we are left concluding the camouflage uniforms were either very short-lived, experimental, or possibly never even adopted.

• The Botswana Police SSG now wears the mottled grey camouflage pattern seen below. The unit is tasked with providing armed escorts, crime surveillance, installation security, and border patrols. This design has been in service since at least 2014.

• Members of the Anti-Poaching Unit of the Botswana Police have in recent years worn a version of Multicam with an arid colorway, having less green and more shades of brown and tan. Anti-poaching elements of the BDF have also been documented wearing Multicam uniforms.