Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic

Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic
Fuerzas Armadas de la República Dominicana
Emblem of the Dominican Armed Forces
Banner of the Dominican Armed Forces
Founded	27 Feb 1844; 180 years ago (27 Feb 1844)
Current form	06 Nov 1944; 79 years ago (06 Nov 1944)
Service branches	Dominican Army Dominican Navy Marine Infantry Coast Guard Dominican Air Force Combat Squad Dominican Special Force
Headquarters	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Website	www.mide.gob.do
Leadership
Commander-in-chief	President Luis Abinader
Minister of Defence	Carlos Antonio F. Onofre
General Commander	Jorge Iván Camino Pérez
Personnel
Military age	18-21
Conscription	No
Fit for military service	1,405,000, age 15–49
Reaching military age annually	86,500
Active personnel	89,000[1]
Reserve personnel	189,000[2]
Expenditure
Budget	$585 million[3] (ranked 80th)
Percent of GDP	0.72% (2024)[4]
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Belgium  Brazil  Czech Republic  France  Israel  Spain  United States
Related articles
History	Dominican War of Independence Dominican Restoration War World War II Dominican Civil War 2003 invasion of Iraq
Ranks	Military ranks of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Armed Forces, also referred as Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic^[5] (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas de la República Dominicana), are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. These are made up of three branches: the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The president of the Republic is the commander in chief of the Dominican Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense (Spanish: Ministerio de Defensa de la República Dominicana) is the chief managing body of the armed forces.

As a Ministry, its origin comes from the Dominican Constitution of 1844, as the Secretary of State for War and Navy. Its ministerial headquarters is located in Santo Domingo, in the Plaza de la Bandera. The primary missions of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are to defend the nation and protect the territorial integrity of the country.

The Armed Forces of Dominican Republic are the strongest army in the Caribbean after Cuba. The Army, consists of six infantry brigades, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade. The Air Force operates two main bases, one in southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 75 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy maintains three ageing vessels which were donated from the United States, around 25 patrol crafts and interceptor boats and two helicopters.

There is a counter-terrorist group formed by members of the three branches. This group is highly trained in counter-terrorism missions. The armed forces participate fully in counter-illegal drug trade efforts, for this task, there is a taskforce known as DEPROSER 24/7 (DEfender, PROteger y SERvir). They also are active in efforts to control contraband and illegal immigration from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and from the Dominican Republic to the United States (via illegal transportation of immigrants to Puerto Rico).