Royal Bhutan Army

Royal Bhutan Army
བསྟན་སྲུང་དམག་སྡེ་
Flag of Royal Bhutan Army
Founded1958; 66 years ago (1958)
Service branches Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan
HeadquartersLungtenphu, Thimphu
Websiterba.bt
Leadership
Druk GyalpoJigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Chief operations officerBatoo Tshering
Personnel
Military age18
ConscriptionVoluntary
Active personnel8,000 (approximately)
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Bhutan
RanksMilitary ranks of Bhutan
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The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA; Dzongkha: བསྟན་སྲུང་དམག་སྡེ་, romanized: bStan-srung dmag-sde)[1] is a branch of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan responsible for maintaining the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty against security threats. The Druk Gyalpo is the Supreme Commander in Chief of the RBA.[2] The Chief Operations Officer is Goonglon Gongma (Lt. Gen.) Batoo Tshering.[3][4]

The RBA includes the Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan (RBG), an elite branch of the armed forces responsible for the security of the King, the royal family and other officials.[5]

It was customary, but not obligatory, for one son from each Bhutanese family to serve in the army.[5] In addition, militia may be recruited during emergencies. It may, from time to time, be called on to assist the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) in maintaining law and order.[6]

  1. ^ "༈ རྫོང་ཁ་ཨིང་ལིཤ་ཤན་སྦྱར་ཚིག་མཛོད། ༼བསྟ༽" [Dzongkha-English Dictionary: "BSTA"] (in Dzongkha). Dzongkha Development Commission. Archived from the original on 2011-08-25.
  2. ^ The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan (PDF). Government of Bhutan. 2008. art.28. ISBN 978-99936-754-0-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-01.
  3. ^ "Dozin Batoo Tshering takes over as COO of RBA". Kuensel. 2005-11-02. Archived from the original on 2006-11-05.
  4. ^ "Eastern Commander visits Bhutan". Kuensel. 2008-09-20. Archived from the original on 2011-06-10.
  5. ^ a b "A Country Study: Bhutan". Federal Research Division, US Library of Congress. 1991. sec. Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  6. ^ "A Country Study: Bhutan". Federal Research Division, US Library of Congress. 1991. sec. Militia. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2013-07-06.