THE MONGOLIAN ARMED FORCES PARTICIPATION IN
PEACE SUPPORT OPERATIONS

Brief Introduction 

In 1999 Mongolia’s Ministry of Defense made the decision to establish the Peacekeeping Office in the Mongolian Armed Forces General Staff. Since then, the office has expanded, and its responsibility is to oversee the management and peacekeeping capacity of the Armed Forces. The office also facilitates deploy­ments of peace support operations and coordinates the Mongolian Armed Forces participation in UN peacekeeping operations and other multinational operations overseas.

From the first deployment of two military officers as United Nations military observers to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002, until August 2011, the Mongolian Armed Forces has deployed over 5,200 military personnel to seven UN peacekeeping missions and five multinational operations. From 2002 to present, 85 military observers and staff officers have been deployed.  From August 2003 to October 2008, ten rotations of 1,194 troops were deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. From 2005 to 2007, two rotations of 72 troops were deployed to KFOR in Kosovo. From January 2006 to present, ten rotations of 2,300 troops have been deployed to UNMIL in  Sierra-Leone.  From October 2003 to present, 902 troops have been deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.  From November 2009 to January 2011, 533 troops were deployed in support of the United Nations mission in Chad and CAR /MINURCAT/.

Building Exercise Through Participation

In August 2002, Mongolia deployed two military observers to the United Nations mission in Congo /MONUC/ in the Congo, Africa. It marked the first time that the Mongolian Armed Forces /MAF/ participated in UN peacekeeping operations.

The following year, Mongolia joined coalition operations in Iraq by deploying a reinforced company and also deployed a mobile training team to support coalition operations in Afghanistan. These deployments illustrated Mongolia’s commitment to support UN and international coalition peace and security operations. With these historic, long-range strategic deployments (the first in more than 700 years), the Mongolian Armed Forces demonstrated that it can deploy, operate, and sustain company-sized military units in the field for international coalition peace support operations.

Operation Iraqi Freedom 

This was the first Coalition mission for the Mongolian Armed Forces. Thus, it clearly tested the peace support operations decision-making process, as established by defense legislation. It provided opportunities for the military to validate peace support operations training, ensure reliability of equipment and weapons, and conduct military operations in real-world scenarios. In the framework of participation, the military dispatched a liaison team to the U.S. Central Command, sent staff officers to Multinational Force and Division Commands, conducted its first pre-deployment site surveys, and organized a strategic long-range deployment.

In August 2003, Mongolian Armed Forces deployed an Infantry Company to Operation Iraqi Freedom to undertake peacekeeping missions within the Polish-led Multinational Division. It was the first time the Mongolian Armed Forces deployed troops overseas since 1945 and participated in multinational operations overseas  in support of the Global War on Terror. From August 2003 to October 2008, ten rotations of 1,194 troops were deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Afghan National Army Training:

From October 2003, Mongolia’s military contributed to the U.S.-led effort against international terrorism in Afghanistan. The Government approved the dispatch of mobile training teams of field artillery and mortar to Afghanistan to train Afghan artillery specialists and to repair artillery weapon systems of the Afghan National Army. The Mongolian military has deployed a total of 241 personnel with 12 rotations.

In addition to its impressive participation in United Nations missions, Mongolia has been an unwavering partner in the Global War on Terrorism. It was among the first countries to join the coalition formed for “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. The Mongolian National Security Council authorized its military to participate in this operation on April 10, 2003.

From September 2009 to August 2011, 486 troops have been deployed to force Protection Company with the U.S. in Kabul, Afghanistan.

From November 2009 to August 2011, 160 troops have been deployed to force Protection platoon with Germany in Faizabad, Afghanistan.

From September 2010 to August 2011, 12 troops have been deployed to helicopter maintenance training & mentoring team force in Kabul, Afghanistan.

From September 2010 to August 2011, 12 troops have been deployed to helicopter maintenance training & mentoring team force in Kabul, Afghanistan.