Please find attached some documents that provide detailed information on the Somali Air Force, including types of aircraft, location of air bases, number of personnel, supply of weaponry and training.

A list of officers could not be found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC. The attached Africa Confidential article, however, names several high-ranking officers of the Somali Armed Forces, including some who were reportedly in charge of air bases and command sectors in 1988 (23 Sept. 1988). The same article states that Berbera had been the base "for the three remaining functioning aircraft of the MIG-17 squadron, which was seven-strong earlier this year [1988]" (Ibid.). A more recent Africa Confidential article (also attached) states that Rhodesian and South African mercenaries had been flying and maintaining Somalia's Hawker Hunter aircraft (21 Dec. 1990).

The attached pages of Somalia: A Country Study (listed below) state that "since the military coup in 1969 little information has been available on the makeup of the officer corps and its training" (Nelson 1982, 254). The same source indicates that "from the early 1960s until 1977 the Soviet Union played a major part in officer training," although relations with the Soviet Union were strained after the Ogaden war, with Somalia seeking military supplies and assistance from other countries. The source adds that in the early 1980s "foreign training was still available, although it appeared to emphasize technical instruction in the care and maintenance of specialized equipment purchased abroad, particularly in Italy" (Ibid, 255-256). The source also states that "since 1978 Italy has provided more military assistance to Somalia than has any other Western country," adding that "in addition Italian companies, aided by generous export credits subsidized by the Italian government, supplied aircraft and training for Somali flight and ground crews beginning in 1979" (Ibid., 261).

Africa Confidential [London]. 23 September 1988. Vol. 29, No. 19. "Somalia: Generals Fall Out." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

_____. 21 December 1990. Vol. 31, No. 25. "Somalia: Money For Arms." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

Nelson, Harold D., ed. 1982. Area Handbook Series: Somalia: A Country Study. Washington: American University, Foreign Area Studies.

Africa Confidential [London]. 23 September 1988. Vol. 29, No. 19. "Somalia: Generals Fall Out." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

_____. 21 December 1990. Vol. 31, No. 25. "Somalia: Money For Arms." Miramoor Publications Ltd.

Legum, Colin and Marion E. Doro, eds. 1989. Africa Contemporary Record: 1987-88 Annual Survey and Documents. New York: Africana Publishing Company, pp. B396-B397.

Military Technology: The Balance of Military Power - World Defence Almanac 1989 - 1990. January 1990. Bonn: Mönch Publishing Group, p. 202.

Nelson, Harold D., ed. 1982. Area Handbook Series: Somalia: A Country Study. Washington: American University, Foreign Area Studies, pp. 248-262.