Cameroon

Republic of Cameroon

The country today known as the Republic of Cameroon (République du Cameroun) gave rise to the Sao culture around the 6th century CE, and was later incorporated into the Kanem and Bornu Empires. As with many other West African nations, European explorers and merchants regularized trade along the coasts of what is now Cameroon from the 15th century onwards. The region was claimed by the German Empire in 1884 as the colony of Kamerun, which began a steady push inland for greater control over land and resources. Following the First World War, a League of Nations mandate split the territory in two, dividing administration between France and Great Britain in 1919. By the late 1940s, the question of independence emerged in both territories, with the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) party being outlawed by the French. A colonial war subsequently ensued, ending with France granting self-rule in 1956, and full indepencence on 1 January, 1960. On 1 October 1961, the British South Cameroons were united with the new nation to create the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Nevertheless, an ongoing war with the UPC continued into the 1970s. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cameroon suffered a severe economic crisis, in part due to years of corruption and mismanagement in government. With the reintroduction of multi-party politics in December 1990, the former British Cameroons pressure groups called for greater autonomy, with some advocating complete secession as the Republic of Ambazonia. In February 2008, Cameroon experienced its worst violence in 15 years when a transport union strike in Douala escalated into violent protests in 31 municipal areas.

In 2014, the leaders of both Cameroon and neighboring Chad announced their respective governments would begin to wage war against Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد), more commonly known as Boko Haram, the militant jihadist organization that had kidnapped 276 Christian schoolgirls in April and forced many of them into sexual slavery. By September 2018, the group had largely been forced out of Cameroon.

The Forces Armees Camerounaises (FAC) has traditionally maintained strong ties with France, including a long standing agreement to host French military advisors regularly. The FAC consists of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and the National Gendarmerie, as well as the (non-combatant) National Firefighter Corps (Le Corps Nationale des Sapeurs-Pompiers). The Army consists a number of infantry and motorized infantry battalions (BIM), a Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), three Command & Support battalions, and a multi-unit Rapid Intervention Brigade (Brigade d'Intervention Rapide) that consists of a Special Amphibious Battalion, an Airborne Battalion, and an Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. The Navy includes three battalions of marine infantry and a company of combat swimmers. The Gendarmerie Nationale has approximately 9,000 personnel, including the Groupement polyvalent d’intervention de la gendarmerie nationale (GPIGN) which is an elite unit tasked with specialized duties such as high risk interventions and VIP protection. Prior to 1984, the Garde republicaine (Republican Guard) also fell under the administration of the GN, but after the attempted coup d'etat in spring of that year the unit changed its name to the Garde Presidentielle and is now under the authority of the president.

The National Police are administered by the Délégation générale à la Sûreté nationale (DGSN) and has a range of duties including domestic law enforcement, internal security, and intelligence gathering.

Camouflage Patterns of Cameroon

• Cameroonian forces have worn versions of the French tenue de leópard or lizard pattern since at least the 1980s, and probably much earlier. Several variations have been documented, although it appears most of these have been phased out by the armed forces itself. Use of lizard camouflage has continued with the Ministère des Forêts et de la Faune (MINFOF) or Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife into the present period.

• In the present era, the standard camouflage pattern of the Cameroon Armed Forces is a crude, Chinese-made copy of the "lizard" camouflage pattern.

• Some members of the armed forces also wear a copy of the US m81 woodland camouflage pattern, particularly the Bataillon des Fusiliers Marins or BAFUMAR and the Bataillon Special Amphibie (BSA) of the Navy, and elements of the Army's special operations forces such as the Anti-Terrorist Unit. In more recent times, conventional personnel have also adopted woodland camouflage.

• The Army's Bataillon d’Intervention Rapide (BIR) was created in 2001 as an elite, light infantry/commando-type unit of approximately 5,000 personnel. The unit is considered one of the most highly trained formations in the Armed Forces. Members of the BIR wear a variation of the woodland pattern with dark brown, black, and dark green shapes on a pale green background.

• Copies of US woodland camouflage have continued to be fielded by various elements of the FAC and in various uniform styles well into the present era. In recent years, some units have incorporated an embroidered title over the pocket of their uniform, an abbreviation of the letters of the unit's name. This practice appears to strictly done by the Armee de Terre (Land Forces) and is by no means universal.

• A copy of the US tricolor desert pattern is now being used by members of the Marine Nationale, including special operations elements such as the Fusiliers Marins and the Compagnie des Palmeurs de Combat. However, regular Navy personnel have also been observed wearing uniforms in this pattern, and - in recent years - also some Army personnel.

• Several photographs from May 2016 show military personnel from several branches of the armed forces wearing a copy of US chocolate chip desert camouflage. As no additional photographs have emerged showing this pattern in use with Cameroon military personnel, we are led to conclude the uniforms may have been provided by a host nation during a training exercise/military exchange, or perhaps were procured for a specific mission.

• As part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Cameroon has deployed personnel from its armed forces since 2015. Troops serving with the Cameroonian continent have worn uniforms in the same pattern adopted by Benin's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resource Protection, having black images of wildlife and animal spoor printed over a three-color background. Use of this pattern dates to 2018, possibly earlier.

• First appearing circa 2019, some personnel of the Marine Nationale (Cameroon Navy) wear a French-style uniform in a hybrid design incorporating features of both the traditional leaf and woodland patterns. This hybrid-leaf camouflage has smaller black shapes printed over larger sections of brown and olive green on a khaki background.

• Some special forces personnel attached to the Brigade d'Intervention Rapide have been documented wearing Multicam pattern camouflage uniforms since at least 2024.

• The standard uniform of the majority of the Garde Presidentielle appears to be a light olive green very similar to the combat uniform of the Israeli Defense Forces. However, graduates of the 2024 Commando Contingent of the GP were photographed wearing a unique camouflage uniform having large blotches of black, medium brown, dark and medium olive green on a sea green background. At a distance, the pattern actually resembles the M93 from Yugoslavia, which is possible as Serbia is a well-known source of arms for Cameroon.