Gabon

Gabonese Republic (Gabon)

The West African nation of Gabon is officially known as the Gabonese Republic (République Gabonaise). It is believed the earliest inhabitants were Pygmies, who were later transplanted by the Bantu-speaking tribes that came to dominate the region. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Gabon was claimed by no particular nation, although French and Portuguese explorers had established settlements there. France officially claimed the nation as part of the French Empire in 1885, and by 1910 it would become one of four territories in French Equatorial Africa. All four territories were granted independence in 1960, with Gabon electiing its first president, Léon M’ba, in 1961.

Gabon's first presidential regime was run as a dictatorship, with suppression of the press, political opposition, and freedom of expression. When a military coup sought to remove M'ba in 1964 and restore parliamentary democracy, the French government intervened militarily, imprisoned the opposition, and restored its favored politician to power. Omar Bongo Ondimba replaced M'ba as president when he died in 1967, and declared Gabon a one-party state as an effort to subvert the regional and tribal rivalries that traditionally divided African national politics. Partisan politics would gradually make their way back into Gabon, but despite political opposition and some violent protests, Bongo has been re-elected as president in 1975, 1979, 1986, 1993, 1998, and 2005. He died in 2009 of cardiac arrest, and his son Ali Bongo Ondimba declared winner of the presidential election in October of that year.

The Forces armées gabonaises consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The Army (Armée de terre gabonaise) includes a Republican Guard Battalion, the Airborne Regiment, Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Support Command Regiment, and seven Motorized Infantry Regiments. The Navy has included a Marine Rifle Battalion since 1984. Although responsible for internal security, the Gendarmerie Nationale also shares law enforcement responsibilities with the National Police.

Camouflage Patterns of Gabon

• As with many former French colonies, the oldest camouflage design in use by Gabon was probably the tenue de leópard or lizard pattern, which began to appear on some military personnel by the early 1970s. Early uniforms appear to be French-made, although later examples are no doubt Asian-exports, a common sight in Francophone Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. Lizard camouflage would become a reasonably common uniform from the 1980s onwards, although solid olive green uniforms would also continue to be worn by a variety of units well into the early 2000s.

• Although not well-documented, there is evidence that at least one unit in Gabon wore a striking duck hunter camouflage uniform during the 1970s, probably made in South Korea and most likely copied from the original pattern developed by South Korea for use in the Vietnam War. Based on surviving photographs, we can connect the use of this pattern to the Garde Presidentielle, although it may only have been worn for a short period of time. There is some evidence that a similar pattern was worn by the GP in the mid-1980s.

• By 1998, the Garde Presidentielle had changed their uniform to a DPM pattern, not entirely dissimilar to those being worn in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa by some Anglophone countries. How long this camouflage design was used by the unit is unclear, although a different version of DPM did emerge some years later, after the unit became the Garde Républicaine.

• Although largely replaced by the rest of the armed forces, the Marine Nationale (Navy) has retained use of tenue de leópard or lizard camouflage for some elements into the present era, including its Compagnie de Fusiliers Marins (COFUSMA) or Marine Infantry Company. This pattern was also being worn by the Airborne Regiment circa 2001-2002. The contemporary design is not a precise copy of the original French drawings, but has less definition and has come to be known by some as "Asian lizard" as it is primarily produced by factories in Asia for export.

• Some time around 2001-2002, elements of the armed forces replaced the lizard camouflage pattern previously issued with a copy of the French CE woodland design. The design has been worn by personnel from all branches, but is most commonly encountered in the ground forces of the Army.

• Around 2007, several color variations of the standard French CE woodland pattern began to appear in use with the armed forces of Gabon. The earliest to emerge had an overall arid color palette, incorporating dark brown and olive green shapes on a sandy background. This variation has only been observed with the Garde Republicaine, although not with the entire unit, as some elements appear to be issued other camouflage designs.

• A slightly different version of this pattern has a pale green background is worn by the Land Forces.

• Members of the National Police and Gendarmerie wear two types of camouflage, with either a blue (Police) or grey colorway (Gendarmerie).

• The Military Health Services (Service de Santé Militaire) of Gabon wear a variation of the French CE woodland pattern with a reddish colorway, seen here.

• The Directorate General of Military Engineering (Direction Général Génie Militaire) or GM, adopted a variation of the three-color scheme issued to most other military branches, having very dark brown and pinkish earth tones on an emerald green background. This pattern has been in service since at least 2019, but may have been adopted a bit earlier.

• Also documented in recent years has been a copy of the m81 woodland camouflage pattern.

• Although not a military organization, the federal Agence Nationale Des Parcs Nationaux or National Parks Agency of Gabon do have their own camouflage pattern seen here. In addition to leaf and twig shapes common to camouflage designs around the world, this pattern seems to also incorporate images of local flora and fauna.

• The Customs Directorate of Gabon (Direction Générale des Douanes) primarily wear solid khaki or olive drab-colored uniforms, but a specialized enforcement unit is issued a brown-dominant, woodland-type camouflage uniform consisting of large sections of black, brown and dark olive green, on a khaki background.

• As recently as 2015, a desert or semi-arid camouflage pattern was adopted by the Gabon Armed Forces. The design features wide swaths of sand and brown on a light khaki or tan-colored background. It is presently uncertain whether this design is worn by all units of the Armed Forces, or has more limited distribution.