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DEFENSE
The Equatoguinean military consists of approximately 2500 service members. The largest contingent is the Army with 1400 soldiers; the police have 400 para-military policemen, the Navy has 200 members and the Air Force has approximately 120. There is a Gendarmerie but the exact number of members is unknown. All are very poorly trained, but the government is steadily purchasing new equipment from Ukraine and China among others. In 2003, the government spent $75 million on military expenditures, about 9% of the 2002 budget. Neither the Navy nor the Air Force has trained crews to operate or maintain their equipment. Family and ethnic ties to the president determine promotions and influence within the military. Military decision-making is completely centralized with the President also serving as the Minister of Defense.

Between 1984 and 1992, service members went regularly to the United States on the International Military Education Training program, after which funding for this program for Equatorial Guinea ceased. U.S. military-to-military engagement has been dormant since 1997 (the year of the last Joint Combined Exchange Training Exercise), although their representatives did attend a recent military hosted conference on Gulf of Guinea Security Cooperation.

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