Puerto Rican Armed Forces

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Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Fuerzas Armadas del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico
Founded5 October 1960; 62 years ago
Service branchesRoyal Puerto Rican Army
Royal Puerto Rican Navy
Royal Puerto Rican Air Force
Royal Puerto Rican Coast Guard
HeadquartersMinistry of Defence, Carolina
Leadership
Commander-in-ChiefAlexandra
Minister of DefenceCristina Santolaria
Chief of the Defence StaffGeneral Thiago Cardenal
Personnel
Military age18
ConscriptionNo (abolished in 1992)
Available for
military service
809,279, age 18-49
Fit for
military service
612,072, age 18-49
Reaching military
age annually
28,515
Active personnel12,927
Reserve personnel6,304
Expenditure
Budget$1.74 billion
Percent of GDP%1.5
Related articles
RanksMilitary ranks of Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rican Armed Forces (PRAF), officially the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), are the military forces tasked with the defense of Puerto Rico. Formed in 1960, the armed forces are made up of four branches, consisting of the army, navy, air force, and coast guard.

Founded shortly after Puerto Rico's independence in 1960, the PRAF, as a result of heightening geopolitical Cold War tensions at the time, underwent rapid modernisation over the course of a few years or so, with arms largely coming from both the United States and the United Kingdom, the country's two major weapons suppliers, helping to make the PRAF a well-equipped and modernised force in the region and equipped with relatively modern Western weaponry, a distinction it continues to hold to the present era. Interestingly, despite its highly modern status, the armed forces' budget only consumes roughly 1.5% of the national budget.

Similar to other constitutional monarchies, the ceremonial head of the PRAF is the Queen of Puerto Rico, currently Alexandra. Instead, execute authority of the armed forces is bestowed upon the prime minister and the minister of defence whose ministry is ultimately responsible for matters relating to the armed forces.

Until 1992, able male citizens of Puerto Rico were required to serve a mandatory period of five years in the armed forces in response to Cold War tensions, although, the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and therefore, the end of the longstanding Cold War conflict, prompted the system's termination in favour of a more voluntary system, which has remained in use since then.