Puerto Rican Armed Forces
| Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico | |
|---|---|
| Fuerzas Armadas del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico | |
| Founded | 5 October 1960; 62 years ago |
| Service branches | Royal Puerto Rican Army Royal Puerto Rican Navy Royal Puerto Rican Air Force Royal Puerto Rican Coast Guard |
| Headquarters | Ministry of Defence, Carolina |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Alexandra |
| Minister of Defence | Cristina Santolaria |
| Chief of the Defence Staff | General Thiago Cardenal |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18 |
| Conscription | No (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 personnel | 12,927 |
| Reserve personnel | 6,304 |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | $1.74 billion |
| Percent of GDP | %1.5 |
| Related articles | |
| Ranks | Military 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.