Editing Mongolian Armed Forces (section)

==History==
=== Mongol Empire and post-imperial ===
{{main|Mongol military tactics and organization|Mongol Empire#Military setup}}
As a unified state, Mongolia traces its origins to the [[Mongol Empire]] created by [[Genghis Khan]] in the 13th century. Genghis Khan unified the various tribes on the [[Mongolian plateau]], and his descendants eventually conquered almost the entirety of Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Eastern and Central Europe.

The Mongol Army was organized into decimal units of tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands. A notable feature of the army is that it was composed entirely of cavalry units, giving it the advantage of maneuverability. Siege weaponry was adapted from other cultures, with foreign experts integrated into the command structure.

The Mongols rarely used naval power, with a few exceptions. In the 1260s and 1270s they used seapower while conquering the [[Song dynasty]] of China, though they were unable to mount successful seaborne campaigns against Japan due to storms and rough battles. Around the Eastern Mediterranean, their campaigns were almost exclusively land-based, with the seas being controlled by the Crusader and Mamluk forces.

With the disintegration of the Mongol Empire in the late 13th century, the Mongol Army as a unified unit also crumbled. The Mongols retreated to their homeland after the fall of the [[Yuan dynasty|Mongol Yuan dynasty]], and once again delved into civil war. Although the Mongols became united once again during the reign of [[Esen Taishi|Queen Mandukhai]] and [[Dayan Khan|Batmongkhe Dayan Khan]]. In the 17th century they were annexed into the [[Qing dynasty]].

===Period under Qing Rule===
Once Mongolia was under the Qing, the Mongol Armies were used to defeat the Ming dynasty, helping to consolidate Manchu Rule. Mongols proved a useful ally in the war, lending their expertise as cavalry archers. During most of the Qing dynasty time, the Mongols gave military assistance to the Manchus.<ref name="Bernard Hung-Kay Luk p.25">{{cite book|first1=Bernard Hung-Kay|last1=Luk|first2=Amir |last2=Harrak|title=Contacts between cultures|volume=4|pages=25}}</ref>

With the creation of the [[Eight Banners]], Banner Armies were broadly divided along ethnic lines, namely [[Manchu]] and [[Mongols|Mongol]].

=== Bogd Khanate (1911–1919) ===
In 1911, Outer Mongolia declared independence as the [[Outer Mongolia (1911–1919)|Bogd Khaanate]] under the [[Bogd Khan]]. This initial independence did not last, with [[Occupation of Mongolia|Mongolia being occupied successively]] by the Chinese [[Beiyang Government]], and [[Baron Ungern]]'s White Russian forces. The modern precursor to the Mongolian Armed Forces was placed, with men's conscription and a permanent military structure starting in 1912.<ref name="GeneralStaff">{{cite web |url=http://gsmaf.gov.mn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=6&lang=mn |title=ЗХ-ний түүх |author=Зэвсэгт хүчний жанжин штаб |access-date=12 March 2012|language=mn}}</ref>

===Mongolian People's Republic===
{{main|Mongolian People's Army}}
With Independence lost again to foreign forces, the newly created [[Mongolian People's Party|Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party]] created a native communist army in 1920 under the leadership of [[Damdin Sükhbaatar]] in order to fight against Russian troops from the White movement and Chinese forces. The MPRP was aided by the [[Red Army]], which helped to secure the Mongolian People's Republic and remained in its territory until at least 1925. However, during the [[1932 armed uprising in Mongolia]] and the [[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts|initial Japanese border probes]] beginning in the mid-1930s, Soviet Red Army troops in Mongolia amounted to little more than instructors for the native army and as guards for diplomatic and trading installations.

====Battles of Khalkhin Gol====
{{See also|Battles of Khalkhin Gol}}
{{Multiple image
|image1=
|caption1=[[Grigory Shtern]], [[Khorloogiin Choibalsan]] and [[Georgy Zhukov]] at [[Battles of Khalkhin Gol|Khalkhin Gol]].
|image2=MNRA soldiers 1939.jpg
|caption2=Mongolian People's Army soldiers fighting Japanese soldiers at Khalkhin Gol in 1939.
}}
The Battles of Khalkhin Gol began on 11 May 1939. A Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70–90 men had entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses. On that day, Manchukuoan cavalry attacked the Mongolians and drove them back across the Khalkhin Gol. On 13 May, the Mongolian force returned in greater numbers and the Manchukoans were unable to dislodge them.

On 14 May, Lt. Col. [[Yaozo Azuma]] led the reconnaissance regiment of 23rd Infantry Division, supported by the 64th Infantry Regiment of the same division, under Colonel [[Takemitsu Yamagata]], into the territory and the Mongolians withdrew. Soviet and Mongolian troops returned to the disputed region, however, and Azuma's force again moved to evict them. This time things turned out differently, as the Soviet–Mongolian forces surrounded Azuma's force on 28 May and destroyed it.<ref>{{cite web|last=Drea|first=Edward J.|url=http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/resources/csi/drea2/BigMaps.html#map3|title=Leavenworth Papers No. 2 Nomonhan: Japanese Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939 – BIG MAPS – Map 3|access-date=13 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113082544/http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/resources/csi/drea2/BigMaps.html#map3 |archive-date=13 November 2011}}</ref> The Azuma force suffered eight officers and 97 men killed and one officer and 33 men wounded, for 63% total casualties. The commander of the Soviet forces and the [[Far East Front]] was [[Comandarm]] [[Grigory Shtern]] from May 1938.<ref name="Grigoriy Shtern">{{cite web |title=Biography Grigory Stern |url=http://www.peoples.ru/military/general/shtern/ |website=peoples.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

Both sides began building up their forces in the area: soon Japan had 30,000 men in the theater. The Soviets dispatched a new [[Corps]] commander, [[Comcor]] [[Georgy Zhukov]], who arrived on 5 June and brought more motorized and armored forces (I Army Group) to the combat zone.<ref>{{cite book|author=Baabar|date=1999|pages=1001–1011|title=The History of Mongolia|chapter=The Great Purge|editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Sneath |editor2-first=Christopher |editor2-last=Kaplonski|doi=10.1163/9789004216358_053|publisher=Brill}}</ref> Accompanying Zhukov was Comcor [[Yakov Smushkevich]] with his aviation unit. [[Zhamyangiyn Lhagvasuren]], Corps Commissar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army, was appointed Zhukov's deputy.

The Battles of Khalkhin Gol ended on 16 September 1939.

====World War II and immediate aftermath====
[[File:A monument featuring a T-34-85 tank in Ulan Bator.jpg|thumb|World War II memorial in Ulaanbaatar, popularly called the ''Tank Monument'' featuring a T-34-85 tank.]]

In the beginning stage of World War II, the [[Mongolian People's Army]] was involved in the Battle of [[Battles of Khalkhin Gol|Khalkhin Gol]], when Japanese forces, together with the puppet state of Manchukuo, attempted to invade Mongolia from the Khalkha River. Soviet forces under the command of [[Georgy Zhukov]], together with Mongolian forces, defeated the Japanese Sixth army and effectively ended the [[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts]].

In 1945, Mongolian forces participated in the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]] under the command of the Red Army, among the last engagements of [[World War II]]. A Soviet–Mongolian [[Cavalry mechanized group]] under [[Issa Pliyev]] took part as part of the Soviet [[Transbaikal Front]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ibiblio |url=http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-08-08/army_cav-mech.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108173423/http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-08-08/army_cav-mech.html |archive-date=8 January 2017 |access-date=9 October 2022 |website=ibiblio}}</ref> Mongolian troops numbered four cavalry divisions and three other regiments. During 1946–1948, the Mongolian People's Army successfully repelled attacks from the [[Kuomintang]]'s Hui regiment and their Kazakh allies in the border between Mongolia and Xinjiang. The attacks were propagated by the [[Ili Rebellion]], a Soviet-backed revolt by the [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] against the Kuomintang Government of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]. This little-known border dispute between Mongolia and the Republic of China became known as the [[Pei-ta-shan Incident]].

These engagements would be the last active battles the Mongolian Army would see, until after the democratic revolution.

===After the Democratic Revolution===
[[File:Military medical professionals from Mongolia, India, Canada, South Korea and the United States stand in formation at the cooperative health engagement and subject matter expert exchange closing ceremony for 130813-M-MG222-003.jpg|thumb|Military medical professionals at a closing ceremony for [[Khaan Quest]] 2013 in Ulaanbaatar.]]

Mongolia [[1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia|underwent a democratic revolution in 1990]], ending the communist one-party state that had existed since the early 1920s. In 2002, a law was passed that enabled Mongolian Army and police forces to conduct [[UN peacekeeping|UN-backed]] and other international peacekeeping missions abroad.<ref name="GeneralStaff"/> In August 2003, Mongolia contributed troops to the [[Iraq War]] as part of the [[Multi-National Force – Iraq]]. Mongolian troops, numbering 180 at its peak, were under [[Multinational Division Central-South]] and were tasked with guarding the main Polish base, [[Camp Echo (Iraq)|Camp Echo]]. Prior to that posting, they had been protecting a logistics base dubbed Camp Charlie in [[Hillah]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centcom.mil/images/multimedia/cbdec07jan08.pdf|title=Mongolian Contingent in Iraq. An Afghan Education from the Ground Up|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904002125/http://www.centcom.mil/images/multimedia/cbdec07jan08.pdf |archive-date=4 September 2015|work=Coalition Bulletin|date=January 2007}}</ref>

Then-[[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]], [[General]] [[Richard Myers]], visited Ulaanbaatar on 13 January 2004 and expressed his appreciation for the deployment of a 173-strong contingent to Iraq. He then inspected the [[150th Peacekeeping Battalion]], which was planned to send a fresh force to replace the first contingent later in January 2004.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=US defence chief visits Mongolia|magazine=[[Jane's Defence Weekly]]|date=21 January 2004|pages=16}}</ref> All troops were withdrawn on 25 September 2008.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204055748/http://www.talkingproud.us/International022705.html|url=http://www.talkingproud.us/International022705.html|title=A Salute to Our Gallant Allies in Iraq|date=27 February 2005|archive-date=4 February 2007}}</ref>

In June 2005, Batzorigiyn Erdenebat, the Vice Minister of National Defense, told Jane's Defence Weekly that the deployment of forces in Mongolia was changing away from its Cold War, southern-orientated against China posture. "Under Mongolia's regional development concept the country has been divided into four regions, each incorporating several provinces. The largest capital city in each region will become the regional center and we will establish regional military headquarters in each of those cities," he said. However, at the time, implementation had been delayed.<ref>Interview, Batzorigiyn Erdenebat, Vice Minister of National Defence, ''Jane's Defence Weekly'', 29 June 2005, p.&nbsp;34</ref>

In 2009, Mongolia sent 114 troops as part of the [[International Security Assistance Force]] to [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]]. The troops were sent, backing the U.S. surge in troop numbers. Mongolian forces in Afghanistan mostly assist NATO/[[International Security Assistance Force]] personnel in training on the former [[Warsaw Pact]] weapons that comprise the bulk of the military equipment available to the [[Afghan National Army]].

In 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the armed forces, it was awarded the [[Order of Genghis Khan]] by President [[Khaltmaagiin Battulga]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mongolian Armed Forces awarded the Order of Chinggis Khaan|url=https://montsame.mn/en/read/265572|access-date=10 June 2021|website=MONTSAME News Agency|language=en}}</ref>