Editing Uganda People's Defence Force (section)

===UNLA, 1979–1986===
{{main|Uganda National Liberation Army}}

After the Uganda–Tanzania War, fighters available to the new government included only the fewer than 1,000 troops who had fought alongside the [[Tanzanian People's Defence Force]] (TPDF) to expel Amin.<ref name="loc" /> The army was back to the size of the original army at independence in 1962.<ref name="loc" /> Titularly, Colonel [[Tito Okello]] served as army commander and Colonel [[David Oyite Ojok]] as chief of staff,<ref>{{cite book | title=Ghosts of Kampala | last=Smith | first=George Ivan | year=1980 | publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] | location=New York | isbn=0-312-32662-9 | page=14}}</ref> leading the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA).

But in 1979, in an attempt to consolidate support for the future, leaders such as [[Yoweri Museveni]] and Major General (later Chief of Staff) Ojok began to enroll thousands of recruits into what were rapidly becoming their private armies.<ref name=loc>{{Country study|country=Uganda|abbr=|editor-first=Rita M.|editor-last=Byrnes|date=December 1990|first=Thomas P.|last=Ofcansky}}</ref> Museveni's 80 original soldiers grew to 8,000; Ojok's original 600 became 24,000.<ref name="loc" /> When then-President [[Godfrey Binaisa]] sought to curb the use of these militias, which were harassing and detaining political opponents, he was overthrown in a military coup on 10 May 1980.<ref name="loc" /> The coup was engineered by Ojok, Museveni, and others acting under the general direction of [[Paulo Muwanga]], Obote's right-hand man and chair of the [[Military Commission]].<ref name="loc" /> The TPDF was still providing necessary security while Uganda's police force—which had been decimated by Amin—was rebuilt, but President [[Julius Nyerere]] of Tanzania refused to help Binaisa retain power.<ref name="loc" /> Many Ugandans claimed that although Nyerere did not impose his own choice on Uganda, he indirectly facilitated the return to power of his old friend and ally, Obote.<ref name="loc" /> In any case, the Military Commission headed by Muwanga effectively governed Uganda during the six months leading up to the national elections of December 1980.<ref name="loc" />

A Commonwealth Military Training Team - Uganda assisted the UNLA in the early 1980s.<ref>[https://cove.army.gov.au/article/long-road-australias-train-advise-and-assist-missions-edited-tom-frame Tom Frame (ed.), 'The Long Road: Australia's Train, Advise and Assist Missions,' University of New South Wales Press, 2017] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419055408/https://cove.army.gov.au/article/long-road-australias-train-advise-and-assist-missions-edited-tom-frame |date=19 April 2024 }}; https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/peacekeeping/operation-summaries/uganda-1982-1984.</ref>

After the Museveni government was formed in 1986, an NRA code of conduct, originally formulated in the bush in 1982, was made public. This was later formalized as Legal Notice No. 1 of 1986 (Amendment), and served as a basis for relations among soldiers and between the NRA and the public.{{sfn|Mudoola|1991|p=237-238}} After the MRM victory steps were taken to institutionalize the NRA, including the setting-up of a bureaucracy; uniforms; regimental colours; training programmes; ranks; and pay and privileges.{{sfn|Mudoola|1991|p=242}} A number of key [[Rwanda Patriotic Front]] personnel became part of the [[National Resistance Army]] that became Uganda's new national armed forces. [[Fred Rwigyema]] was appointed deputy minister of defense and deputy army commander-in-chief, second only to Museveni in the military chain of command for the nation. [[Paul Kagame]] was appointed acting chief of military intelligence. Other Tutsi refugees were highly placed: [[Peter Baingana]] was head of NRA medical services and [[Chris Bunyenyezi]] was the commander of the 306th Brigade.<ref name=mamdani172-173>[[Mahmood Mamdani]], ''When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda'', Princeton University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-691-10280-5}}, pp. 172–173</ref> Tutsi refugees formed a disproportionate number of NRA officers for the simple reason that they had joined the rebellion early and thus had accumulated more experience.<ref name=mamdani172-173/>