Editing Armed Forces of Liberia (section)

===Taylor regime (1997–2003)===
Shortly after the induction of Taylor as elected president of Liberia in August 1997, the Ministry of National Defense determined that the strength of the AFL had risen during the war from 6,500 to 14,981 service members. To begin demobilization, the AFL Chief of Staff published Special Orders No. 1 on January 1, 1998, demobilizing and retiring 2,250 personnel. The demobilization process was delayed and badly managed, and only on April 22, 1998, did payments began to be issued to the demobilizing personnel, without prior explanation of what exactly the payments represented.<ref>{{cite book |title=AFL Restructuring Commission Report submitted to H.E. Charles Taylor, President of Liberia|date=December 17, 1998 |location=Monrovia, Liberia|pages=3–4}}</ref>

Demonstrations and protests by the demobilized personnel eventually led to a riot in which three died on May 5, 1998. As a result, Taylor authorised the formation of a commission to submit recommendations on how the AFL should be reorganized. The commission, led by Blamoh Nelson, Director of the Cabinet, submitted its report on December 17, 1998, recommending a 6,000-strong armed forces (5,160 Army, 600 Navy, and 240 Air Force) but the proposal was never implemented.<ref>{{cite book |title=AFL Restructuring Commission Report submitted to H.E. Charles Taylor, President of Liberia|date=December 17, 1998 |location=Monrovia, Liberia|page=34}}</ref>

Instead Taylor ran down the Armed Forces, letting go 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were [[Krahn]] brought in by former President Doe, in December 1997 – January 1998,{{sfn|Adebajo|2002|p=235}} and building up instead the [[Anti-Terrorist Unit (Liberia)|Anti-Terrorist Unit]] (ATU), the Special Operations Division of the [[Law enforcement in Liberia|Liberian National Police]], and the Special Security Service. On November 19, 1999, Taylor named General Kpenkpah Konah as the new Chief of Staff of the AFL (where he would stay until 2006) and [[John Tarnue]] as head of the army.<ref>{{cite news |author=Anon. |title=World: Africa Liberia names new army chief|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/527641.stm|work=BBC News|date=November 19, 1999|access-date=August 3, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100811024712/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/527641.stm| archive-date= August 11, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> Tarnue was later implicated in a land dispute in 1999, while acting as AFL commander.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trcofliberia.org/news-1/press-releases/un-lutheran-massacres-victim-testify-1|title=UN Lutheran Massacres Victim Testifies|publisher=Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission|access-date=23 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429180015/https://www.trcofliberia.org/news-1/press-releases/un-lutheran-massacres-victim-testify-1|archive-date=29 April 2009|df=mdy}}</ref>

The [[International Crisis Group]] writes that the AFL was reduced practically to the point of non-existence by fall 2001, by which time a total of 4,000 personnel had been retired.<ref name=ICG2002>{{cite web |author=International Crisis Group|title=Liberia: The Key to Ending Regional Instability|url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/west-africa/liberia/043-liberia-the-key-to-ending-regional-instability.aspx |date=April 24, 2002|access-date=August 28, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100819144739/http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/west-africa/liberia/043-liberia-the-key-to-ending-regional-instability.aspx| archive-date= August 19, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> The [[Second Liberian Civil War]] originated in clashes in April 1999 but was not a major threat to Taylor until 2000–01. However, on the government side the AFL played only a minor role; irregular ex [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia]] militias backed by more privileged Taylor partisans such as the [[Anti-Terrorist Unit (Liberia)|Anti-Terrorist Unit]] saw most of the fighting.<ref name=ICG2002/>

As a result of the [[Second Liberian Civil War|Civil War]], all aircraft, equipment, materiel, and facilities belonging to the Liberian Air Force were badly damaged, rendering the force inoperable.<ref name="2007_Budget"/> During the Civil War the Taylor government made a variety of different air support arrangements; a seemingly inoperable [[Mil Mi-2]] and [[Mil Mi-8]], one in [[Anti-Terrorist Unit (Liberia)|Anti-Terrorist Unit]] markings, could be seen at [[Spriggs Payne Airport]] in central Monrovia in mid-2005, apparently a hangover from the war. Meanwhile, during the Taylor era, the Navy consisted of a couple of small patrol craft. However, on shore, both late 1990s and 2005 sources indicate the Navy included the 2nd Naval District, [[Buchanan, Liberia|Buchanan]], the 3rd Naval District, [[Greenville, Liberia|Greenville]], and the 4th Naval District, [[Harper, Liberia|Harper]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Ministry of National Defense |year=c. 2002|publisher=Government of Liberia|location=Monrovia}}</ref>