The Lebanese army is celebrating its 77th anniversary on Monday with festivities that are overshadowed by disappointment due to the dire situation faced by military personnel as a result of the unprecedented financial crisis affecting the country as a whole. This situation has rendered their salaries worthless, forcing many to request discharge, flee, or take on additional jobs outside military service to provide for their families daily, with their unspoken sentiment being, "In what condition did you return, O holiday?"
For some time now, the military leadership has been relying on assistance coming from various sources to sustain its personnel, especially as the political authority has distanced itself from the issue with the impending depletion of the Central Bank of Lebanon's reserves. A Lebanese soldier's salary is approximately 1,296,000 Lebanese pounds, which was equal to $864 before the collapse of the exchange rate, but now stands at approximately $44 based on an exchange rate of 29,000 pounds to the dollar. The highest ranks, such as a general, earn 8,455,000 pounds, which is about $291 today compared to $5,637 previously.
For the past two months, military personnel have been receiving an additional salary while awaiting other aid to make their salaries sufficient to support their families, chief among which is a monthly fixed amount approved by the government, set at 1,200,000 Lebanese pounds, equivalent to about $42 for each security member. A soldier, R.K., 30, states, "Despite the additional amounts received by personnel over the past few months, they remain insignificant, and many are seeking to submit discharge papers and aspire to leave the country." He adds, "I personally work in a restaurant at night and have to wake up in the morning to head to my service center, and most of my acquaintances within the institution do the same, or else we wouldn't be able to survive until today."
Traveling to their work locations has become a significant ordeal with the unprecedented rise in gasoline prices, which has automatically led to a substantial increase in private transportation fares due to the absence of public transport in Lebanon. Notable measures taken since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2019, which the military institution has never experienced, include allowing military personnel to engage in other jobs outside their working hours, reducing working days and hours to a minimum, farming the lands surrounding the barracks and distributing the proceeds among personnel and their families, approving discharge requests for many officers and personnel, and recently seeking assistance from private companies to secure food for the troops.
The military leadership has chosen "77... We Will Not Break" as the slogan for this year's Army Day to emphasize that despite all the difficulties faced by the institution, it has endured and will continue to remain steadfast, as per a military source. He told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that "significant tasks lie ahead for the army today amid extremely tough conditions, particularly financially and in terms of living standards, but the will to endure and challenge remains fundamental, especially as we are certain that this hardship will pass."
The leadership is counting on obtaining financial amounts from abroad to support personnel and raise their salaries, as most assistance received from countries has largely been medical and humanitarian, along with financial support from resident and expatriate Lebanese, most of which is allocated for the medical care of military personnel and their families. Qatar announced a contribution of $60 million in early July to support the Lebanese army. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat has learned that the necessary mechanisms are being put in place to distribute these funds among the personnel. The United States of America is considered the most significant supporter of the army in terms of weapons, equipment, and military training.
The Lebanese army consists of 74,000 personnel, and in 2017, a decision was made to halt recruitment in the public sector. However, within the framework of "random, illegal recruitment" preceding the parliamentary elections in 2018, around 5,000 security personnel were hired, most of whom are in the military institution.
Retired Brigadier General George Nader holds the political authority responsible for the state of the army, stating, "Instead of providing support to the military institution in this crisis, we have seen random support for materials whose fate was smuggling and the black market," warning about the danger of the situation continuing as it is. He told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, "The salary of personnel is now insufficient to buy bread for their families, prompting everyone to seek an alternative source of income, which, although we realize is indispensable today, is dangerous as it distracts personnel during military service." Nader emphasized the need to "mobilize efforts to ensure the army's resilience, which remains the only pillar that the nation leans on; if this pillar shakes, the ceiling will collapse, leading to catastrophe."
