There was little concern about security in The Gambia due to its small size and the safety provided by being totally surrounded by Senegal, with which it had signed a mutual defence pact in 1965.

The rebels held Jawara's wife and children hostage, one of several acts that undermined public support for the coup.

The rebels were defeated four days after the coup began, having cost the lives of 33 Senegalese soldiers and an estimated 500 Gambians, many of whom were innocent civilians.

There were also accusations of widespread corruption and nepotism in the selection process for Gambian Confederal troops from the ranks of the GAF.

In August, Senegal suddenly removed 300 Senegalese troops from The Gambia without warning, forcing the GAF to make up the difference.

In August, 105 Gambian soldiers deployed to Monrovia, alongside Ghanaian, Nigerian, Guinean, and Sierra Leonean troops.

Two months later, soldiers from the unit mutinied and went on a protest march to the State House, over claims they were owed money from their deployment.

In the nine months between this announcement and NATAG arriving, in 1992 Gambia suffered another mutiny that was very similar to the first, perpetrated by the second contingent of peacekeepers returning from Liberia.

These two mutinies demonstrated the growing sense of distrust in the ranks, primarily from ECOMOG peacekeepers and junior officers who saw that promotions were based on favoritism, eroding their confidence in the hierarchy.

On the morning of 22 July 1994, when Jawara was at his office in the State House, he received a report that armed soldiers were approaching.

[5] Jammeh awarded promotions and pay rises to armed forces personnel and improvements were made to the Yundum barracks.

The Gambia Armed Forces Act 2008 established a national guard, which included several specialized units in its structure.

The Pakistan Armed Forces Advisory Mission helped establish frameworks and structures to model the Gambian army and navy.

[5] Following the election of Adama Barrow as President of Gambia in 2016, it submitted an application to re-join the Commonwealth of Nations on 22 January 2018 and rejoined on 8 February 2018.

In addition to two Cobra-1s, many high-frequency radios, mine detectors, uniforms, winter jackets and similar military equipment were donated to Gambia.

[citation needed] It exists to enforce fishery legislation and regulation, and assistance has been given in that task by the Senegalese Navy.

In September 2011, a team from the HSV-2 Swift docked in Banjul to conduct a two-week intensive training programme for the Navy.

[citation needed] The government considered creating a Gambian Air Force in 2002 and sent pilots to be trained by Ukraine.

[13] An amendment to the Gambia Armed Forces Bill in April 2008 included the creation of a new branch of the GAF, the Republican National Guard (NRG).

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Gambia has contributed troops to a number of peacekeeping operations:[19] In 2012 FlightGlobal reported that two Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft were in service in COIN/CAS roles in addition to one Sukhoi Su-25.