Its main tasks are to protect the territory of the State; participate in international military operations; and to prevent threats to national security.

The main service rifle was the British Pattern 1914 Enfield, and the amount of standard issue ammunition for an infantry soldier was 45 rounds of .303 (7,7mm) caliber.

[7][8] In terms of vehicles, the Latvian military was seriously lacking in motorized transport, and thus had to rely mostly on railroads and horse-drawn carriages for most of its logistics needs.

Thus, the Latvian military during the interwar era was more or less comparable both in equipment and size to its other Baltic neighbours, such as Estonia, Lithuania and Finland.

[9] After the Soviet occupation of Latvia in June 1940, during which the armed forces did not intervene following orders, the annihilation of the Latvian Army began.

After the German attack against the Soviet Union, from June 29 to July 1 more than 1980 Latvian soldiers were demobilised, fearing that they might turn their weapons against the Russian commissars and officers.

[10] During and after World War II, many former veterans were a part of the fighters of the anti-Soviet National Partisan resistance movement opposing the continued Soviet occupation.

A notable moment in the history of the armed forces is the accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 29 March 2004, after Latvia received a Membership Action Plan in 1999 and, ultimately, an invite was extended to it and six other countries during the 2002 Prague summit.

[11] Previously, Latvia co-founded the North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1991 and joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994.

[14] However, after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, calls for reintroducing mandatory military service reappeared, with the full invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 being a decisive boost to this momentum, despite initial skepticism from the top leadership in the NAF and the Ministry of Defence.

[15] In July 2022, Defence Minister Artis Pabriks announced a plan for the re-introduction of military service – officially called the National Defense Service (Latvian: Valsts aizsardzības dienests, VAD) – first on a voluntary basis and then in compulsory form at a later date for physically and mentally capable males aged 18–27, starting from January 2023.

[18][19] On April 5, 2023, Latvia decided to re-introduce compulsory national defense service in response to the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine.

[22] On 27 August 2024, Latvian defense minister Andris Sprūds announced plans to conscript women into the armed forces by 2028.

Latvia cooperates with Estonia and Lithuania in the infantry battalion BALTBAT and naval squadron BALTRON which are available for peacekeeping operations.

After joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Latvia has undertaken obligations to strengthen common defence within the scope of its capabilities.

Latvia has acquired small but highly professional troop units that have been fully integrated into NATO structures.