[14] The SAAF utilized conscription; males served in the military at age 18, but they were exempted from service if they did not have a brother who can take care of their parents.

After the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian military enlisted strength dropped by over half from a pre-civil war figure of 325,000 to 150,000 soldiers in the army in December 2014 due to casualties, desertions and draft dodging,[15] reaching between 178,000 and 220,000 soldiers in the army,[16] in addition to 80,000 to 100,000 irregular forces.

[17] The Syrian Arab Armed Forces collapsed in 2024 with the fall of the Assad regime and flight of Bashar al-Assad.

[19] On 21 December 2024 it was reported that Murhaf Abu Qasra had been appointed the new defence minister for the interim government.

While the conspirators of the Military Committee were all young, their aim was not out of reach; the sitting regime had been slowly disintegrating and the traditional elite had lost effective political power over the country.

[21] A small group of military officers, including Hafez al-Assad, seized control in the March 1963 Syrian coup d'etat.

Following the coup, Gen. Amin al-Hafiz discharged many ranking Sunni officers, thereby, Stratfor says, "providing openings for hundreds of Alawites to fill top-tier military positions during the 1963–1965 period on the grounds of being opposed to Arab unity.

At the beginning of the Yom Kippur War of 1973 the Syrian Army launched an attack to seize the Golan Heights that was only narrowly repulsed by two vastly outnumbered Israeli brigades.

[27] The Libyan troops were essentially abandoned and had to find their own way home (if at all), and the ADF thereby became a purely Syrian force (which did include the Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA)).

Eventually the Syrians brought most of the nation under their control as part of a power struggle with Israel, which had occupied areas of southern Lebanon in 1978.

Following the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990, the Syrian occupation of Lebanon continued until they themselves were also forced out by widespread public protest and international pressure.

[31] Syrian forces were accused of involvement in the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, as well as continued meddling in Lebanese affairs, and an international investigation into the Hariri killing and several subsequent bomb attacks has been launched by the UN.

[32] Syria's force numbered ~20,000 in strength (the sixth-largest contingent) and its involvement was justified domestically as an effort to defend Saudi Arabia.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that the sale wouldn't upset the balance of power in the Middle East and were "in line with .

Israel and the US oppose further arms sales to Syria due to fears that the weapons could fall under the control of Iran or Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

[36] In a late June 2012 interview given by the FSA's Asharq Al-Awsat he claimed Riad al-Asaad said that about 20–30 Syrian officers defected to Turkey each day.

[38] Syrian intelligence chief Hisham Bekhityar and Head of the 4th Army Division Maher Al Assad—brother of President Assad—were also injured in the explosion.

[45] However the Syrian authorities denied these accusations[46] and claimed that irregular armed groups with foreign support[47][48] are behind the atrocities, including Al Qaeda linked Insurgents.

[49] The numbers in the Syrian armed forces had reduced considerably during the Civil War, although estimates varied.

[citation needed] In 2014, Gazeta.ru reported that the regular army had reduced from 325,000 to 150,000 due to "mortality, desertions and deviations", but that this was supplemented by 60,000 Republican Guards and 50,000 Kurdish militias.

[52] Despite shrinking by nearly half from the 2011 beginning of the civil war by 2014, the Armed Forces became much more flexible and capable, especially in anti-guerilla warfare.

[53] In September 2018, Statista Charts estimated that the Syrian military had lost 111 warplanes since the beginning of the civil war, including reconnaissance and attack drones.

He compared it to the fall of Kabul in 2021, where the U.S.-backed Afghan Armed Forces collapsed, and that when faced with certain defeat, armies simply "melt away".

[19] On 26 December 2024, the "former forces of deposed leader Bashar al-Assad" killed 14 HTS fighters following the capture of Mohammad Kanjo Hassan.

[63] Since the Syrian Civil War the Syrian government has implemented a retention system for those in compulsory service (conscript retention into service after the specified period has passed) and enacted new regulations, with citizens who completed mandatory conscription being called up for reserve duty.

[72] Between 2015 and 2018, the Syrian military under the supervision of Ministry of Defense underwent major structural changes, with the cooperation of Russia and Iran.

[73] Since 2018, the Syrian military renewed its fortification and the annual training to prepare for war against Israel, while at the same time trying to increase its strategic independence.

[3] In April 2024, Major General Suhayl al-Hasan was named as commander of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Syrian Army.