The government through the 2013 Defence White Paper directs that the Papua New Guinea Defence Force increase its manpower from the current constitutionally mandated strength of 5,000 to 10,000 by the year 2030.
Although the PNG Constitution does not allow the PNGDF to recruit manpower of 10,000, the government is working on the legislation to accommodate the direction to increase the force as required.
Nevertheless, after successive recruitments, the force has now reached 4,000 personnel; a 2,000 manpower increase from previous years’ recruitments.
