country and to secure its governing
system. The stated mission notwithstanding, support of the system is
primarily the responsibility of the security police forces and, against
an external opponent, the armed forces are believed to have only a
defensive capability. Unless Albanian forces engaged an enemy that was
also committed against a third party in a more general conflict, they
would, of necessity, revert to guerrilla fighting. Most of the training
and much of the propaganda directed at the local population indicate
that the leadership anticipates the possibility of guerrilla warfare.

The Party slogan, "the pick in one hand and the rifle in the other,"
also illustrates the dual use of service personnel in peacetime. They
assist in the construction of industrial enterprises and hydroelectric
plants and in land reclamation projects, crop harvests, and the like.
They were used during the early 1960s, for example, in the construction
of the oil refinery at Cerrik; in building a sugar factory, a lumber
combine, and a textile factory; and in the draining of Lake Maliq to
acquire additional agricultural land in a marshy lake district area
north of Korce (see ch. 8, Economic System).

Ground Forces

The ground forces contain about three-quarters of the regular personnel
and are the backbone of the armed forces. Consequently, many of the
People's Army functions that apply to all of the service components are
administered within the ground force organization.

Because the active personnel strength of the ground forces is around
30,000--sufficient to man only about two divisions--the brigade has been
chosen as the basic tactical unit. The brigades are manned with
approximately 3,000 men each, and there are probably one tank and five
infantry brigades. The infantry brigades are believed to contain three
infantry battalions and a lightly equipped artillery regiment. The tank
brigade has Soviet-built weapons. Most of them are World War II T-34
medium tanks, but there are a few of the later model T-54s.

Almost all artillery is light and small caliber, since movement of
heavy equipment is nearly impossible over much of the terrain. In
addition, heavy weapons, their transport, or even their ammunition could
not be produced locally, and little resupply from external sources could
be expected in any lengthy conflict. In so small an area the rapid
movement of forces would serve little purpose. The minimal amount of
transport e