Syrian Defense Ministry Issues Strict Rules on Military Visibility

Syria’s Defense Ministry issued a circular to all military personnel and civilian employees, instructing them to comply with a set of directives aimed at safeguarding the public interest and meeting security requirements.

The ministry said the five-article circular, issued on April 16, was also intended to protect the confidentiality of information and preserve the prestige of military institutions.

A source at Syria’s Defense Ministry confirmed the authenticity of the circular to Enab Baladi.

Ban on Military Activity Through Personal Accounts

The circular imposes the following requirements:

All military personnel and civilian employees in formations, units, and entities affiliated with Syria’s Defense Ministry must stop using their personal accounts on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and X, for any activity or content related to military or security affairs, or that suggests military status.

They are also required to remove profile pictures and all digital displays that show them in a military or security capacity.

All military personnel and civilian employees at Syria’s Defense Ministry are strictly prohibited from publishing, republishing, circulating, sharing, or forwarding any photos, video clips, information, or comments related to the ministry, its units and formations, their headquarters, locations, movements, activities, tasks, or personnel, by any digital means.

Military Media Through Official Channels Only

Under the circular, it is also prohibited to conduct any interview, press meeting, statement, documentation, or media, visual, or digital publication of events, activities, meetings, camps, training sessions, award ceremonies, visits, or any occasions taking place inside military sites, including photographing commanders and personnel at all levels, except through the Media and Communications Directorate.

For this purpose, the ministry is adopting what it described as the principle of a “complete media blackout inside these sites.”

Participation in public or media events and activities is also considered a procedure that requires prior coordination with the Media and Communications Directorate to ensure compliance with approved policies.

Syria’s Defense Ministry stressed that any violation of the previous instructions will expose the offender to accountability.

Defense Ministry Evaluates Its Officers, Toward a Professional Army

In mid-March, Syria’s Defense Ministry announced the start of a comprehensive evaluation process for officers in the military institution, in a step aimed at restructuring the army and building an organizational base based on competence and professional expertise.

These measures come as part of a path through which the ministry seeks to move the military institution from a faction-based structure with multiple backgrounds to a more institutionalized and disciplined army working according to unified military standards.

“Thousands of officers” in leadership positions and across different specializations are being evaluated, with a special focus on infantry commanders, under the supervision of the army’s top leadership, foremost among them Chief of Staff Major General Ali al-Naasan, followed by committees in several specialties, according to the ministry’s announcement.

The tests included several subjects, most notably topography, tactics, and map reading, within what the ministry described as standards designed to measure leadership and knowledge skills that reflect competence and the ability to assume field responsibility.

The ministry said the distribution of duties and responsibilities will be based on actual experience, away from any other considerations, while the evaluation results will contribute to classifying commanders by experience and specialization, and to building a database.

After the evaluation is completed, this process will open the way for officers who did not graduate from military academies to continue their training path within organized educational programs that keep pace with the requirements of the current phase and raise the readiness, academic, and practical levels of military personnel.

According to information obtained by Enab Baladi from a member of the Defense Ministry staff, the first phase of the evaluation included chiefs of staff, battalion and brigade commanders, and heads of departments and offices, while other phases will include company commanders and operations officers within brigades.

According to what Enab Baladi reviewed, the evaluation also included questions about the conduct of officers and personnel, in addition to technological and tactical questions, as well as psychological and analytical ones.

The tests were not easy, as many field officers received poor evaluations despite holding important positions within the army and having gained field experience during the years of the Syrian revolution.

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