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Services to the Nation

1954 Disturbance in the South During the 1954 disturbance in the South by a dissident group who called themselves the Bhutan National Congress, 20 instructors and 120 soldiers were divided into sections and deployed in all the checkposts along the southern belt which was divided into two region: the Sarpang-Dagana-Gelephu-Neoly, Samdrup Jongkhar region under Agay Dorji and the Kalikhola-Phuntsholing-Samtse-Sibsoo region under Dasho Grungda Karm. The political problem was resolved with this deployment.

1970 Drought Western Bhutan faced a severe drought in the 1970s during the paddy cultivation season and the paddy saplings were drying up. It was during those time that the RBA was pressed into action in the rice belt of western Bhutan -Paro and Thimphu- during which the troops physically fetched water in buckets from Pa Chhu and watered the paddy saplings.

1990 Anti-National Problem In the 90s when the security situation in the south escalated beyond the purview or the Royal Bhutan Police, the Royal Bhutan Army was deployed to restore normalcy.

2003 Operations The country faced the biggest security threat in the 1990s when Indian insurgent groups set up camps inside Bhutan post Operations 'Rhino' and 'Bajrang' launched by hte Indian Army against ULFA and BODO militant groups in 1991-1992. The long and porous borders facilitated those militants outfits to escape the clampdown into the jungles of Southern foothills. After all the peaceful meacures to persuade them to leave Bhutanese territory yielded no positive response, the RBA and RBG led bu His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo launched the operation 'Flush Out' on the 15 December, 2003. By 17 december, all the 35 militant camps were destoryed, hundreds of militants captured and a large cache of arms and ammunitions recovered during the operation.

2008 National Council Election During the National Council Election on 31st December, 2007, the security of 341 Polling Stations were entrusted to the RBA.

Frist Parliamentary Election- 2008 During the first ever parliamentary elections held on 24 March, 2008, RBA in conjunction with the RBP was deployed for the security of the polling stations throughout the length and breadth of the country enabling voters to exercise their franchise in a free and fair atmosphere resulting in a successful conduct of the election without any untoward incident.

First LG election -2011 The third major task of assisting the Election Commission was during the Local Government Elections held on 27 June, 2011 wherein the RBA was tasked to provide security to 531 Polling stations across the Country.

2009 Earthquake in Eastern Bhutan On 21 September, 2009, Eastern Bhutan experienced an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude on the Richter's scale. 12 lives were lost and a large number of houses destoryed for the relief works whereby besides constructing several houses, the soldiers transported relief materials for the needy households in the remoter and farflung areas.

2009 Wamrong Fire On 8 October, 2009, 12 shops in Wamrong town were razed to the ground. RBA were tasked to rebuild the township which were completed within a short span of five months.

2010 Bumthang Fire The second major outbreak of fire on the 26th of October, 2010 in Bumthang gutted 59 shops including residences claiming two lives. The army responded immediately to rebuild the houses as per the Royal Command. The RBA personnel constructed 72 houses within three months and handed over to the public.

2011 Earthquake 26 Officers, 537 soldiers and 34 Desuups were deployed to carryout immediate relief words in the affected Dzongkhags after the earthquake of 18 September, 2011.

16th SAARS Summit Bhutan hosted SAARC Summit for the first time in Thimphu on 28 and 29 of April, 2010. RBA personnel were deployed to ensure the success of the SAARC Summit

2011 First De-Suung Training A batch of 125 Dessup volunteers were trained at the Military Training Centre, Tenchongling, from 12 February to 20 March, 2011 with the aim of assisting in disaster management.

2012 Thorthomi Lake successfully lowered by five metres The water level of Thorthomi Lake has been successfully lowered by five metres by 2012. The mitigation works at Thorthomi Lake in Lunana started in 2008, after studies revealed Thorthomi Lake as one of the potential lake posing threats downstream. The actual excavation works of the Thorthomi Lake began only in 2009. In 2012, working season which began in July, the lake was reduced by 1.32 metres. Due to man power shortage, more than 100 Royal Bhutan Army personnel helped in lowering the water level in 2012. Due to the help from the Royal Bhutan Army, the set target of 2012 working season was able to meet.