[Illustration: President | Defense Council | Council of Ministers | Ministry of the Armed Forces | ---------------------------+--------------------------- | | | | | General Staff Directorate for | Directorate for Directorate of Political Affairs | Rear Services Training | (Logistics) | ---------------------------+--------------------------- | | | | | | | Air and | Ground Forces Naval Forces | Air Defense Frontier Troops | Forces | ------------------------+--------------------- | | | Bucharest Garrison Cluj Military Region Iasi Military Region _Figure 10. Romania, Organization of the Armed Forces, 1972._] All commanders and force personnel subordinate to the minister are part of the regular military establishment, although appointments to the higher commands may be determined in varying degrees by political considerations. The minister is a political appointee but, whether or not he has had a military background, he assumes a senior military rank. The Romanian practice deviates from the usual in such situations, however, where the minister is expected to have an actual or honorary rank superior to any officer in his forces. The minister of the armed forces in 1971, for example, was appointed in 1966. He was promoted from colonel general to army general after about four years in his position and, during the early period, was technically subordinate in rank to an army general who commanded the General Military Academy in Bucharest. In 1972 there were about 200,000 men in the regular forces. About 75 percent were in ground force or in support units common to all services. About 5 percent were naval; 10 percent, air force; and the remainder, frontier troops. The air force percentage included air defense forces.