title: Perth Glory FC

text: Former Perth Glory co-owner Brett McKeon sold his shareholding in the club to Tony Sage in February 2009, making Sage the sole owner of the club. Following this Sage has invested money into the club for the 2009–10 season including a number of wholesale changes to operations, marketing, players and staff. As part of Glory's pre-season campaign, the club hosted English Premier League clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Fulham FC as well as new A-League franchise North Queensland Fury for friendly matches in Perth in July. Although Glory went down 1–0 and 5–0 to Wolverhampton and Fulham respectively the event was a success attracting an average of 13,000 fans to Perth Oval for both matches. Perth Glory continued their pre-season in Mandurah with a 1–0 victory against North Queensland Fury featuring Fury's marquee signing Robbie Fowler. For season 2009–10, Perth Glory had undertaken an overhaul of the club badge and playing kit, which includes vertical white and purple stripes on their home kit for the first time in the club's history. Tony Sage's promise to invest in the club by spending the full amount of money on players allocated under the A-League's salary cap rule had eventuated with the club making key signings. Victor Sikora was signed in February 2009 following a short term stint at Glory on loan from FC Dallas during the latter part of the 2008–09 A-League season. Further international players were added to the squad with Serbian striker Branko Jelić signed on a 3-year deal from Energie Cottbus and Englishman Andy Todd joining from Derby County. Following up on an early season promise by Tony Sage to sign Socceroo players, Perth Glory had successfully secured the services of Jacob Burns. In June 2009, in a bold move to attract attention for 2010 FIFA World Cup selection, Mile Sterjovski joined the club on a marquee contract, while Chris Coyne also announced his intentions by returning to his hometown club. Perth Glory's first match of the 2009–10 A-League season was played away at Hindmarsh Stadium against Adelaide United on 7 August 2009. This was the first season that Perth made the finals series in the A-League, finishing 5th on the ladder. The Glory were knocked out in the elimination final against Wellington Phoenix on penalties.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Perth signed ex-North Queensland Fury manager Ian Ferguson as the assistant coach, despite rumours circulating that Ferguson and new Glory signing Robbie Fowler had a bad working relationship whilst at North Queensland Fury. Glory signed veteran Jamie Harnwell to a new one-year deal for the 2010–11 season. The club also went on to sign Perth products Jamie Coyne and Todd Howarth to contract extensions, before signing left-back Josh Mitchell and striker Michael Baird, who had played together for Romanian club Universitatea Craiova. On 27 April 2010, it was announced that Fowler had agreed to become part of Glory's squad for the 2010–11 A-League season. Fowler reportedly rejected offers from Middle East clubs to stay in Australia after enjoying his time in the country. After an initial strong start to the season as equal-top after a 5-game undefeated streak, Glory lost four matches in a row, forcing David Mitchell to step down as coach, with assistant coach Ian Ferguson becoming his replacement on 12 October 2010. After the managerial change, Glory lost another 3 games, to make it 7 losses consecutively. Glory finished second last in the season, after losing their last 5 games.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth Glory's 2011–12 season featured several high-profile signings with Ian Ferguson signing a large number of overseas and local players, including former Adelaide United player Travis Dodd, former Gold Coast United players Bas van den Brink and Shane Smeltz, Brazilian player Andrezinho, Irish international Liam Miller and former Ireland Under 21s player Billy Mehmet. Several players were let go, including Robbie Fowler and Jamie Coyne. In the pre-season, Perth played Scottish giants Celtic FC in front of 15,000 fans, with the Glory losing the friendly 0–2. Perth Glory's first match of the season was against Adelaide United at nib Stadium, which they won 1–0. They later went on to defeat Wellington Phoenix 1–0, to make it three wins in a row. Glory again slumped in form, winning one out of their last 9 matches including 7 defeats. With pressure mounting on coach Ian Ferguson, on 19 December 2011, Glory Owner Tony Sage threatened to leave the club at the end of the season. However, after apologising and dismissing his threats as an emotional outburst, Glory went out to win 9 of their last 15 and finished third on the ladder, qualifying for the finals series for the second time in their A-League history. Glory's finals series kicked off with a 3–0 victory over Melbourne Heart in a match at nib stadium. The semifinal was against their rivals Wellington at nib stadium, which the Glory won 3–2 in extra time. Perth then went to Bluetongue Stadium to play Central Coast Mariners in the preliminary final, the match the Glory won 1–1 (5–3, on penalties) to qualify for their first A-League Grand Final. Against the Brisbane Roar, in front of 50,334 people at Suncorp Stadium, Perth went up 1–0 in the 53rd minute of the match. However, Brisbane's Besart Berisha equalised in the 84th minute and eventually scored the winner in the dying seconds of the game through a controversial penalty. Jacob Burns was awarded the Joe Marston Medal for player of the match after it was accidentally awarded to Brisbane player, Thomas Broich.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: For the 2012–13 season the Perth Glory owner, Tony Sage, put several players on reduced deals in order to save money. However, some players, such as Andrezinho and Scott Neville, did not accept the offers. Perth Glory also embarked on signing youth, players Chris Harold and Adrian Zahra were signed, while Brandon O'Neill and Ndumba Makeche were promoted from the youth squad. Perth Glory also won the Grand Final re-match, One goal to Nil, in Round One of the season to hand "revenge" to the Rado Vidošić led Brisbane Roar. A string of poor performance throughout the season saw Ian Ferguson sacked and replaced by former Perth Glory player, Alistair Edwards. The club would then produce a string of good performances to make the finals before being eliminated at the hands of Melbourne Victory, losing 1–2.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: At the beginning of the 2013–14 season, the club decided to dedicate the number 12 shirt to the fans by not registering it to a player and having it listed as 'Glory Fans' when the squad is announced on match days. Alistair Edwards was sacked as Manager on 17 December 2013, and replaced on an interim basis by Kenny Lowe. Many fans blamed Jacob Burns for the sacking of Alistair Edwards (with rumours of him being the leader of the uprising against Edwards). The club would finish 8th in another disappointing season, with at one stage, the club was sitting at the bottom of the table.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The 2014–15 season showed much signs of promise. Irish international Andy Keogh, Dutch international Youssouf Hersi and returning goalkeeper Danny Vukovic joined the squad in what would be Kenny Lowe's first full season as coach. Glory started the season on a high, quickly becoming league leaders and managing a run in the inaugural 2014 FFA Cup that reached the final. Although they lost the cup final 1–0 to Adelaide United, it did not diminish their efforts in the league. However, the season quickly turned sour when Fairfax Media reported Glory had gone over the salary cap. Football Federation Australia investigated the claims before finding that the club had breached the salary cap by $400,000. As a result of the salary cap violations the club received a $269,000 fine and was disqualified from the 2015 finals series (resulting compulsory 7th-place finish despite ending the season in third place). On 16 April 2015, Perth's chief executive Jason Brewer announced his resignation. He was replaced by Peter Filopoulos.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The 2015–16 season was mostly a success, with the newly signed Diego Castro winning the Johnny Warren Medal for the A-League best player. The club finished 5th, before losing 2–0 to the 3rd place Melbourne City FC away from home. In the FFA Cup the Glory again made the final, before going down 2–0 to Melbourne Victory FC.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The 2016–17 season started well with the signings of defender Rhys Williams from English club Middlesbrough and promising 19-year-old midfielder Brandon Wilson, as well as the resigning of reigning Johnny Warren Medalist Diego Castro. After an inconsistent season the club finished 5th, with Castro sharing the club Golden Boot with Andy Keogh and Adam Taggart. They again faced Melbourne City in the elimination final, with the club shock winners 2–0 away from home to set up a semi-final with the newly crowned A-League Premiers Sydney FC. Sydney took a 3–0 halftime lead which they never relinquished, the Glory falling one game short of their second A-League Grand Final.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The 2017–18 season got off to a very bad start, the club losing 1–0 in the first round of the FFA Cup to NPL Victoria club Heidelberg United, despite twin Spanish signings of Andreu Guerao and Xavi Torres, as well as Mitch Nichols and Scott Neville. After slumping to a 6–0 defeat mid-season at the hands of Sydney FC the Glory, and with mounting pressure on coach Kenny Lowe after entering into a battle for bottom spot on the ladder, the Glory signed Neil Kilkenny from Melbourne City whose arrival provided much needed strength in the midfield and coincided with a positive turnaround in form. After defeating eventual Grand Finalists Melbourne Victory FC and Newcastle Jets FC in the closing rounds, the Glory entered the final round with a win against the Brisbane Roar at home netting them the last spot in the finals. The Glory went down 2–3, slumping to 8th position on the ladder. Following a mostly unsuccessful season coach Kenny Lowe was removed as coach and CEO Peter Filopoulos resigned to move back to Victoria to take up the CEO role with Football Federation Victoria, but not before (alongside Head of Football, Jacob Burns) overseeing the appointment of new head coach, Tony Popovic. During Peter's time as CEO, membership grew by 50%, the club moved into a new training and administration HQ sharing with Western Force and the club business operations improved significantly. Kenny Lowe took up a role as technical director of the club's junior academy. In May 2018, Tony Pignata replaced Peter Filopoulos as CEO of the club. In November, it was confirmed that former player Steven McGarry will become the Technical Director within Glory's youth structure, at the same time leading the Under-18 team. Former player Richard Garcia was also confirmed as assistant coach of both the senior team and head coach of the youth team.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The 2018–19 season and the start of the Tony Popovic era at the club showed many signs of promise. New players were brought into the squad including three-time A-League champion Ivan Franjic, former Socceroo Tomislav Mrcela, Western Sydney's all-time top goal scorer Brendon Santalab, Champions League winner Matthew Spiranovic, former Premier League player Jason Davidson, Socceroo Chris Ikonomidis and former La Liga player Juande. The season started with a pre-season friendly loss against Chelsea, with the match ending 0–1. Popovic's first competitive game in charge was an FFA Cup fixture in the Round of 32 against Melbourne Victory, where the Glory lost 0–1. Perth started the regular A-League season strongly not losing their opening eight fixtures, the only team to do so that season. With two games to spare, Perth Glory confirmed their place at the top of the A-League, becoming the 2018–19 Premiers with a 1–0 win over Newcastle Jets, ending a 15-year trophy drought. The regular season ended with Perth winning 18 out of 27 matches in the league and only losing three games total, with only one away from home, earning a club record of 60 points overall. This also secured them a spot in their first continental competition, the 2020 AFC Champions League. The Finals Series saw the Glory reach their second A-League Grand Final ever, after defeating Adelaide United in the semi-final in a penalty shootout (5–4), following a 3–3 draw after extra time. The Grand Final, played against 2nd-placed Sydney, was hosted in Perth for the first time in the A-League era and the fourth time overall, with a record-breaking attendance of 56,371. Despite many chances for Perth to score and a controversial goal disallowed for being offside for Sydney, the game went goalless after extra-time. The penalty shoot-out ended 4–1 in Sydney's favour.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: For the 2019–20 season, new, promising players were brought into the squad. In March 2019, Perth confirmed they had signed Melbourne City FC striker Bruno Fornaroli on a two-year deal. Perth also signed other players including Brisbane Roar pair Dane Ingham and Nicholas D'Agostino, former Melbourne City defender Osama Malik, Swiss international Gregory Wüthrich and Socceroo James Meredith. Pre-season involved a friendly against Premier League giants, Manchester United which ended 2–0 to United. In the FFA Cup, Perth went down 1–2 in the round of 32 against the Western Sydney Wanderers. Following a poor start to the season, the Glory went on a ten match undefeated streak, moving into 2nd place after a draw against Brisbane Roar in round 20. In February, Tony Sage confirmed that a majority of his stake in the club was set to be sold to the London Football Exchange, a football-based cryptocurrency exchange, a deal that eventually fell through due to growing speculation over the legitimacy of the sale. A drop in form occurred before the season was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as a 0–1 loss in the Glory's debut in the AFC Champions League against FC Tokyo. After the restart of the season, the Glory lost key players, such as Wuthrith and Castro, due to the ending of contracts and the inability of the club to meet wage demands due to the loss of revenue caused by the pandemic. The club was also in poor form and were conceding a high number of goals, eventually barely qualifying for the Finals series, finishing in 6th place. The Finals series saw the Glory win 1–0 against the 3rd placed Wellington Phoenix in the elimination final. The Glory's ambition of going one further from the previous season ended after losing 0–2 against the premiers and eventual champions, Sydney FC, in the semi-final. A few days after this match, the club confirmed that Tony Popovic had left the club to take up a management role in the Greek club Xanthi, ending his successful two-year tenure with the club.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: On 18 September, Richard Garcia was appointed as Perth Glory coach, signing on for 2 seasons. His first competitive games in charge was at the 2020 AFC Champions League group stage whose final stages were held in Qatar due to an initial postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, Glory earned their first ever point in continental competition after a 3–3 draw with Shanghai Shenhua. Perth were eliminated in the group stage in their debut AFC Champions League season, after finishing 4th in their group with one point to their name. Garcia's first full season in charge was mainly a disappointment. Inconsistent performances led to the Glory missing out on finals for the first time in three seasons and finishing in 9th, their second-lowest finishing position in their history at the time.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: In March 2022, Garcia was terminated as coach after a poor start to his second season in charge and replaced by former player Ruben Zadkovich in a caretaker capacity. The 2021–22 season ended with Glory finishing bottom of the league for the first time in their history. Glory also failed to qualify for the 2022 Australia Cup, having lost to Newcastle Jets in the post-season play-off. Despite only recording one win in his tenure so far, Zadkovich was confirmed as full-time coach in June 2022. In Zadkovich's first season as permanent head coach, the Glory continued its run of poor results and performances, leaving Perth at the bottom of the table at the start of the 2022 World Cup break. Additionally, star striker Bruno Fornaroli was released following an alleged contract dispute, leaving the team with few recognised goal-scoring forwards and a head coach with 2 wins from his managerial career.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth's home kit as of the 2020–21 season is mainly purple, with orange stripes on the collar and arms. The kit also consists of purple shorts with orange trimming and purple socks. The away kit consists of a white jersey with orange and purple stripes throughout, including on the collar and arms, and a large purple strip behind the BHP sponsorship in the middle of the kit. The shorts are white with orange and purple trimming and the socks are white. In what was seen as something of a tribute to Glory's past, the strip used for the 2009–10 season had vertical stripes, similar to what can be found on Glory's jersey of 1996–97. On 23 October 2011, Perth Glory wore a predominantly blue jersey in recognition of the 125-year anniversary of their major sponsor, QBE Insurance, in a match against Wellington Phoenix.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The Glory's original badge, used for the entire NSL era of the club, features sun rays that appear just above the word 'Glory', that utilises a soccer ball to represent the 'O' in the word. The word 'Perth' is also incorporated into the badge, in an arch above the soccer ball. In 2005 when the A-League was launched, the club decided a new badge was needed for the new era of Perth Glory. This badge has a similar layout to the original, retaining most of its elements, such as the soccer ball, the orange and purple colours and the sunbeams. In April 2009, a new shield badge for the club was unveiled, which features a soccer ball, sunbeams that protrude the outline of the badge and the colours of the original badge as well as a grey colour. Though completely divergent from previous designs, the new badge was received well in the general public. The change was viewed as the step to a new era of Perth Glory, attempting to appeal to fans. The club's 15th and 20th year anniversaries were celebrated with one-off logos, in the 2011–12 season and the 2016–17 season respectively.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth's major sponsor for most of their existence has been the insurance company QBE Insurance, from 1996 to 2008 as Western QBE and from 2008 to 2019 as QBE Insurance. The mining company BHP became the major sponsor of the Glory after QBE confirmed they will no longer be sponsoring the club in April 2019.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The club's first supporting sponsor was Chicken Treat and Quit WA. Following Foxtel Digital's sponsorship in the 2006–07 season, Asian steel manufacturer Delong Holdings signed on as Perth's supporting sponsor for one-year in 2007. This deal was one of the largest in the A-League, worth $750,000 with an option of another two-year contract after season's end worth another $1,000,000. Delong opted out of the second year and the space on the back of the uniform was instead replaced by Tony Sage's fashion magazine Kurv in 2008. Since 2008, the Glory have had a range of different supporting sponsors, including Clough, National Storage and Europcar. The club's current supporting sponsors are LiveLighter and Move2gether.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The club's first kit manufacturer was Umbro in 1996, until Kappa succeeded them in 1999. Sekem produced the Glory's kits for the final NSL season, and Reebok succeeded them from the start of the A-League until 2011. XBlades succeeded Reebok in 2011 and the current manufacturer, Macron, succeeded them in 2013.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth Glory have played their home games at Perth Oval (known as "HBF Park" for sponsorship purposes) since their inception, a stadium that holds 20,500 spectators.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The club played their first match in the National Soccer League at the ground in October 1996. For the first several seasons of the NSL, the club ground-shared with East Perth Football Club, a local Australian rules football club. A number of proposed permanent homes for the Glory were suggested in the late 1990s. As part of Multiplex's contract to build the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, the construction company was required to build a rectangular stadium. The company was released from their contractual requirement after then-Glory chairman Nick Tana decided to proceed with a redevelopment of Leederville Oval. The Leederville Oval option was ultimately unsuccessful in the face of community opposition. In 2002, East Perth agreed to move to Leederville Oval and the state government agreed to turn Perth Oval into a dedicated rectangular venue.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The record attendance for an A-League match is 17,868 set in the semi-final against Adelaide United in the 2018–19 finals series, besting the previous record of 17,856, set when Glory hosted Melbourne Victory just a few weeks prior in round 23. The largest average season attendance in the A-League for the Glory is 10,533 in the 2016–17 season, while the largest attendance for any association football match at the ground was in November 1998 when 18,067 fans turned up to see a top-table clash with arch-rival South Melbourne FC.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: With the arrival of the Western Force, in the Super 14 Rugby competition at the time, there was a push to have a 30,000+ capacity rectangular stadium in Perth. Western Force and Perth Glory joined forces to lobby the Western Australian Government for a ground of this size. The Force previously played games out of the 40,000-seat oval-shaped AFL ground Subiaco Oval, which hosted several Glory games before, generally NSL Finals games, most notably the 1999–2000 season NSL Grand Final when an all-time NSL record crowd of 43,242 fans saw Wollongong Wolves beat the Glory on penalties following a 3–3 draw. With the Force moving to nib Stadium prior to the 2010 Super 14 Season, a small increase in capacity was made to the ground, increasing capacity from around 18,000 to 20,500.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: A major redevelopment occurred at Perth Oval starting in June 2012, with the southern and eastern stands being replaced with permanent structures. During the redevelopment, capacity was reduced during the 2012–13 A-League season. It was completed in September 2013, with a capacity of 20,441. There are plans to add a cover on the southern stand at a later stage.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The main active support area in the stadium is "'The Shed'", a covered terraced standing area at the northern end of the ground. The original Shed was located on the hill at the northeast of the ground and was relocated closer to the playing surface during redevelopment in 2003. The Shed is home to the supporters' group, the "'Glory Shed Supporters Club (GSSC)"'.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The Glory developed a rivalry against Wellington Phoenix after the side was established in 2007, titled "'The Distance Derby'". It is based upon the two teams being considered as having one of the longest away trips in the world for a domestic league (5,255 km/3,270 mi). The two teams have had three tense finals games in the A-League, most recently with Perth Glory winning a finals match in the 2019–20 season. The rivalry was formally resurrected in the 2015–16 A-League season by means of awarding a new trophy called the "'Long Distance Derby Cup"', based on the cumulative results from the 3 league games for the season. Perth Glory won this cup in its inaugural year.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: The club also has a rivalry with former A-League side Gold Coast United, named the "'Iron Ore Cup"'. This rivalry was established due to a media-generated conflict which occurred before the two teams' met for the first time. The rivalry was named in such a way due to the owner of Perth, Tony Sage, and the owner of Gold Coast, Clive Palmer, having key involvements in the mining industry. The two sides have not played each other since Gold Coast was omitted from the league at the end of the 2011–12 A-League season.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth also developed a rivalry with former National Soccer League side Melbourne Knights. This rivalry started forming when the two sides competed against each other in a vital league match to qualify for finals during Glory's inaugural season, which featured crowd violence and Perth player Paul Strudwick being sent off. Glory eventually lost the game 1–3, ending their hopes of finals in their first season. In May 2001 in a finals match played in Melbourne between the two sides, Perth player Bobby Despotovski performed a Serbian salute, enraging Melbourne Knights supporters who are prominently Croatian Australian. This led to Knights fans assaulting Despotovski and Glory manager Bernd Stange prior to them boarding the Perth team bus. This prompted Glory fans to plan retaliatory attacks against Melbourne's team bus prior to the second leg of the match. The two sides have not played each other since the demise of the NSL in 2004.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: In 1995, a consortium led by Nick Tana aimed to have a football team in Perth for the National Soccer League, subsequently Perth Glory were licensed to join the 1996–97 NSL season. In January 2004, Nick Tana announced he was planning to sell Perth Glory at the end of the season. On 30 April 2006, Tana and Football Federation Australia reached an agreement for FFA to take control of the club on 1 May 2006 to assume interim ownership of the club.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: On 23 February 2007, Football Federation Australia announced triumvirate of local businessmen, Tony Sage, Brett McKeon and John Spence would take ownership of the club, with a commitment to make the club the powerhouse it was in the NSL. In 2008, Spence walked away from the club leaving Tony Sage and Brett McKeon as co-owners. On 18 February 2009, co-owner Brett McKeon quit the club as owner, making Tony Sage sole owner after buying out McKeon's shares.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: On 19 December 2011, Tony Sage threatened to leave the club, however after apologising and dismissing his threats as an emotional outburst, he re-affirmed his commitment to the club.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: In February 2020, Tony Sage confirmed that a majority of his stake in the club was set to be sold to the London Football Exchange, a football-based cryptocurrency exchange. This deal, however, eventually fell through due to growing speculation over its legitimacy.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Jamie Harnwell holds the team record for the most number of games played with 269 appearances to his name. Bobby Despotovski has the second most appearances for the club, with 250 matches and Scott Miller has the third most appearances with 233 matches.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Bobby Despotovski is the all-time highest goalscorer in all competitions for the club with 116 goals. Damian Mori has scored the second most goals with 84 and Andy Keogh has scored the third most, with 64 goals to his name.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth Glory's highest attendance for a home league match is 18,067, recorded on 15 November 1998 against South Melbourne. The club's highest home attendance for any match is 56,371, recorded for the 2019 A-League Grand Final against Sydney FC. It is the highest attended grand final in A-League history.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth Glory won its first piece of major silverware in the 1999–2000 season, with the premiership being won, and won their second premiership in the 2001–02 season. Despite reaching the grand final in both respective seasons, the Glory lost both, 3–3 (6–7 on penalties) against Wollongong Wolves and 0–1 against Olympic Sharks respectively. In the Glory's third grand final attempt in 2003, the club won their first Australian championship, after defeating Olympic Sharks 2–0. In the following season, the last season of the National Soccer League, Perth won their first and only double. This consisted of the winning of their third premiership and second championship, after defeating Parramatta Power through the scoring of a golden goal in extra time in the 2004 grand final.


title: Perth Glory FC

text: Perth had a decline in form after the start of the A-League, failing to reach the finals series for several seasons. Despite reaching the 2012 grand final, as well as two Australia Cup finals and two A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup finals, the Glory failed to win silverware in the A-League era until the 2018–19 season. In this season, the club won its fourth premiership, with Tony Popovic as the manager of the side, ending a 15-year silverware drought and equalling the record for the most domestic premierships won, held by the Melbourne Knights at the time. Perth also hosted a grand final for the first time since 2003 in the same season, eventually losing on penalties to Sydney.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system, and its graduate student body of more than 5,000 is one of the largest in the CSU and in all of California. As of fall 2016, the school had 2,083 faculty, of which 782 were on the tenure track.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The university offers 109 degree programs: 55 undergraduate degrees and 54 graduate degrees, including three doctorates.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: Cal State Fullerton is an Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) and is eligible to be designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander serving institution (AANAPISI). The university is nationally accredited in art, athletic training, business, chemistry, communications, communicative disorders, computer science, dance, engineering, music, nursing, public administration, public health, social work, teacher education and theater. Spending related to CSUF generates an impact of around $2.26 billion to the California and local economy, and sustains nearly 16,000 jobs statewide.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the CSUF Titans. They compete in the Big West Conference.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: In 1957, Orange County State College became the 12th state college in California to be authorized by the state legislature as a degree-granting institution. The following year, a site was designated for the campus to be established in northeast Fullerton. The property was purchased in 1959. This is the same year that Dr. William B. Langsdorf was appointed as founding president of the school.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: Classes began with 452 students in September 1959. The name of the school was changed to Orange State College in July 1962. In 1964, its name was changed to California State College at Fullerton. In June 1972, the final name change occurred and the school became California State University, Fullerton.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The choice of the elephant as the university's mascot, dubbed Tuffy the Titan, dates to 1962, when the campus hosted "The First Intercollegiate Elephant Race in Human History." The May 11 event attracted 10,000 spectators, 15 pachyderm entrants, and worldwide news coverage.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The campus has seen three significant instances of violence with people shot and killed. On July 12, 1976, Edward Charles Allaway, a campus janitor with paranoid schizophrenia, shot nine people, killing seven, in the University Library (now the Pollak Library) on the Cal State Fullerton campus. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in Orange County history. On October 13, 1984, Edward Cooperman, a physics professor, was shot and killed by his former student, Minh Van Lam, in McCarthy Hall.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: On August 19, 2019, Steven Shek Keung Chan, 57, of Hacienda Heights was found by police with multiple stab wounds. When the police arrived at the parking lot where Chan was assaulted, he was pronounced dead. Chan was a retired budget director working as a consultant in the international student affairs office. On August 22, 2019, the coworker who committed the violent act was arrested at his residence in Huntington Beach. Chuyen Vo, 51, was believed to have acted alone, but the motive was never identified. Chan and Vo worked in the same division and Cal State Fullerton spokeswoman Ellen Treanor stated:"Of all the individuals that I talked to in that division, there didn't seem to be any concerns at all that anybody would ever hurt Steve at all. Not a single person said there were problems," Treanor said. "He wasn't known as a difficult boss. He was known as a very thoughtful man, very by-the book, a man of few words."


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The university grew rapidly in the first decade of the 2000s. The Performing Arts Center was built in January 2006, and in the summer of 2008 the newly constructed Steven G. Mihaylo Hall and the new Student Recreation Center opened.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: In fall 2008, the Performing Arts Center was renamed the Joseph A.W. Clayes III Performing Arts Center, in honor of a $5 million pledge made to the university by the trustees of the Joseph A.W. Clayes III Charitable Trust. Since 1963, the curriculum has expanded to include many graduate programs, including multiple doctorate degrees, as well as numerous credential and certificate programs.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The campus is on the site of former citrus groves in northeast Fullerton. It is bordered on the east by the Orange Freeway (SR-57), on the west by State College Boulevard, on the north by Yorba Linda Boulevard, and on the south by Nutwood Avenue.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: Although established in the late 1950s, much of the initial construction on campus took place in the late 1960s, under the supervision of artist and architect Howard van Heuklyn, who gave the campus a striking, futuristic architecture (buildings like Pollak Library South, Titan Shops, Humanities, McCarthy Hall). This was in response to the numerous Googie buildings in the Fullerton community.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: Since 1993, the campus has added the College Park Building, Steven G. Mihaylo Hall, University Hall, the Titan Student Union, the Student Recreation Center, the Nutwood Parking Structure, the State College Parking Structure, Dan Black Hall, Joseph A.W. Clayes III Performing Arts Center West, Phase III Housing, the Grand Central Art Center, and Pollak Library. In order to generate power for the university and become more sustainable, the campus installed solar panels on top of a number of buildings. The panels, which generate up to 7–8 percent of the electrical power used daily, are atop the Eastside Parking Structure, Clayes Performing Arts Center and the Kinesiology and Health Science Building.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: In August 2011, the university added a $143 million housing complex, which included five new residence halls, a convenience store and a 565-seat dining hall called the Gastronome.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The university operates a satellite campus in Irvine, California, approximately south of the original Fullerton location, the Grand Central Art Center in downtown Santa Ana, and a Garden Grove Center.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF announced plans in May 2010 to buy the lot occupied by Hope International University, but this deal fell through.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF also announced plans in September 2010 to expand into the area south of Nutwood Avenue to construct a project called CollegeTown, which would integrate the surrounding residential areas and retail spaces into the campus. After community opposition, the Fullerton planning commission indefinitely postponed any action on the project in February 2016.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: The Desert Studies Center is a field station of the California State University located in Zzyzx, California in the Mojave Desert. The purpose of the center is to provide opportunities to conduct research, receive instruction and experience the Mojave Desert environment. It is officially operated by the California Desert Studies Consortium, a consortium of 7 CSU campuses: Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, Long Beach, San Bernardino, Northridge, Dominguez Hills and Los Angeles.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: As of the fall 2013 semester, CSUF is the third most applied to CSU out of all 23 campuses receiving nearly 65,000 applications, including over 40,000 for incoming freshmen and nearly 23,000 transfer applications, the second highest in the CSU.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF participates in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference. They have 13 national championships in eight different sports. (1970, women's basketball (CIAW); 1971, 1972, 1974 men's gymnastics; 1971 cross country team; 1973 women's fencing; 1989, men's bowling; 1979, women's gymnastics; 1979, 1984, 1995, 2004 baseball; 1986 softball). Their baseball team is a perennial national powerhouse with four national titles and dozens of players playing Major League Baseball. The CSUF Dance Team currently holds the most national titles at the school, with 15 national titles from UDA Division 1 Jazz; 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; and one national title from UDAs in Division 1 Hip Hop. The Dance Team also holds multiple titles from United Spirit Association.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF holds the Ben Brown Invitational every track and field season. CSUF currently supports 21 club sports on top of its Division I varsity teams, which are archery, baseball, cycling, equestrian, grappling and jiu jitsu, ice hockey, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, nazara Bollywood dance, men's rugby, women's rugby, roller hockey, salsa team, men's soccer, women's soccer, table tennis, tennis, ultimate Frisbee, men's volleyball, women's volleyball, skiing, and wushu.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: Because of the proximity to Long Beach State, the schools are considered rivals. The rivalry is especially heated in baseball with the Long Beach State baseball team also having a competitive college baseball program.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF was the first college in Orange County to have a Greek system, with its first fraternity founded in 1960. "The Daily Titan", the official student newspaper of the university, also started in 1960. Other official student media includes Titan Radio.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: On April 23, 2014, Cal State Fullerton opened the Titan Dreamers Resource Center. The center was the first resource center for undocumented students in the CSU system.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: CSUF alumni include an astronaut who has made two trips to space; a speaker of the California Assembly; other politicians and Academy Award-winning directors, actors, producers, and cinematographers; award-winning journalists, authors, and screenwriters; nationally recognized teachers; presidents and CEOs of leading corporations; international opera stars, musicians, and Broadway stars; and professional athletes, Olympians, doctors, scientists, researchers, and social activists.


title: California State University, Fullerton

text: Titan alumni number more than 210,000. An active alumni association keeps them connected through numerous networking and social events, and also sponsors nationwide chapters.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, launched in 1990. It features a new graphical user interface (GUI) where applications are represented as clickable icons, as opposed to the list of file names seen in its predecessors. Later updates would expand the software's capabilities, one of which added multimedia support for sound recording and playback, as well as support for CD-ROMs.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 is the first version of Windows to perform well both critically and commercially. Critics and users considered its GUI to be a challenger to those of Apple Macintosh and Unix. Other praised features were the improved multitasking, customizability, and especially the utilitarian management of computer memory that troubled the users of Windows 3.0's predecessors. Microsoft was criticized by third-party developers for the bundling of its separate software with the operating environment, which they viewed as an anticompetitive practice. Windows 3.0 sold 10 million copies before it was succeeded by Windows 3.1 in 1992.


title: Windows 3.0

text: On December 31, 2001, Microsoft declared Windows 3.0 obsolete and stopped providing support and updates for the system.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Before Windows 3.0, Microsoft had a partnership with IBM, where the latter had sold personal computers running on the former's MS-DOS since 1981. Microsoft had made previous attempts to develop a successful operating environment called Windows, and IBM declined to include the project in its product line. As MS-DOS was entering its fifth iteration, IBM demanded a version of DOS that could run in "protected mode", which would allow it to execute multiple programs at once, among other benefits. MS-DOS was originally designed to run in real mode and run only one program at a time, due to the capability limitations of the Intel 8088 microprocessor. Intel had later released the Intel 80286, which was designed to support such multitasking efficiently (with several different hardware features, including memory protection, hardware task switching, program privilege separation, and virtual memory, all absent on the earlier Intel x86 CPUs) and which could be directly connected to 16 times as much memory as the 8088 (and 8086). The two companies developed the next generation of DOS, OS/2. OS/2 software was not compatible with DOS, giving IBM an advantage.


title: Windows 3.0

text: In late 1987, Windows/386 2.0 introduced a protected mode kernel that could multitask several DOS applications using virtual 8086 mode, but all Windows applications still ran in a shared virtual DOS machine. As the rest of the Microsoft team moved on to the OS/2 2.0 project, David Weise, a member of the Windows development team and a critic of IBM, believed that he could restart the Windows project. Microsoft needed programming tools that could run in protected mode, so it hired Murray Sargent, a physics professor from the University of Arizona who had developed a DOS extender and a debugging program that could work with protected mode applications. Windows 3.0 originated in 1988 as an independent project by Weise and Sargent, who used the latter's debugger to improve the memory manager and run Windows applications in their own separate protected memory segments. In a few months, Weiss and Sargent cobbled together a rough prototype that could run Windows versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, then presented it to company executives, who were impressed enough to approve it as an official project. When IBM learned of Microsoft's upcoming project, their relationship was damaged, but Microsoft asserted that it would cancel Windows after its launch and that it would continue to develop OS/2.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 was formally and officially announced on May 22, 1990, in the New York City Center Theater, where Microsoft released it worldwide. The event had 6,000 attendees, and it was broadcast live in the Microsoft social fairs of seven other North American cities and twelve major cities outside. It cost Microsoft to host the festivities—something its founder, Bill Gates, referred to as the "most extravagant, extensive, and expensive software introduction ever." Microsoft decided not to offer free runtime licenses of the software to applications vendors, as runtime versions of Windows lacked the capacity to multitask. Instead, the company offered upgrades for both full and runtime previous versions of Windows at a cost of —considerably lower than the full license's suggested retail price of . The software could also be obtained by purchasing computers with it preinstalled from hardware manufacturers. The first of these manufacturers were Zenith Data Systems, Austin Computer Systems and CompuAdd, followed by more than 25 others; notably, IBM was not one of them.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Microsoft had intended to make Windows 3.0 appealing to the public in general. The company's "Entry Team", assigned to that task, was concerned that the public might perceive it to be no more than a tool for large enterprises, due to the software's high system requirements. Major game publishers did not see it as a potential game platform, instead sticking to DOS. Microsoft's product manager Bruce Ryan compiled games that the Windows team had designed in its spare time to create "Microsoft Entertainment Pack", which included "Tetris" and "Minesweeper". There was little budget put in the project, and none of that was spent on quality testing. Nevertheless, the "Entertainment Pack" was sold as a separate product, and it became so popular that it was followed by three other "Entertainment Packs".


title: Windows 3.0

text: On December 31, 2001, Microsoft dropped support for Windows 3.0, along with previous versions of Windows and Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups, and MS-DOS versions up to 6.22.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 features a significantly revamped graphical user interface (GUI), which was described as having a three-dimensional look similar to the Presentation Manager, rather than the flat look of its predecessor, Windows 2.1. It also includes technical improvements to the memory management to make better use of the capabilities of Intel's 80286 and 80386 processors. Dynamic Data Exchange is a multitasking protocol whereby multiple running applications dynamically exchange data with one another, i.e., when data in one application changes, so does the data in another. This feature had appeared in Windows previously, but until Windows 3.0, due to memory constraints, users were unable to use the protocol. These users instead had to exit to DOS to run one application, close it, and open another to exchange data. Due to its support for the 386 and later processors, Windows 3.0 can also use virtual memory, which is a portion of a hard disk drive that is substituted for memory by the processor in the event that its own memory is exhausted. Like its predecessors, Windows 3.0 is not an operating system "per se", but rather an operating environment that is designed for DOS and controls its functions.


title: Windows 3.0

text: The MS-DOS Executive file manager was replaced with Program Manager, the list-based File Manager, and Task List. Program Manager is a graphical shell composed of icons, each with an underlying title. They can be moved and arranged in any order, and the icons' titles can be renamed. When double-clicked on, these icons open corresponding applications or smaller windows within the Program Manager window called group windows. These group windows contain such icons and can be minimized to prevent cluttering of the Program Manager window's space. File Manager is another shell used to access or modify applications, but displays them as files contained in directories in a list format. Its purpose as an alternative to using DOS commands is to facilitate moving files and directories. Task List displays all running applications and may also be used to terminate them, select a different program, cascade or tile the windows, and arrange minimized desktop icons. The Control Panel, where users can change settings to customize Windows and hardware, was also redesigned as an icon-based window.


title: Windows 3.0

text: The drivers bundled with Windows 3.0 support up to 16 simultaneous colors from EGA, MCGA or VGA palettes, as opposed to the previous maximum of eight colors, though the operating environment itself supports graphics adapters that offer resolutions and the number of colors greater than VGA. Windows 3.0 also introduced the Palette Manager, a set of functions that allow applications to change the lookup palette of graphics cards displaying up to 256 colors in order to use needed colors. When multiple displayed windows exceed the 256-color limit, Windows 3.0 prioritizes the active window to use that application's colors, without resorting to dithering and then filling in areas.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 retains many of the simple applications from its predecessors, such as the text editor Notepad, the word processor Write, and the improved paint program Paintbrush. Calculator is expanded to include scientific calculations. Recorder is a new program that records macros, or sequences of keystrokes and mouse movements, which are then assigned to keys as shortcuts to perform complex functions quickly. Also, the earlier Reversi game was complemented with the card game Microsoft Solitaire, which would eventually be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2019. Another notable program is Help. Unlike DOS applications, which may have help functions as part of them, Windows Help is a separate and readily accessible application that accompanies all Windows programs that support it.


title: Windows 3.0

text: There are two updates known to have been published for Windows 3.0. One of them is Windows 3.0a, released in December 1990. It modified Windows' DOS extender—a program that enables DOS applications to access extended memory—to prevent errors caused by software calling into real-mode code when Windows is loaded in standard mode. It also simplified the installation process and alleviated crashes associated with networking, printing, and low-memory conditions.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions 1.0 (MME) was released to third-party manufacturers in October 1991. The application programming interface introduced Media Control Interface, designed for any media-related device such as graphics and audio cards, scanners, and videotape players. It also supported recording and playing digital audio, MIDI devices, screensavers and analog joysticks, as well as CD-ROM drives, which were then becoming increasingly available. Other features included additional applets such as an alarm clock and Media Player, used to run media files. MME supports stereo sound and 16-bit audio bit depth and sampling rates of up to 44.1 kHz.


title: Windows 3.0

text: The official system requirements for Windows 3.0 and its substantial update, Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions:


title: Windows 3.0

text: The processor and memory minimum requirements for the original version are those needed to run Windows in real mode, the lowest of the three operating modes. This mode severely limits the multitasking capabilities of Windows, although it can still use expanded memory, which is memory that is added by installing expanded memory boards or memory managers. However, it also provides backward compatibility with as many hardware and software designed for DOS as possible, and it may be used to run DOS applications and older Windows applications not optimized for Windows 3.0 if running them in higher operating modes is not possible. Standard mode requires at least an 80286 processor, and although the memory required is unchanged, the mode does allow the processor to use extended memory for running applications. 386 enhanced mode requires at least an 80386 processor and two megabytes of memory. While the other modes can run DOS applications in full-screen only and must suspend DOS applications in order to run Windows programs and "vice versa", the DOS applications in 386 enhanced mode can be run windowed and concurrently with the Windows applications. Unlike the other modes, this one cannot be used to run DOS applications that use DOS extenders incompatible with DPMI specifications. Normally, Windows will start in the highest operating mode the computer can use, but the user may force it into lower modes by typing codice_1 or codice_2 at the DOS command prompt. If the user selects an operating mode that cannot be used due to lack of RAM or CPU support, Windows merely boots into the next lowest one.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 is considered to be the first version of Windows to receive critical acclaim. Users and critics universally lauded its icon-based interface and the ensuing ease of performing operations, as well as the improved multitasking and greater control over customizing their environments. "Computerworld" considered the software to share the same benefits as OS/2 and Unix. Garry Ray of "Lotus" considered this version of Windows the first of the environment to bear "serious long-term consideration." Bill Howard of "PC Magazine" found its user interface to be easy to use, though not quite as intuitive as Macintosh. The editor of "InfoWorld", Michael J. Miller, had faith that PC users would fully transition from the preceding text-only environment to the GUI with Windows 3.0 as their primary choice.


title: Windows 3.0

text: One critical aspect of Windows 3.0 is how it managed memory. Before its release, users of previous versions of Windows were burdened with trying to circumvent memory constraints to utilize those versions' touted capabilities. The Windows software occupied a large amount of memory, and users regularly experienced system slowdowns and often exceeded memory limits. Windows 3.0 also had relatively high memory requirements by 1990's standards, but with the three memory modes, it was praised for using memory more efficiently, removing the 640–kilobyte limit that had existed in computers running on Microsoft software since DOS, and supporting more powerful CPUs.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Ted Needleman of the computer magazine "Modern Electronics" called Windows 3.0's GUI "state-of-the-art" and compared Microsoft's previous attempts to produce such a GUI to Apple Lisa, Apple's early such attempt and the predecessor to its far more successful Macintosh. He cautioned about the seemingly cheap upgrade cost of US$50 when the system requirements and the need to upgrade any installed applications for compatibility are considered. He also cautioned that the software's advantages could be taken only by running Windows applications. However, in February 1991, "PC Magazine" noted a vast array of applications designed specifically for Windows 3.0, including many that had yet to be available for OS/2. It also cited two other factors leading to the operating environment's success: one of them was the inexpensive cost of the hardware needed to run it compared to the Macintosh, and the other was its focus on fully utilizing hardware components that were relatively powerful by its time's standards.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Amid the unprecedented success of Windows 3.0, Microsoft came under attack by critics as well as the United States Federal Trade Commission, who alleged that the company had attempted to dominate the applications market by luring its competitors into developing software for IBM's OS/2 while it was developing its own for Windows. At the time of Windows 3.0's release, Microsoft had only 10 and 15 percent of the market shares on spreadsheets and word processors, respectively, but those figures had risen to over 60 percent in 1995, overtaking previously dominant competitors such as Lotus Development Corporation and WordPerfect. Microsoft did indeed suggest developers to write applications for the OS/2, but it also intended Windows 3.0 to be a "low-end" alternative to the latter, with Gates referring to the OS/2 as the operating system of the 1990s. The Windows brand was also intended to be canceled after this version's release. The investigations into—and the eventual subsequent suing of—Microsoft led to a settlement on July 15, 1994, where Microsoft agreed not to bundle separate software packages with its operating products. It marked the first time that the company had ever been investigated for anticompetitive practices.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 is also considered the first Windows to see commercial success. At the time of release, of the 40 million personal computers installed, only five percent used either previous version of Windows, but within its first week of availability, it rose as the top-selling business software. After six months, two million licenses were sold. Its success was interdependent with the PC industry, exemplified by an explosion of demand for and subsequent production of Intel's more powerful microprocessor, the 80486. Windows became so widely used in businesses that Brian Livingston of "InfoWorld" wrote in October 1991 that "a company with no PCs that run Windows is almost like a company without a fax machine." Microsoft had spent a total of $10 million in its marketing campaign for the software, including the $3 million for its release. When its successor, Windows 3.1, was released, sales totaled about 10 million licenses, and a year later the Windows series would overtake DOS as the bestselling application of all time.


title: Windows 3.0

text: Windows 3.0 is regarded in retrospect as a turning point in the future of Microsoft, being attributed to its later dominance in the operating system market and to the company's improved applications market share. The company used to have close ties with IBM since the former's inception, but the unexpected success of its new product would lead to the two companies recasting their relationship, where they would continue to sell each other's operating products until 1993. After the fiscal year of 1990, Microsoft reported revenues of US$1.18 billion, with $337 million appearing in the fourth quarter. This annual statistic is up from $803.5 million in fiscal 1989, and it made Microsoft the first microcomputer software company to reach the $1 billion mark in one year. Microsoft officials attributed the results to the sales of Windows 3.0.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Belgian Defense Forces (; ) is the national military of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became independent in October 1830. Since then, the Belgian armed forces have fought in World War I, World War II, the Cold War (Korean War and the Belgian occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany), Kosovo, Rwanda, Somalia and Afghanistan. The Armed Forces comprise five branches: the Land Component, the Air Component, the Marine Component, the Cyber Component and the Medical Component.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: When Belgium broke away from the Netherlands in 1830 it was initially expected that a neutral buffer state, with its borders guaranteed by France, Britain and Prussia, could avoid the need for an expensive permanent military force, relying instead on the part-time militia of the existing "Garde Civique" (Civil Guard). The need for a regular army was however soon acknowledged. The basis for recruitment was one of selective conscription under which exemptions could be purchased by obtaining substitutes. In practice this meant that only about a quarter of each year's eligible intake actually served, with the burden falling on the poorer classes.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: As part of the national policy of even-handed neutrality, the 19th century Belgian Army was deployed as an essentially defensive force in fortifications facing the Dutch, German and French borders. Mobilisation plans simply required reservists to report to their depots, without arrangements being made in advance for deployment in a particular direction or against a particular enemy. Recruitment difficulties caused the army to remain below its intended strength of 20,000 men, although new legislation in 1868 tightened the basis for conscription. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 required full mobilisation for nearly a year, a process which showed up serious training and structural weaknesses. The presence of Belgian forces in strength along the country's borders, supported by intelligence provided by the Belgian civil security service, did however ensure that the combat at no time spilled over into Belgian territory.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: As late as the 1890s the Belgian Army still retained a system of selective service, at a time when most European states were moving to a principle of universal obligation, according to the Prussian model. In Belgium conscripts were selected through the drawing of ballots, but individuals could escape service by paying for substitutes. This system favored the well-off and had been discarded elsewhere as inefficient and unpatriotic. For those conscripted the terms of service required eight years in the regular army (of which part might be spent on "unlimited leave"), followed by five years as a reservist. Various categories of volunteer enjoyed such privileges as being able to specify their branch of service, bounties and higher pay.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Papal Army based in Rome included from 1860 a battalion-sized unit known as the "Tirailleurs Franco-Belges" (Franco-Belgian Sharpshooters). Recruited amongst volunteers from both countries, this became the Pontifical Zouaves in 1861 and fought as an allied force on the French side in 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: In 1864 a "Corps Expeditionnaire Belge" (Belgian Expeditionary Corps) was raised for service in Mexico. Originally intended to serve as the Guard of the Belgian-born Empress Charlotte this 1,500 strong force was largely drawn from volunteers seconded from the Belgian Army. Known popularly as the Belgian Legion, it saw active service in Mexico as part of the Imperial forces, before returning to Belgium for disbandment in March 1867.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: From 1885 the Force Publique was established as the military garrison and police force in the Belgian Congo, then under the direct rule of King Leopold II. Initially led by a variety of European mercenaries, this colonial force was subsequently officered by Belgian regulars after 1908.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: From December 1904 a small detachment of Belgian troops was permanently based in China as the "Guard of the Belgian Legation in Beijing".


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Reforms undertaken in the early years of the 20th century included the abolition in 1909 of the system of drawing lots for the selection of the annual intake of conscripts. In 1913, compulsory and universal military service for men was established in Belgium. While this enabled actual peacetime strength to be increased to 33,000 men (increased to 120,500 on mobilisation), this was only sufficient to provide a basis for the creation of seven under-strength divisions (one of cavalry) plus artillery and fortress troops. The Belgian military was also affected by political and popular reliance on the supposedly certain protection of the country's internationally guaranteed neutrality. In the words of the historian Barbara W. Tuchman "the army was considered superfluous and slightly absurd". Training and discipline were slack, equipment inadequate and even field uniforms were old fashioned and impractical.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Although improvements in the Belgian Army had been uneven during the 19th and early 20th centuries, one area of successful reform had been that of increasing the professionalism of the officer corps. The Royal Military Academy had been established in 1834, to be followed by the "Ecole d'Application" for technical training, and the "Ecole de Guerre" for staff training in 1868. The Belgian Army pioneered the practice of training a corps of finance, personnel and general administration specialist officers instead of leaving such functions to civil servants without military experience or inadequately prepared line officers. There was however a serious shortage of trained officers in the rapidly expanding army of 1913.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: On the eve of World War I, the Belgian Army comprised 19 infantry regiments (line, Chasseurs à pied, Grenadier and Carabinier), 10 cavalry (Guides, Lancers and Chasseurs à cheval) and 8 artillery (mounted, field and fortress). Support forces included engineers, gendarmerie, fortress troops, train and civil guards. The seven divisions of the Field Army were intended to provide a mobile force while the 65,000 fortress troops provided garrisons for the substantial forts constructed around Antwerp, Liège and Namur. These fortifications had been built in several stages beginning in 1859, though a number were still incompleted in 1914. While well-designed and built by 19th century standards, these fixed defences with their sunken artillery turrets had been rendered obsolete by recent advances in heavy siege artillery howitzers.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: At the start of World War I in August 1914, the Belgian armed forces were being restructured, due to this measure and the rapid occupation of Belgium only 20% of men were mobilised and incorporated into the armed forces. Ultimately, 350,000 men were incorporated into the Belgian armed forces, although one third of these did not participate directly in combat.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Invaded by surprise by the Imperial German Army, which was approximately 600,000 men strong, the small, ill-equipped, 117,000-strong Belgian army succeeded, for ten days, in holding the German army in front of Liège in 1914. They fought between the emplaced forts in the area and with their support. This strategy was based on the Napoleonic concept of fighting the advance force and preventing a portion of the enemy forces joining the main body. At the time, the authorities and the public celebrated a determined Belgian resistance that the Germans did not expect.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: For four years, under the command of King Albert I, the Belgian army guarded the important sector of the Allied left wing between Nieuwpoort, on the coast, and Ypres with the help of the forces of the Entente but did not participate in any of the major Allied offensives, which were deemed unnecessarily expensive in terms of cost and manpower by the King of the Belgians.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: In 1916, a body of Belgian armoured cars were moved from the IJzer front to help the Russian Empire. The force found itself alongside an identical body sent by the British on the Eastern Front.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: In Africa a company-sized unit of Belgian colonial troops participated in the occupation of the German colony of Togoland, The Force Publique subsequently played a major role in the East African Campaign against German forces in German East Africa, providing over 12,000 askaris under Belgian officers for the Allied offensive of February 1916. The most significant Belgian action was the capture of Tabora in September 1916, by a force under the command of General Charles Tombeur.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: In Belgium, after four years of war, as of 26 May 1918, the army had 166,000 men of which 141,974 were combatants, forming twelve infantry divisions and one cavalry division. It had 129 aircraft and 952 guns of all calibres. From September, the Belgian army was involved in the Allied offensive until the final victory of 11 November 1918.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: After the Armistice with Germany of 1918, the Belgian government sought to retain the strategy of 1914. Little effort was made to acquire tanks and aircraft for the Belgian armed forces, while instead the Government strengthened the fortifications of Liège and Antwerp. This was despite the fact that during World War I the forts had proved ineffective despite strong support from artillery and infantry. Until 1936, Belgium remained allied to France and the United Kingdom.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Belgian Army underwent a series of reductions from 12 divisions in 1923 to only four after 1926. The rank and file consisted almost entirely of conscripts serving full-time for only 13 months, before entering the reserves.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: On 1 September 1939, when the Wehrmacht invaded Poland, King Leopold III of Belgium ordered a general mobilisation, in which 600,000 Belgians were mobilised. Despite warnings from the French and British governments, the King refused an alliance. Belgium was invaded, defeated, and occupied in an 18 Days' Campaign after 10 May 1940. Later, 163 Belgian troops were rescued during the Dunkirk evacuation, and Belgium's new navy, the "Corps de Marine", only reformed in 1939, also participated.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: After the defeat in 1940, significant numbers of Belgian soldiers and civilians escaped to Britain to join the Belgian forces in exile. The Belgian government, under Hubert Pierlot, evacuated to London where it remained until the liberation in 1944.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Belgian soldiers formed the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade (which also included an artillery battery of soldiers from Luxembourg) more often known as the "Brigade Piron" after its commanding officer, Jean-Baptiste Piron. The Brigade Piron was involved in the Normandy Invasion and the battles in France and the Netherlands until liberation.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Belgians also served in British special forces units during the war, forming a troop of No.10 Commando which was involved in the Italian Campaign and Landings on Walcheren. The British 5th Special Air Service (SAS) was entirely made up of Belgians.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Two Belgian fighter units, the 349th and 350th Squadrons, were formed in the Royal Air Force, with over 400 pilots. The 350th Squadron alone claimed over 50 "kills" between its formation in November 1941 and the end of the war.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Two corvettes and a group of minesweepers were also operated by the Belgians during the Battle of the Atlantic, numbering some 350 men by 1943. Most military Belgian vessels of the Belgian navy were interned in Spain, except for the patrol craft "P16", which managed to escape to the United Kingdom, where it became HMS "Kernot".


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Force Publique also participated in the East African Campaign and were instrumental to forcing the Italian surrender in Abyssinia.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The harsh lessons of World War II made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy. In March 1948 Belgium signed the Treaty of Brussels, and then joined NATO in 1948. However the integration of the armed forces into NATO did not begin until after the Korean War, to which Belgium (in co-operation with Luxembourg) sent a detachment known as the Belgian United Nations Command. Later Belgium contributed a corps to NATO's Northern Army Group. Defence expenditure grew along with the force size. In 1948 the army was 75,000 strong which grew to 150,000 by 1952. A major defence review in 1952 set a target of three active and two reserve divisions, a 400-aircraft air force and a fifteen-ship navy. Forty anti-aircraft defence battalions were created, linked with radar and a centralised command-and-control system.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: As a safeguard against Belgium being invaded again, two major bases, Kitona and Kamina, were established in the Belgian Congo. They were almost viewed as a 'national redoubt,' permitting the survival and rebuilding of forces if Belgium were again invaded.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Following a change in government in 1954 conscript service was reduced to 18 months. The Belgian Army gained nuclear capability in the 1950s with Honest John missiles initially and then with nuclear-capable tube artillery. It also adopted the U.S. Pentomic organization, but then switched to a triangular division structure by the early 1960s. Just after independence in the Congo, a Metropolitan Command (Cometro) was active to control the Belgian forces there.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: From October 1993 to March 1996, Belgium participated in UNAMIR, a UN Peacekeeping mission meant to end the Rwandan genocide. While protecting the Rwandan prime minister, 10 soldiers from the 2nd Commando Battalion were tortured and executed by the Rwandan Presidential Guard. Rwandan Major Bernard Ntuyahaga was later convicted for the murders in 2007.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Since 2002, the three independent armed forces have been merged into one unified structure and organised with four components. They are structured as follows:


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The operational commands of the components (COMOPSLAND, COMOPSAIR, COMOPSMAR and COMOPSMED) are directly subordinate to the Chief of Defence (CHOD).


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Special Operations Command or SOCOM, does not have direct command over special operations, but is an intermediary center for coordination and communication of special operations between the components. The command provides advice and expertise and is also tasked with acquisition and distributions of equipment for SOF units. SOCOM is managed by ACOS Operations and Training.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: Currently, SOCOM is responsible for setting up the new Composite Special Operations Command Center or C-SOCC. This new command center is an international project between Special Operations units of Belgium, The Netherlands and Denmark.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Belgian Land, Air, and Medical Components all use the same military ranks. The Marine Component's ranks are unique in the Belgian Armed Forces.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Belgian Land Component is the ground arm of the Belgian Armed Forces. The Land Component Commander is Major-General Pierre Gérard.(since 18 October 2019). The Land Component consists of one staff (COMOPSLAND), one motorized brigade, one special operations regiment supported by an artillery battalion, two engineer battalions and a reconnaissance (ISTAR) battalion. It is also supported by three logistical units, three telecommunication units, four training camps and a center for the training of ground troops. The land component has around 8,500 troops (as of 2020) and trained for foreign operations in a multinational environment.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The history of the Belgian Air Force began in 1910 when the Minister of War, General Hellebout, decided after his first flight to acquire aeroplanes. On 5 May 1911 a Farman type 1910 was delivered, followed by a second on 24 May and two other in August of the same year. The air component commander is Major-General aviator Frederik Vansina (as of 5 December 2014).


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The air component consists of two fighter aircraft wing, the second tactical wing in Florennes, operating the F-16 Fighting Falcon and a unit (80 UAV squadron) flying the B-Hunter reconnaissance UAV, the 10 tactical wing in Kleine Brogel, operating the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the 15 air transport wing in Melsbroek operating 10 Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and 2 out of 8 Airbus A400M Atlas modern transport aircraft which will replace the C-130s. Two of the new A400Ms are currently operable (CT-01, shared with the Luxembourg Air Force and CT-02), four more are scheduled to arrive in 2021. The 15th Wing also operates a small fleet of troop transport and VIP aircraft. The first wing in Beauvechain operates training aircraft and helicopters (A-109 and NH-90 helicopters). Aside from these flying units, the air component is supported by several support units, such as an air traffic control center, an air defense center (Control and Reporting Center), a meteorological wing and an aviation safety directorate.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Belgian Naval Component is the naval arm of the Belgian Armed Forces. It currently has 1,200 personnel and 10 vessels. The Naval Component Commander is Rear Admiral Jan De Beurme, since 28 September 2020. Current vessels are:


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Medical Component is commanded by a Major General and is composed of 1,700 active personnel. Providing medical support to all personnel of the Belgium Armed forces, it consists of a Military Hospital and 2 Medical Battalions as well as a Medical Supply Unit.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: A Belgian military intelligence service was founded on 1 April 1915. The Belgian General Information and Security Service, known as ADIV (Dutch) or SGRS (French) and part of the organisational chart of Belgian Defence as ACOS-IS (Assistant Chief of Staff Intelligence and Security) provides security intelligence for the Armed Forces as well as strategic intelligence for the Belgian government. Its focus is on counterespionage.


title: Belgian Armed Forces

text: The Jagers te Paard Battalion ( ISTAR ) also conducts military intelligence with a tactical goal of preparing and supporting operations abroad.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks or coverings, including N95, FFP2, surgical, and cloth masks, have been employed as public and personal health control measures against the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: In community and healthcare settings, their use is intended as source control to limit transmission of the virus and for personal protection to prevent infection. Properly worn masks both limit the respiratory droplets and aerosols spread by infected individuals and help protect healthy individuals from infection.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Masking has proven effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 and other airborne illnesses through many studies. Masks vary in how well they work, with N95 and surgical masks outperforming cloth masks, which are more common due to supply shortages, but even cloth masks, with their variability in fabric type and mask fit, provide wearers with substantial protection from particles carrying COVID-19.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Among readily available fabrics, double-layered cotton, hybrid masks, and cotton flannel perform best, and filtration effectiveness generally improves with thread count. Healthcare workers, given their exposure, are recommended against using cloth masks.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Governments have widely recommended and mandated mask-wearing. Prominent national and intergovernmental health agencies and their leaders have recommended the use of masks to reduce transmission, including the WHO, American, European and Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American immunologist and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Many federal governmental agencies recommended using face masks to avoid COVID-19 transmission. Masks with exhalation valves are not recommended because they expel the wearer's breath outwards, and an infected wearer would transmit the viruses through the valve. A second purpose of face masks is to protect each wearer from environments that can infect them, which can be achieved by many models of masks.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Various types of masks each provide different levels of protection against COVID-19 transmission, ease of use and comfort:


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: There are some other types of personal protective equipment (PPE), as face shields and medical goggles, which are sometimes used in conjunction with face masks but are not recommended as a replacement. Other kinds of PPE include gloves, aprons, gowns, shoe covers, and hair covers.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: There have been shortages of masks, which has led to the use of uncertified masks, with a worse performance.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: A cloth face mask is worn over the mouth and nose and made of common textiles such as cotton. Masks vary widely in effectiveness, depending on factors such as material, fit and seal, and number of layers. They are usually less effective at filtering than surgical masks and offer much less protection. Unlike disposable masks, there are no required standards for cloth masks.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: One 2020 study found that a cloth mask was better than nothing, but not as good as a soft electret-filter surgical mask for protecting healthcare workers while simulating treatment of an artificially infected patient. Research on commonly available fabrics used in cloth masks found that cloth masks can provide significant protection against the transmission of particles in the aerosol size range, with enhanced performance across the nanoscale and microscale when masks utilize both mechanical and electrostatic-based filtration, but that leakage due to improper fit can degrade performance. A review of available research published in January 2021 concludes that cloth masks are not considered adequate to protect healthcare practitioners in a clinical setting.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: A 2013 study had volunteers wear masks they made themselves from cotton T-shirts, following the pattern of a standard tie behind the head surgical mask, and found the number of microscopic particles that leaked to the inside of the homemade masks was twice that of commercial masks. Wearing homemade masks also leaked a median average of three times as many microorganisms as commercial masks. But another 2020 study found that masks made of at least two layers of T-shirt fabric could be as protective against virus droplets as medical masks, and as breathable.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: A 2020 peer-reviewed summary of published literature on the filtration properties of cloth and cloth masks recommends two to four layers of plain-weave cotton or flannel of at least 100 threads per inch. There is a trade-off in that increasing the number of layers increases the filtration of the material but decreases how easy it is for a person to breathe through the mask.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: As of May 2020, there was no research on decontaminating and reusing cloth masks. The CDC recommends removing a mask by handling only the ear loops or ties, placing it directly in a washing machine, and immediately washing hands in soap and water for at least twenty seconds. Cold water is considered as effective as warm water for decontamination. The CDC also recommends washing hands before putting on the mask and again immediately after touching it.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: There is no information on reusing an interlayer filter. Disposing of filters after a single use may be desirable. A narrative review of the literature on the filtration properties of cloth and other household materials did not find support for using a filter. A layer of cloth, if tolerated, was suggested instead, or a PM2.5 filter, as a third layer.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: A United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Study published on 5 April 2021, showed extremely varied performance across cotton masks. The results of the EPA study found that "a three-layer knitted cotton mask blocked an average of 26.5 percent of particles in the chamber, while a washed, two-layer woven nylon mask with a filter insert and metal nose bridge blocked 79 percent of particles on average." Ultimately, the researchers found that fabric and fit are the two of the most vital factors when recommending masks to the public and further research is being conducted on variables such as facial hair and face shape on mask fit.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: A surgical mask is a loose-fitting, disposable mask that creates a physical barrier separating the mouth and nose of the wearer from potential contaminants in the immediate environment. If worn properly, a surgical mask is meant to help block large-particle droplets, splashes, sprays, or splatter that may contain viruses and bacteria, keeping them from reaching the wearer's mouth and nose. Surgical masks may also help reduce exposure of others to the wearer's saliva and respiratory secretions.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Certified medical masks are made of non-woven material, and they are mostly multi-layer. Filters may be made of microfibers with an electrostatic charge; that is, the fibers are electrets. An electret filter increases the chances that smaller particles will veer and hit a fiber, rather than going straight through (electrostatic capture). While there is some development work on making electret filtering materials that can be washed and reused, current commercially produced electret filters are ruined by many forms of disinfection, including washing with soap and water or alcohol, which destroys the electric charge. During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health authorities issued guidelines on how to save, disinfect and reuse electret-filter masks without damaging the filtration efficiency. Standard disposable surgical masks are not designed to be washed. Surgical masks may be labeled as surgical, isolation, dental, or medical procedure masks. The material surgical masks are made from is much poorer at filtering very small particles (in range a tenth of a micrometer to a micrometer across) than that of filtering respirators (for example N95, FFP2) and the fit is much poorer. Surgical masks are made of a non-woven fabric created using a melt blowing process. Random control studies of respiratory infections like influenza find little difference in protection between surgical masks and respirators (such as N95 or FFP masks). However, the filtering performance of correctly worn N95/FFP2 type filtering respirators is clearly superior to surgical and to cloth masks and for influenza, work by the UK Health and Safety executive found that live virus penetrated all surgical masks tested but properly fitted respirators reduced the viral dose by a factor of at least a hundred.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Surgical masks made to different standards in different regions of the world have different ranges of particles which they filter. For example, the People's Republic of China regulates two types of such masks: single-use medical masks (Chinese standard YY/T 0969) and surgical masks (YY 0469). The latter ones are required to filter bacteria-sized particles (BFE ≥ 95%) and some virus-sized particles (PFE ≥ 30%), while the former ones are required to only filter bacteria-sized particles.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: The effectiveness of surgical masks in limiting particle transmission is a function of material and fit. Since the start of the pandemic, scientists have evaluated various modifications to ear loop surgical masks aimed at improving mask efficacy by reducing or eliminating gaps between the mask and face. The CDC evaluated and recommended two such modifications to ear loop masks to minimize the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Under regular use, the CDC found that a surgical mask worn by a coughing individual blocked 41.3% of simulated cough aerosols (0.1–7.0 μm particle size) from reaching a second individual six feet away. However, by applying a knot and tuck technique, 62.9% of particles were blocked. When the surgical mask was covered with a larger cloth mask, 82% of particles were blocked. When both the source and recipient wore masks, 84% of particles were blocked. The number increased to more than 95% when both parties either wore double masks (surgical mask with larger cloth mask) or used the knot and tuck technique.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Another type of modification was aimed to improve the comfort of the wearers. Early in the pandemic, healthcare workers were required to continue wearing surgical masks for 12 or more hours a day. This caused the ear loops of the masks to chafe the back of their ears. Ear savers, plastic straps and hooks that go around wearer's heads, were invented to move the ear loops away from the wearer's ears. They could be made on demand by using a 3D printing process.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: An N95 mask is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the N95 air filtration rating of the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, meaning it filters at least 95 percent of 0.3 μm airborne particles, while not resistant to oil like the P95. It is the most common particulate-filtering facepiece respirator. It is an example of a mechanical filter respirator, which provides protection against particulates, but not gases or vapors. Like the middle layer of surgical masks, the N95 mask is made of four layers of melt-blown nonwoven polypropylene fabric. The corresponding face mask used in the European Union is the FFP2 respirator.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Hard electret-filter masks like N95 and FFP masks must fit the face to provide full protection. Untrained users often get a reasonable fit, but fewer than one in four gets a perfect fit. Fit testing is thus standard. A line of petroleum jelly on the edge of the mask has been shown to reduce edge leakage in lab tests using mannequins that simulate breathing.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Some N95 series respirators, especially those intended for industrial use, have an exhalation valve to improve comfort, making exhalation easier and reducing leakage on exhalation and steaming-up of glasses. But those respirators are not reliable for the control of infected people (source control) in respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, because infected users (asymptomatic or not) would transmit the virus to others through the valve.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were shortages of filtering facepiece respirators, and they had to be used for extended periods, and/or disinfected and reused. At the time, public health authorities issued guidelines on how to save, disinfect and reuse masks, as some disinfection methods damaged their filtration efficiency. Some hospitals stockpiled used masks as a precaution, and some had to sanitize and reuse masks.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend the use of face shields as a substitute for masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19. In a study by Lindsley "et al." (7 January 2021) funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the CDC, face shields were found to block very few cough aerosols in contrast to face coveringssuch as cloth masks, procedure masks, and N95 respiratorsindicating that face shields are not effective as source control devices for small respiratory aerosols and that face coverings are more effective than face shields as source control devices to reduce the community transmission of SARS-CoV-2.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: In a scoping review, Godoy "et al." (5 May 2020) said face shields are used for barrier protection against splash and splatter contamination but should not be used as primary protection against respiratory disease transmission due to the lack of a peripheral seal rather than as an adjunct to other facial protection. They remarked that face shields have been used like this alongside medical-grade masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. They cited a cough simulation study by Lindsley "et al." (2014) in which face shields were shown to reduce the risk of inhalation exposure up to 95% immediately following aerosol production, but the protection was decreased with smaller aerosol particles and persistent airborne particles around the sides.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: There is weak evidence that the use of eye protection including face shields is associated with less infection.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Elastomeric respirators are reusable personal protective equipment comprising a tight-fitting half-facepiece or full-facepiece respirator with exchangeable filters such as cartridge filters. They provide an alternative respiratory protection option to filtering facepiece respirators such as N95 masks. Some healthcare workers have used them during times of short supply caused by the pandemic, as they can be reused over an extended period in healthcare settings. However, most elastomeric respirators have an unfiltered exhalation vent which would allow the virus to spread from the wearer.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: For the COVID-19 response when supplies are short, the US CDC says contingency and crisis strategies should be followed: Each elastomeric respirator is issued for the exclusive use of an individual healthcare provider but must be cleaned and disinfected as often as necessary to remain unspoiled and sanitary. If there is no other option than to share a respirator between healthcare providers, the respirator must be cleaned and disinfected before it is worn by a different individual. Filters (except for unprotected disc types) may be used for an extended period, but the filter housing of cartridge types must be disinfected after each patient interaction.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: A powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) is a personal protective equipment in which a device with a filter and fan creates a highly filtered airflow towards the headpiece and a positive outflow of air from the headpiece.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: There is an increased risk for healthcare workers to become exposed to SARS-CoV-2 when they conduct aerosol-generating procedures on COVID-19 patients, which is why it is argued that such situations may require enhanced personal protective equipment (i.e., higher than N95) such as PAPRs for healthcare workers.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: In a systematic review, Licina, Silvers, and Stuart (8 August 2020) said field studies indicate that there was equivalent rates of infection between healthcare workers who performed airway procedures on critical COVID-19 patients utilizing PAPRs or other appropriate respiratory equipment (such as N95 or FFP2), but remarked that there is a need to further collect field data about optimal respiratory protection during highly virulent pandemics.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Some masks include an exhalation valve to expel the breath outwards, but that air flow is not filtered. Certification (as N95 or FFP2) is about the mask itself and does not warrant any safety about the air that is exhaled. Putting tape over the exhalation valve can make a mask or respirator as effective as one without a valve.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Scientists have visualized droplet dispersal for masks with exhalation valves and face shields and concluded that they can be ineffective against COVID-19 spread (e.g., after a cough) and recommended alternatives.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: The use of face masks or coverings by the general public has been recommended by health officials to minimize the risk of transmissions, with authorities either requiring their use in certain settings, such as on public transport and in shops, or universally in public.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Health officials had advised that medical-grade face masks, such as respirators, should be prioritized for use by healthcare workers in view of critical shortages, so they used to generally first and foremost recommend cloth masks for the general public. However, recommendations have changed as the body of scientific knowledge evolved. Scientists now recommend having a triple-layered surgical mask and a respirator.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: According to #Masks4All, about 95% of the world population lives in countries where, as of September 2020, the government and leading disease experts recommend or require the use of masks in public places to limit the spread of COVID-19.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Early in 2020, the WHO had only recommended medical masks for people with suspected infection and respiratory symptoms, their caregivers and those sharing living space, and healthcare workers. In April 2020, the WHO acknowledged that wearing a medical mask can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases including COVID-19 but claimed that medical masks would create a false sense of security and neglect of other necessary measures, such as hand hygiene.


title: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: The early WHO advice on limited mask usage was scrutinized for several reasons. First, experts and researchers pointed out the asymptomatic transmission of the virus. Second, according to Marteau "et al." (27 July 2020), available evidence does not support the notion that masking adversely affects hand hygiene: Dame Theresa Marteau, one of the researchers, remarked that "The concept of risk compensation, rather than risk compensation itself, seems the greater threat to public health through delaying potentially effective interventions that can help prevent the spread of disease."