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National gendarmerie force of Portugal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Republican Guard (Portuguese: Guarda Nacional Republicana) or GNR is the national gendarmerie force of Portugal.
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| Republican National Guard Guarda Nacional Republicana | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms of the Guarda Nacional Republicana | |
| Motto | Pela Lei e Pela Grei (English: "For the Law and for the People") |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1911 |
| Employees | 22,608 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Portugal |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Quartel do Carmo, Lisbon |
| Parent agency | Ministry of the Internal Administration (in peacetime) Ministry of National Defence (in wartime) |
| Notables | |
| Significant operation |
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| Awards |
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Members of the GNR are military personnel, subject to military law and organisation, unlike the agents of the civilian Public Security Police (PSP).
The GNR is responsible for the preventive police and highway patrol in 94% of Portuguese territory. At national level, GNR also has duties of customs enforcement, coastal control, nature protection, search and rescue operations and state ceremonial guards of honor.
Since the 2000s, the GNR has provided detachments for participation in international operations in Iraq, East Timor and other theatres.
As October 2023, the GNR is now partly in charge of controlling the Portuguese borders (alongside the PSP), with the dissolution of the SEF force.[1]
The GNR deploys over 22.608 personnel over 90 percent of Portuguese territory.[2] The GNR are deployed in Bosnia as part of IFOR/SFOR/EUFOR Althea[2] and 140 GNR were also deployed between 2006 and 2012 in Timor-Leste as part of UNMIT.
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The National Republican Guard is in peacetime subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Administration for recruitment, administration, discipline and operational control and is also subordinate to the Ministry of National Defence for "uniformisation and normalisation" of military doctrine, armament and equipment.[3][4][5] In wartime or situations of crisis, the GNR can be placed under the operational control of the Armed Forces General Staff.[4][5]
Until 2007, the GNR maintained a traditional organization, whose bases still followed the organizational structure established in the early 20th century. This organization included: territorial units (four territorial brigades, that were designated "battalions" until 1993), special units (the Fiscal and the Traffic Brigades) and reserve units (the Cavalry and the Infantry regiments).[6] The old organization also included a central structure that reflected the command of a military field division, including a military-type staff.
In 2006, the multinational consulting company Accenture made a study, requested by the Government of Portugal, that recommended the change of the organization of the Portuguese security forces, including a radical reorganization of the GNR.[7]
Most of the recommendations regarding GNR were accepted and, in accordance with the Law No. 63/2007 (new Organic Law of the GNR), its traditional structure was replaced by a new and considerably different one, that was implemented in early 2009.[8]
The GNR is commanded by a general officer, with the title of Commandant-General (Comandante-Geral).
The National Republican Guard now includes the following:
Source:[9]
Reporting directly to the Commandant-General are the following:
The old four-brigade structure was replaced by a system of territorial commands, each covering a district or an autonomous region. Each territorial command – commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel – includes detachments – commanded by majors, captains or junior officer, Sub-detachments – led by junior officers – and posts – led by sergeants. Each territorial command usually includes a traffic detachment (from the former Traffic Brigade) and a detachment of intervention. The territorial commands of the Azores and Madeira play, essentially, just a coastal monitoring and fiscal actions, respectively, under the functional dependence of the UCC and UAF. The current territorial commands correspond essentially to the previous territorial groups of the old territorial brigades. With the extinction of the territorial brigades by the end of 2008, the territorial commands were placed in direct dependence on the central structure of command of GNR;
The territorial commands are as follows:
Special Units fall directly under the Operations Command (Comando Operacional).[9]
The National Republican Guard is the direct descendant of the Royal Police Guard created in the beginning of the 19th century.
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The Royal Guard of the Police of Lisbon (Guarda Real da Polícia de Lisboa) was created in 1801 by Prince Regent John on the initiative of the Intendant-General of the Police of the Court and the Kingdom, Pina Manique. It took as a model the French Gendarmerie (1791).
Following the creation of Lisbon's Royal Guard of the Police, a similar Guard was created in Porto. After the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Rio de Janeiro, after the invasion of Portugal by the Napoleonic forces in 1807, a similar Royal Guard of the Police of Rio de Janeiro was created, this being the origin of the present military police of that state and of the other member states of Brazil.
At the end of May, 1834, as a result of the Civil War, King Peter IV, assuming the regency in name of his daughter Queen Mary II, disbanded the Royal Police Guard in Lisbon and Porto, creating the "Municipal Guards" of Lisbon and Porto on the basis of similar conditions.
In 1868 both of the Guards were put under a unified Commandant-General, installed in the Carmo Barracks in Lisbon, which today still is the Headquarters of the GNR. The Municipal Guard was considered part of the Army, but was dependent on the Ministry of Internal Affairs for all matters regarding public security.
After the 5 October 1910 revolution, which replaced the Constitutional Monarchy with the Republic, the new regime changed the name of the Municipal Guard to the Republican Guard (Guarda Republicana), keeping the same organization. At this time, plans were already underway for the transformation of this Guard into a National Republican Guard, covering all the territory of Portugal.
In 1911, the Republican Guard was transformed in the National Republican Guard (GNR): this was to be a security force consisting of military personnel organised in a special corps of troops depending, in peace time, on the Ministry of Internal Administration, for the purpose of conscription, administration and execution with regards to its mission, and the Ministry of the National Defense for the purpose of uniformization and normalization of the military doctrine, as well as for its armament and equipment. In case of war or situation of crisis, the forces of National Republican Guard will, in terms of the respective laws and for operational effect, be subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
In 1993 the National Republican Guard absorbed the independent Fiscal Guard (Guarda Fiscal) that became the Fiscal Brigade of the GNR. In 2006 a new GNR unit was created with the purpose of firefighting and was named GIPS.
A unit of the GNR was deployed in Iraq during the NATO mission MNF-I within the Italian led Multinational Specialized Unit.
A small contingent of GNR forces were deployed in Timor-Leste in 2006.
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | ||||||||||||||
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 National Republican Guard[10] |
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| Tenente-general Comandante-general |
Tenente-general | Major-general | Coronel | Tenente-coronel | Major | Capitão | Tenente | Alferes | ||||||||||||||||
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National Republican Guard[10] |
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| Sargento-mor | Sargento-chefe | Sargento-ajudante | Primeiro-sargento | Segundo-sargento | Furriel | Cabo-mor | Cabo-chefe | Cabo-de-curso | Cabo | Guarda principal | Guarda | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Police services in Portugal have always used a wide range of firearms in 9×19mm to equip their personnel.
| Weapon | Origin | Type |
|---|---|---|
| ASP Street Defender |  USA |
Standard issue pepper spray |
| ASI 2000 | USA |
Standard issue pepper spray |
| Taser X26 | USA |
Less lethal electroshock weapon |
| Glock 19 |  Austria |
Standard issue sidearm |
| Glock 17 | Austria |
Sidearm for special operations |
| Heckler & Koch USP Compact |  Germany |
Sidearm for special operations |
| SIG Sauer SP 2022 | Germany |
Sidearm for special operations |
| Walther P99 | Germany |
Sidearm for special operations |
| Desert Eagle |  Israel |
Sidearm for special operations, chambered in .357 Magnum |
| Heckler & Koch MP5 | Germany |
Submachine gun |
| Heckler & Koch MP7 | Germany |
Submachine gun |
| HK UMP45 | Germany |
Submachine gun |
| Brügger & Thomet MP9 |  Switzerland |
Submachine gun [14] |
| Fabarm SDASS Tactical |  Italy |
Shotgun |
| Benelli M3 | Italy |
Shotgun |
| Benelli M4 | Italy |
Shotgun |
| H&K G3A3 | Germany |
Assault rifle |
| HK G36 | Germany |
Assault rifle |
| H&K 416A5 | Germany |
Assault rifle |
| H&K 417A2 | Germany |
Assault rifle |
| H&K G28 | Germany |
Assault rifle |
| Brügger & Thomet APR | Switzerland |
Sniper rifle |
| MSG-90 | Germany |
Sniper rifle |
| Accuracy International AW50 |  UK |
Sniper rifle |
| Heckler & Koch MG4 | Germany |
Machine gun for special operations |
| FN MAG |  Belgium |
Machine gun for special operations |
| Browning M2 | USA |
Machine gun for special operations |
| H&K GMG | Germany |
Less lethal launcher |
| Heckler & Koch AG36 | Germany |
Less lethal launcher |
| Flash-ball |  France |
Less lethal launcher |
| Cougar 56mm | France |
Less lethal launcher |
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