Internal security of Argentina'a armed forces
Law enforcement agency
Argentine National Gendarmerie
Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina
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Emblem of the Force
|
Gendarmeria flag
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Abbreviation
| GNA
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Motto
| Centinela de la Patria
(
lit.
'
Fatherland's Sentinel
'
)
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Formed
| 1938
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Employees
| 75,000
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Volunteers
| All non commissioned personnel are volunteers.
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Federal agency
(Operations jurisdiction)
| Argentina
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Operations jurisdiction
| Argentina
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Legal jurisdiction
| As per operations jurisdiction
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General nature
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Headquarters
| Ave. Antartida Argentina and Gendarmeria Nacional St., Buenos Aires
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Elected officer responsible
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Agency executives
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Regional Headquarters
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argentina.gob.ar/gendarmeria
|
The
Argentine National Gendarmerie
(
Spanish
:
Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina
,
GNA
) is the national
gendarmerie
force and corps of
border guards
of the
Argentine Republic
. As at 2011, It has a strength of 30,000
[1]
The gendarmerie is primarily a frontier guard force but also fulfils other important roles.
[2]
The force functions from what are today five regional headquarters at
Campo de Mayo
,
Cordoba
,
Rosario
,
San Miguel de Tucuman
and
Bahia Blanca
.
Personnel and training
[
edit
]
Non-commissioned personnel of the gendarmerie are all volunteers and receive their training in the force's own comprehensive system of training institutions. Officers graduate after a three-year course at the National Gendarmerie Academy. Both officers and non-commissioned personnel have access to the specialist training establishments of the
Army
.
History
[
edit
]
The gendarmerie was created in 1938 by the
National Congress
[2]
and replaced the regiments of the Army which previously fulfilled the gendarmerie's missions. The gendarmerie was particularly tasked with providing security in isolated and sparsely populated frontier regions which had only been settled relatively recently. In many senses the gendarmerie may still be considered an adjunct of the Argentine Army.
Activities
[
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]
The gendarmerie's mission and functions are concerned with both domestic security and national defense. According to Laws No. 23.554 and 24.059, the
armed forces
cannot intervene in internal civil conflicts, except in logistics’ and support roles, so the gendarmerie is subordinate to the
Ministry of Security
. It is defined as a civilian "security force of a military nature". It maintains a functional relationship with the
minister of defense
, as part of both the National Defense System and the
Interior Security System
.
[2]
It therefore maintains capabilities arising from the demands required by joint military planning with the armed forces.
The gendarmerie's main missions are:
- Providing security for Argentina's borders
- Providing security for places of national strategic importance (e.g.
nuclear plants
)
The gendarmerie is also used for other security missions, which include:
[1]
- Policing missions:
- Assisting
provincial
police services in maintaining public security in rural areas
- Preventing
smuggling
- Fighting
drug trafficking
- Fighting terrorism
- Fighting crimes "against life and freedom" (children and organs trade, slavery, etc.)
- Dealing with economic crime
- Dealing with
environmental crime
- Dealing with illegal immigration
- Military missions:
Under the United Nations, the Gendarmerie has served in
Guatemala
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
,
Croatia
,
Angola
,
Lebanon
,
Rwanda
,
Liberia
,
Cyprus
,
South Sudan
,
Haiti
and
Colombia
.
Organization
[
edit
]
High command
[
edit
]
The high command includes:
- The national director: As of 2021, the national director is
Commandant-General
Andres Severino
.
- The deputy national director: As of 2021, the deputy national director is Commandant-General
Javier Alberto Lapalma
.
- The General and Special Staff of the National Directorate of the Gendarmerie.
Rank structure
[
edit
]
The ranks of the Argentine Gendarmerie, in ascending order, are:
Sub-Officer Ranks
The ranks up to and including sergeant are classified as Subaltern Sub-Officers (
Suboficiales Subalternos
), and the remainder are classified as Superior Sub-Officers (
Suboficiales Superiores
). The sub-officer ranks are the same as Argentine army ranks, and wear the same insignia, but with a much thicker gold band for a Gendarmerie Principal Sub-Officer than is used in the Army.
Officer Ranks
The ranks up to and including
Segundo Comandante
are classified as Subaltern Officers (
Oficiales Subalternos
). Gendarmerie officers wear the same insignia as the equivalent Argentine Army rank. The National Director and his Deputy wear the insignia of an Argentine Lieutenant-General and Divisional General respectively, although they still have the rank of Commandant-General. (NB: Lieutenant-General is the highest Argentine Army rank.)
Unit structure
[
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]
- A
Section
(Spanish:
peloton
) is a
squad
of several men.
- A Group (Spanish:
grupo
) consists of several sections and is the basic operational unit of the Gendarmerie.
- A
Squadron
(Spanish:
escuadron
) consists of three groups.
- A Grouping (Spanish:
agrupacion
) consists of several squadrons. This may be thought of as roughly corresponding to the level of command of a
battalion
or
regiment
.
- Above the groupings are the regional commands and the staff of the National Directorate.
Operational units
[
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]
Support units
[
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]
- Logistics Squadron
- Telecommunications and Computer Service
- Expert Investigation Service
- Aviation Service
- Medical Assistance Service
Equipment
[
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]
Firearms
[
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]
Vehicles
[
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]
Aircraft
[
edit
]
The service has a small inventory of aircraft, based at
Campo de Mayo
.
[4]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
April 2014
)
|
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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Federal
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Provincial
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Cities
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Tactical
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Intelligence
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Africa
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Oceania
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South America
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International
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Non-recognized
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Defunct
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