Costa Rican Civil Guard: Difference between revisions

Civil Guard Guardia Civil of Costa Rica was a gendarmerie type force responsible fot both limited national defense and internal security missions.

The Guardia Civil was the largest branch of the Fuerza Pública (Public Force) and was responsible for the defense of the nation in addition to its law enforcement duties.

The Civil Guard was an all volunteer force commanded by a Colonel as Director. The Civil Guard acts as an municipal police and a military force. There were over 6,000 men in the Civil Guard and they were organized into seven small battalion-sized companies, one per province, They were:

• Alajuela
• Cartago
• Guanacaste
• Heredia
• Limón
• Puntarenas
• San José

and three battalions:

• Presidential Guard
• Northern Border Security Battalion aka Border Patrol (Patrulla Fronteriza)- 750 men operational on the Nicaraguan border, formed in May of 1985 by combining 1st and 2nd companies.
• COIN or Counterinsurgency Battalion
• Special Intervention Unit (Unidad de Intervenciones Especiales) (UIE). Established in the mid-1980's and is between 60 and 80 men strong. Tasked with hostage rescue, VIP protection and conducting high-risk criminal raids and arrests. The unit makes use of 11-man assault teams, each divided into subteams of 3-4 men each. In addition, they have a small sniper element used for observation and fire support. The UIE is located in the 1st Civil Guard facilities in San José. They have received a great deal of training from a wide variety of sources, including Israel, Panama, USA, Argentina, and Spain.
• Coastguard of 250 with several patrol boats
• Air Unit with a dozen light aircraft and helicopters

There was also a 3,000 man National Reserve, the General Staff and enough equipment, mostly small arms, for 10,000 reservists.

In 1996, the Ministry of Public Security was established controlling the Fuerza Pública or Public Force which was subsequently reorganized and eliminated the Civil Guard, Rural Assistance Guard, and Frontier Guards as separate entities; they are now under the Ministry and operate on a geographic command basis performing ground security, law enforcement, counter-narcotics, and border patrol functions.

• List of countries without armed forces

• Ministerio de Seguridad Pública.
• El Espíritu del 48: Abolición del Ejército A brief history of the abolition of the military in Costa Rica.
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