Brazilian National Guard
From Daily Escape
The Brazilian National Guard (Portuguese: Guarda Nacional Brasileira, or "GNB") is a militia that serves as a quasi-independent reserve forces component of the Brazilian military. Each state has its own National Guard unit: for example, the Amazonas National Guard, Pará National Guard, and so on. In times of peace, the National Guard units' primary duty is providing for the defense of their respective states; in times of war, they may be mobilized and deployed into the Army if need be. Each unit of the National Guard operates under the sole authority of its state government, although in times of war they can be federalized, in which case they operate under the authority of the Minister of Defense. The National Guard is commanded by Lieutenant General Augusto Reinaldo de Campos. The GNB uses mostly retired equipment, although it uses the same individual weapons as its counterparts in the regular armed forces. There are 35 National Guard brigades, giving the GNB a total of 175,000 personnel.
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[edit] Units
- Amazonas National Guard
- 12th National Guard Brigade
- Pará National Guard
- 11th National Guard Brigade
- Maranhão National Guard
- 5th National Guard Brigade
- Piauí National Guard
- 6th National Guard Brigade
- Ceará National Guard
- 10th National Guard Brigade
- Rio Grande do Norte National Guard
- 14th National Guard Brigade
- Paraíba National Guard
- 23rd National Guard Brigade
- Pernambuco National Guard
- 24th National Guard Brigade
- Alagoas National Guard
- 29th National Guard Brigade
- Sergipe National Guard
- 13th National Guard Brigade
- Bahia National Guard
- 3rd National Guard Brigade
- 4th National Guard Brigade
- Espírito Santo National Guard
- 19th National Guard Brigade
- Rio de Janeiro National Guard
- 1st National Guard Brigade
- 2nd National Guard Brigade
- 22nd National Guard Brigade
- Minas Gerais National Guard
- 7th National Guard Brigade
- 8th National Guard Brigade
- 9th National Guard Brigade
- Goiás National Guard
- 28th National Guard Brigade
- Mato Grosso National Guard
- 35th National Guard Brigade
- São Paulo National Guard
- 16th National Guard Brigade
- 18th National Guard Brigade
- 26th National Guard Brigade
- 27th National Guard Brigade
- 31st National Guard Brigade
- 32nd National Guard Brigade
- 33rd National Guard Brigade
- 34th National Guard Brigade
- Paraná National Guard
- 15th National Guard Brigade
- 30th National Guard Brigade
- Santa Catarina National Guard
- 17th National Guard Brigade
- Rio Grande do Sul National Guard
- 20th National Guard Brigade
- 25th National Guard Brigade
- Cisplatina National Guard
- 21st National Guard Brigade
[edit] Organization
Each National Guard brigade is organized as follows:
- 4 infantry battalions
- 1 tank battalion
- 1 artillery battalion
- 1 aviation battalion
- 1 engineer battalion
- 1 reconnaissance squadron
- 1 support battalion
- Headquarters
- 30 personnel commanded by a Brigadier
[edit] Infantry battalion
The infantry battalion is comprised of 4 infantry companies, a fire support company, an engineer platoon, a logistics company, a reconnaissance platoon, and a headquarters.
The infantry company consists of 3 platoons and 1 company headquarters. Each platoon has three M113A3 armored personnel carriers for each of its three squads. The squad's personnel include the section leader, two machine gunners, two grenadiers, and four riflemen, one of whom is a sniper. In these vehicles there are also the platoon commanding officer, the platoon executive officer, the platoon sergeant, and the medic. The Company Headquarters has two M113A3s (carrying the company CO, the company XO, the radio unit, three medics, the company sergeant-major, and a FIM-43 Redeye fire-team).
The fire support company consists of the following units and equipment:
- Direct fire platoon
- 8 M825 106mm recoilless rifle carriers
- Indirect fire platoon
- 8 M151 Fast Attack Vehicles carrying M2 Browning heavy machine guns
- Air defense platoon
- 8 M42 Duster 40mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns
- Anti-tank platoon
- 8 M50 Ontos tank destroyers
- Headquarters
- 1 M577 command vehicle
The engineer platoon has two XM696 armored recovery vehicles and two M579 Fitter repair vehicles.
The logistics company consists of the following vehicles: ten XM1108 Universal Carriers and twenty M548 tracked cargo carriers.
The reconnaissance platoon has four AMX-13 light tanks, two M113A3s, and four M151 MUTT jeeps. The unit also includes a sniper section and two scout sections.
Headquarters is commanded by a colonel with a ten man staff, guarded by twenty security troops, and has two M577 command vehicles and four M151 MUTT jeeps.
[edit] Tank battalion
The tank battalion comprises 4 tank squadrons, a fire support company, an engineer platoon, a logistics company, a reconnaissance platoon, and a headquarters.
Each tank squadron consists of thirteen M60A3 Patton main battle tanks.
The tank battalion's fire support company is noticeably smaller than that of the mechanized infantry battalion, consisting only of an indirect fire platoon and an air defense platoon (both organizationally similar to their counterparts in the mechanized infantry battalion).
The remaining units are identical to their counterparts in the mechanized infantry battalion.
[edit] Artillery battalion
The artillery battalion provides the primary means of fire support for the brigade. It possesses the following units and equipment:
- 2 field artillery batteries
- 8 M1955 (D-20) 155mm towed howitzers
- 1 BTR-152U command vehicle
- 1 rocket battery
- 8 BM-21 Grad 122mm self-propelled multiple rocket launchers
- 1 BTR-152U command vehicle
- 1 air defense battery
- 8 9K35 Strela-10 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns
- 1 BTR-152U command vehicle
- Headquarters
- 1 BTR-152U command vehicle
[edit] Aviation battalion
The aviation battalion provides transportation, aerial reconnaissance, and close air support for the brigade. It operates the following aircraft:
- 12 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters
- 12 AH-6C Cayuse light attack/observation helicopters
- 12 UH-1H utility transport helicopters
- 8 C-47 Skytrain transports
[edit] Engineer battalion
- 12 XM696 armored recovery vehicles
- 12 MT-55 armored vehicle launched bridges
- 8 M2 Amphibious Rigs
- 12 M579 Fitter repair vehicles
- 4 M113A3 Maintenance/Recovery vehicles
[edit] Reconnaissance squadron
- 12 AMX-13 light tanks
- 3 M113A3s
[edit] Support battalion
- Logistics
- 12 M548 tracked cargo carriers
- 12 XM1108 Universal Carriers
- Medical
- 12 M718A1 ambulances
- Military Intelligence
- 4 EE-3 Jararaca armored cars
- Military Police
- 18 EE-3 Jararaca armored cars
- Signals Corps
- 4 M1015 Tracked Electronic Warfare Carriers
- Chemical Corps
- 4 M151A1D NBC reconnaissance vehicles
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Individual weapons
- IMBEL MD assault rifle
- MD-1
- MD-2
- MD-3
- MD-4
- MD97 assault rifle
- M971 GPMG
- M964 rifle
- M964A1
- M4 carbine
- M972 SMG
- FN M2HB heavy machine gun
- M973 pistol
- M975 pistol
- Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle
- Heckler & Koch PSG1 sniper rifle
- AGCL sniper rifle
