Jandarmeria Română is the military branch of the two
RomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n
policeThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
forces (the civil force being the
Romanian PoliceThe Romanian Police is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform.-Duties:The Romanian Police are responsible for:...
).
The
gendarmerieA gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
is subordinated to the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform and does not have responsibility for policing the
Romanian Armed ForcesThe Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces of Romania are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces...
. This lies with the
Military PoliceThe Romanian Military Police is the military police of the Romanian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1990, immediately after the 1989 Romanian Revolution, although the Romanian Gendarmerie performed military police duties between 1850 and 1949.-Mission:The duties of the Military Police are:*...
subordinated to the
Romanian Land ForcesThe Romanian Land Forces is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the force.The Romanian Land Forces were founded on...
.
Duties
Its duties include:
- Maintaining and restoring the public order:
- Crowd
Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...
and riot controlRiot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
- Policing the mountainous areas and the Black Sea Coast resorts
- Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
activities
- Pursuing and apprehending fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
s and deserters
- Security of sensitive and vital installations, such as:
- Public institutions, ministries and courts
- Embassies and consulates
- International airports (until 2005)
- National museums
- Nuclear power plants
- Security and protection of the secret mail all over the Romanian territory.
General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie
The General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie is the central structure of the Romanian Gendarmerie under the command of a General Inspector (
Inspector-general) appointed by the Minister of Interior.
The General Inspector is assisted by 3 deputies. The first deputy (
prim-adjunct) is the chief of the Gendarmerie Staff and heads the Operational Planning and Management, Guard and Institutional Protection and the Public Order and Security Directorates. The other two deputies manage the Human Resources and the Military Schools Directorates, and the Logistics, IT and Communication Directorates respectively.
The task of the General Inspectorate is to plan, manage, coordinate and control the territorial inspectorates, the Mobile Squads, the Special Intervention Brigade and the military schools. The General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie also acts as an interface of the organization with the other law enforcement agencies and the Interior Ministry.
Territorial organizations
The Romanian Gendarmerie is divided in 41 territorial inspectorates, corresponding to each county (
judeţA județ is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used for some time in Moldova, before that country switched to raions.Județ translates into English as jurisdiction, but is commonly mistranslated as county .The territory of Romania is divided for administrative purposes into 41...
), and the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie in
BucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
Additionally, eight Gendarmerie Mobile Groups (
Grupări Mobile) operate on a territorial basis, with headquarters in
BacăuBacău is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. It covers a land surface of 43 km², and, as of January 1, 2009, has an estimated population of 177,087. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and on the Bistriţa River...
,
BraşovBrașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
, Cluj Napoca,
ConstanţaConstanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
,
CraiovaCraiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
,
PloieştiPloiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
, Târgu Mureş and
TimişoaraTimișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
.
Special Intervention Brigade
The
Special Intervention Brigade "Vlad ŢepeşVlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
" has national jurisdiction. It handles special and high-risk situations, such as heavy rioting, hostage rescue and counter-terrorist operations.
Gendarmerie military schools
The
officer cadetsOfficer cadet is a rank held by military and merchant navy cadets during their training to become commissioned officers and merchant navy officers, respectively. The term officer trainee is used interchangeably in some countries...
are trained for becoming commissioned officers at the
Alexandru Ioan CuzaAlexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...
Police Academy in
BucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
In addition, the
Mihai Viteazul Military School in Bucharest offers post-graduate courses (in collaboration with the
French GendarmerieIn France, the National Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces, in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population. It also contains a military police force and a special forces component . It has a strength of more than 105,975 persons...
) for commissioned officers, while the
Grigore Alexandru GhicaGrigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika was a Prince of Moldavia between October 14, 1849 and June 1853, and again between October 30, 1854 and June 3, 1856...
Military School in
DrăgăşaniDrăgăşani is a city in Vâlcea County, Romania, near the right bank of the Olt river, and on the railway between Caracal and Râmnicu Vâlcea. The city is well known for the vineyards on the neighboring hills that produce some of the best Wallachian wines....
trains non-commissioned officers.
Combat Supply and Logistics Base
Also known as "Baza de Aprovizionare pentru Luptă şi Gospodărire" (B.A.L.G.), "Baza de Administrare şi Deservire" or "U.M. 0260" is a technical administrative unit under the command of General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie. Its primary duties include administration of the buildings and other facilities inside the Inspectorate courtyard, the Gendarmerie's shooting range, vehicle repair and maintenance and farms providing food for the personnel of the Gendarmerie. The farms are located north of Bucharest.
The beginnings
The first Gendarmerie corps was created on April 3, 1850 in
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
by the Prince
Grigore Alexandru GhicaGrigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika was a Prince of Moldavia between October 14, 1849 and June 1853, and again between October 30, 1854 and June 3, 1856...
. After the Union of
WallachiaWallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Moldavia in 1859 under
Alexandru Ioan CuzaAlexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...
, the Gendarmerie was subordinated to the Ministry of War as a separate armed force.
During the
Romanian War of IndependenceThe Romanian War of Independence is the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish war, following which Romania, fighting on the Russian side, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire...
of 1877-1878, it mainly served as
military policeMilitary police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
, but it also took part in combat.
Rural Gendarmerie
In 1893, the Rural Gendarmerie (
Jandarmeria Rurală) was established by the Law for the Organization of the Rural Gendarmerie (
Legea pentru organizarea Jandarmeriei rurale) as a military corps under the authority of the Ministry of Justice for policing the
countrysideRural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
and under the authority of Ministry of War for military police functions. The bill was proposed by
Lascăr CatargiuLascăr Catargiu was a Romanian conservative statesman born in Moldavia. He belonged to an ancient Wallachian family, one of whose members had been banished in the 17th century by Prince Matei Basarab, and had settled in Moldavia.-Biography:...
's
ConservativeThe Conservative Party was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romania's two most important parties, the other one being the Liberal Party...
government and it was promulgated by the King on August 30, 1893. The first article of the Ordinance regarding the Implementation of the Rural Gendarmerie Law mentioned that
The organization of the Rural Gendarmerie, as described in the law, makes this institution a military body, subordinated to the Interior Minister, with the mission to maintain the public order and security. It is also subordinated to the Justice Minister, the Public Minister for policing duties, and to the War Minister for all the aspects regarding military discipline, command and troops' training.
The
Peasants' Revolt of 1907The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners....
revealed the unpreparedness of the Gendarmerie and its inability to control and quell the rebellion. As a result, another bill (
Legea Jandarmeriei) was adopted on March 24, 1908. The new law re-organized the institution, making it a component of the Army with provost duties and transferring commissioned officers from the Army to the Gendarmerie.
The world wars
The Romanian Gendarmerie was engaged during the
Second Balkan WarThe Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
and the
First World WarWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
with military police duties, policing the
frontA military front or battlefront is a contested armed frontier between opposing forces. This can be a local or tactical front, or it can range to a theater...
, guarding important installations and organizing the evacuation during the 1916 retreat. The corps also saw actual combat during the 1917 campaign (
see also Romanian Campaign (World War I)The Romanian Campaign was part of the Balkan theatre of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied against the armies of the Central Powers. Fighting took place from August 1916 to December 1917, across most of present-day Romania, including Transylvania, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian...
). The Gendarmerie oversaw the
demobilizationDemobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
of the Army in July 1918 and the re-
mobilizationMobilization is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war. The word mobilization was first used, in a military context, in order to describe the preparation of the Prussian army during the 1850s and 1860s. Mobilization theories and techniques have continuously changed...
in October 1918 and maintained the public order in the new territories.
Upon the entry of Romania into the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
on June 22, 1941, the Gendarmerie took over its military police duties again. It was also involved in the deportation of Jews and Gypsies to
TransnistriaTransnistria Governorate was a Romanian administered territory, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, and occupied from 19 August 1941 to 29 January 1944...
in 1941 and 1942 (
see also Romania and the Holocaust).
Post-war period
After the war, the
Communist regimeCommunist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
purged and disbanded (on January 23, 1949) the Gendarmerie, its personnel being redistributed to the newly-created Directorate for Security Troops, modeled after the
NKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
Internal TroopsThe Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs ; alternatively translated as "Interior " is a paramilitary gendarmerie-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan...
.
After 1989
The Romanian Gendarmerie was re-established on July 5, 1990.
Starting in 2006, the corps abandoned conscription and in 2007 it became an all-professional military force.
List of commanders
The commanders of the Gendarmerie since its establishment in 1893:
- Mihail Rasty (1893–1896)
- Ioan Manoliu (1896–1898)
- Sache Poroineanu (1898–1899)
- Nicolae Alexandrescu (1899–1901)
- Gheorghe Mirinescu (1901–1908)
- Anton Berlescu (1908–1917)
- Constantin Sterea (1917–1918)
- Ludovig Mircescu (1918–1919)
- Ştefan Ştefănescu (1919–1920, 1922–1927)
- Mihail Racoviţă (1920–1922)
- Ioan Vlădescu (1927)
- Cleante Davidoglu (1927–1928)
- Gheorghe Constantinescu (1928–1929)
- Constantin Stavăr (1929–1930)
|
Eracle Nicoleanu (1930–1931)
Constantin Dimitrescu (1931–1934)
Barbu Părăianu (1934–1938)
Ioan Bengliu Ioan Bengliu was a Romanian Lieutenant-General. From 1938 to 1940, he was Inspector-General of the Romanian Gendarmerie. In 1940, he was retired, then arrested by the Antonescu-Sima government, imprisoned at the Jilava prison and subsequently killed in the 1940 Jilava massacre prison.-References:...
(1938–1940)
Ioan Topor (1940)
Constantin Vasiliu (1940–1944)
Constantin Anton (1944–1946)
Ioan Alistar (1946–1949)
Ion Bunoaică (1990–1995)
Octavian Chiţu (1995–1996)
Stan Stângaciu (1996–1999)
Anghel Andreescu (1999–2001)
Tudor Cearapin (2001–2005)
Costică SilionGeneral Costică Silion is a Romanian general. Between March 2005 and December 2009 he was the chief of the Romanian Gendarmerie.-External links:...
(2005–2009)
Olimpiador Antonescu (2009– 2010) |
Uniform
During the period up to 1915 the Romanian Gendarmerie wore a distinctive dress comprising a
shakoA shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a peak or visor and sometimes tapered at the top...
with white plume, dark blue tunic with red facings, white trefoil
epauletteEpaulette is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations.Epaulettes are fastened to the shoulder by a shoulder strap or "passant", a small strap parallel to the shoulder seam, and the button near the collar, or by laces on the...
s and
aiguilletteAn aiguillette is an ornamental braided cord most often worn on uniforms, but may also be observed on other costumes such as academic dress, where it will denote an honour. Originally, the word "aiguillette" referred to the lacing used to fasten plate armor together...
s plus light blue trousers with red stripes. Mounted units of the Gendarmerie wore a silver helmet with spike and white plume, a similar tunic to the foot branch but with yellow epaulettes and aiguillettes, white breeches and high boots.
Currently the Romanian gendarmes wear dark blue
beretA beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....
s/caps, shirts/T-shirts and trousers as everyday uniforms, while the
dress uniformDress uniform , is the most formal military uniform, typically worn at ceremonies, official receptions, and other special occasions; with order insignias and full size medals...
consists of a light blue tunic, white shirt, dark blue tie and dark blue trousers for the commissioned officers, and a dark blue tunic, white shirt and dark blue trousers for the NCO's and privates. The Honour Guard (
Garda de Onoare) wears a light blue and black uniform of nineteenth century style with plumed
kepiThe kepi is a cap with a flat circular top and a visor or peak . Etymologically, the word is a borrowing of the French képi, itself a respelling of the Alemannic Käppi: a diminutive form of Kappe, meaning "cap"....
s, white fringed epaulettes and red facings.
Ranks and insignia
Because the Gendarmerie is a military body, it uses the same ranking system as the Romanian Land Forces.
Flag Officers (OF 10 - 6) and Officers (5 - 1)
>
Other/Enlisted ranks (OR 1 - 9)
>
International affiliations
The Romanian Gendarmerie is a full member of the Association of the European and Mediterranean Police Forces and Gendarmeries with Military Status (
FIEPThe Association of the European and Mediterranean Police Forces and Gendarmeries with Military Status, is an association of national gendarmeries or affiliate corps....
), along with the
French GendarmerieIn France, the National Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces, in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population. It also contains a military police force and a special forces component . It has a strength of more than 105,975 persons...
, the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
CarabinieriThe Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
, the
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Guardia Civil, the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Guarda Nacional RepublicanaThe term Republican National Guard may refer to:*Italian National Republican Guard*Portuguese National Republican Guard...
, the
TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
Gendarmerie, the
MoroccanMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
Royal GendarmerieThe Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie is the Gendarmerie body of Morocco, and comes under the authority of the Ministry of Defence.-History:...
and the
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Royal MarechausseeThe Koninklijke Marechaussee, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, abbreviated to KMar, is one of the four Services of the armed forces of the Netherlands...
.
After
RomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
's accession to the European Union, the
Jandarmeria sought to be accepted as permanent observer to the
European Gendarmerie ForceThe European Gendarmerie Force was launched by an agreement in 2006 between five members of the European Union : France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Romania subsequently joined in 2009...
, as a first step towards full membership. On March 3, 2009, the Romanian Gendarmerie became full member of the European Gendarmerie Force.
International missions
Since February 2002, 115 Romanian gendarmes have been deployed in
PećPeć or Pejë is a city and municipality in north-western Kosovo and Metohija - Serbia, and the administrative centre of the homonymous district. Governor of city is Ali Berisha....
,
KosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, as part of the
UNMIKThe United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...
police force.
External links
Official site Romanian Gendarmerie on the FIEP site