Gendarmerie (Romania)

The beginnings

The first Gendarmerie corps was created on 3 April 1850 in Moldavia by Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica. After the Union of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the Gendarmerie was subordinated to the Ministry of War as a separate armed force.

During the Romanian War of Independence of 1877-1878, it mainly served as military police, 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 countryside and under the authority of Ministry of War for military police functions. The bill was proposed by Lascăr Catargiu's Conservative government and it was promulgated by the King on 30 August 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 1907 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 24 March 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 War and the First World War with military police duties, policing the front, 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 Gendarmerie oversaw the demobilization of the Army in July 1918 and the re-mobilization in October 1918 and maintained the public order in the new territories.

Upon the entry of Romania into the Second World War on 22 June 1941, the Gendarmerie took over its military police duties again. It was also involved in the deportation of Jews and Gypsies to Transnistria in 1941 and 1942 (see also Romania and the Holocaust).

Cold War era

After the war, the Communist regime purged and disbanded (on 23 January 1949) the Gendarmerie, its personnel being redistributed to the newly created Directorate for Security Troops, modeled after the NKVD Internal Troops.

After 1989

The Romanian Gendarmerie was re-established on 5 July 1990.

Starting in 2006, the corps abandoned conscription and in 2007 it became an all-professional military force.

Duties

Its duties include:

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 (judeţ), and the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie in Bucharest.

Additionally, eight Gendarmerie Mobile Groups (Grupări Mobile) operate on a territorial basis, with headquarters in Bacău, Braşov, Cluj Napoca, Constanţa, Craiova, Ploieşti, Târgu Mureș and Timişoara.

Special Intervention Brigade

The "Vlad Ţepeş" Special Intervention Brigade 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 cadets are trained for becoming commissioned officers at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Police Academy in Bucharest.

In addition, the Mihai Viteazul Military School in Bucharest offers post-graduate courses (in collaboration with the French Gendarmerie) for commissioned officers, while the Grigore Alexandru Ghica Military School in Drăgăşani 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.

List of commanders

The commanders of the Gendarmerie since its establishment in 1893:

Uniform

During the period up to 1915 the Romanian Gendarmerie wore a distinctive dress comprising a shako with white plume, dark blue tunic with red facings, white trefoil epaulettes and aiguillettes 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 berets/caps, shirts/T-shirts and trousers as everyday uniforms, while the dress uniform 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 kepis, white fringed epaulettes and red facings.

Ranks and insignia

Unlike the Romanian Police, the Gendarmerie is a military body, and uses the same ranking system as the Romanian Land Forces.

International affiliations

The Romanian Gendarmerie is a full member of the Association of the European and Mediterranean Police Forces and Gendarmeries with Military Status (FIEP), along with the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri, the Spanish Guardia Civil, the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana, the Turkish Gendarmerie, the Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie and the Dutch Royal Marechaussee.

After Romania's accession to the European Union, the Jandarmeria sought to be accepted as permanent observer to the European Gendarmerie Force, as a first step towards full membership. On 3 March 2009 the Romanian Gendarmerie became full member of the European Gendarmerie Force.

International missions

Since February 2002, 115 Romanian gendarmes have been deployed in Peć, Kosovo, as part of the UNMIK police force.