Special Operations.Com
El Salvador
Special Operations and Counterterrorist
Units
Brigada Especial de Seguridad Militar
- Special Brigade for Military Security (BESM)
One of the results of the 16 Jan
1992 peace agreement between the Government of El
Salvador and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation
Front (FMLN) was the creation of a new police force.
As such, in March of that year, the National Guard
and the Treasury Police Security Corps were disbanded.
In their place, authorities created the Brigada Especial
de
Seguridad Militar (BESM). BESM is
controlled directly by the Minister of Defense and
is composed of four battalions, including a 456-man
military police battalion. The unit is heavily influenced
by the U.S. military police structure, and has received
the majority of its training from U.S. military advisors.
Duties for which BESM is responsible include criminal-investigations
procedures, physical security, crime prevention, deserter
apprehension, and counterterrorism training. The other
three battalions (475 men each) guard the borders
with Guatemala and Honduras. They are charged with
guaranteeing national sovereignty, suppressing smuggling
of drugs and other contraband, and supporting other
governmental agencies in the frontier regions.
Grupo de Respuesta Policial (GRP)
- Police Response Group
The GRP is one of a number of international
police response units modeled on the U.S. SWAT teams.
They are not a counterterrorist unit per se, but rather
bear the responsibility of a national hostage rescue
unit. As such, however, they would almost certainly
be the first unit on-scene in the event of a terrorist
incident and could be called on to effect a rescue
should conditions warrant. The GRP reports directly
to the General Direction of Police, which is, in turn,
subordinate to the Vice-Ministry of Public Security.
Unit members undergo a six-month initial training
program and must have prior police experience. The
unit is currently made up of 40 officers, broken down
into four sniper and two assault teams, each with
four men. When not responding to specific incidents,
the GRP acts as a regular police unit. Under a restructuring
plan, sections of the GRP will be sent to one of three
zones, western, central, or eastern. The unit has
been trained most recently by the U.S. Border Patrol
and is based in Planes de Renderos, near San Salvador.
Commando Especial Anti-Terrorista
(CEAT) - Special Anti-Terrorist Command
This is a 50 man Air Force unit located at Ilopango
Air Base. For operations they receive support from
the Anti Terrorist Sniper Section.
