Grupo Especial de Operaciones

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Grupo Especial de Operaciones

Coat of Arms of the Grupo Especial de Operaciones
Active 1978 - Present
Country Spain
Type Police special forces
Role Domestic counter-terrorism and law enforcement
Size 200 operatives
Part of Directly under control of the Policía Nacional
Garrison/HQ Guadalajara
Nickname GEO
Engagements Rescue of Julio Iglesias, Sr., attempted arrest of Madrid train bombings suspects and many other operations
Commanders
Current
commander		 Director General Víctor García Hidalgo

The Grupo Especial de Operaciones (Special Operations Group, GEO) is part of the Spanish National Police and is stationed in Guadalajara[1] near the capital, Madrid. The GEO has special response capabilities and is responsible for VIP protection duties, as well as countering and responding to terrorism. Designed, set up and organised along the lines of many other special counter-terrorism units throughout Europe, the GEO is specifically focused on dealing with terrorist attacks, including aircraft hijackings as well as maritime threats and hostage taking[2]. The GEO can also be utilised in a support role for Spanish Police operations outside the realm of terrorism, and is active in protecting visiting heads of state and providing security for high-profile events such as the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

With the intention of fighting against terrorism and several organized crime groups from Spain in the 1970s[4], on November 1977 the third section of Spanish military staff announced for members of the Policía Nacional that there were many vacants which could be accessed freely for the newly formed Grupo Especial de Operaciones. The first training course began on March 1978.[5]

A select group of public servants who had been months before in the GSG 9 base in San Agustín del Guadalix were selected to train this new unit. Colonel Ulrich Wegener, along with some members of his unit, took care of the equipment, the training and techniques which this new special unit in Spain would use.[5]

Members of the GEO on a sham fight of what would be an assault on a building.
Members of the GEO on a sham fight of what would be an assault on a building.

The first access course of the GEO ended on 19 January 1979 with the assistance of Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain. It wasn't until 23 February of that year when the unit was announced to the press.[5]

Its first planned operation had to take place at the Madrid Barajas International Airport on August 1978 but they didn't have to fight because the conflict was solved before their arrival. GEO's first struggle took place in Bilbao, the 7 February 1981, in which five persons were freed from two armed criminals in a branch office of the bank then known as Banco Bilbao Vizcaya. No one of either criminals, hostages and police members were hurt during the mission[5]

GEO has had some noteworthy successes over the last decade. It was responsible of rescuing Dr. Iglesias Puga, father of singer Julio Iglesias as well as foiling an attempt by ETA to attack the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona[3]. Aside from that, the GEO has unarmed several organized crime groups, arrested forty-one armed members of different terrorist groups, freed 424 persons who had been kidnapped or taken as hostages[6] and boarded twenty ships used to carry narcotics to seize their load and arrest their crew.[7]

During the 27 years it has been active, five members of the GEO have died[5]. It has had only one casualty in combat, which occurred during the assault on the Leganés flat where the suspected perpetrators of the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004 were hiding. Having realised that they were trapped the terrorists subsequently detonated bombs in the flat killing themselves and GEO Subinspector Francisco Javier Torronteras Gadea[8]. This fatality was caused probably by the fact that the agents who entered the flat didn't know that the terrorists could have explosives.[9]

As of 2005, the GEO was having problems with the number of members, which was below the necessary quantity. This meant that riot control units had to be sent to Iraq instead of GEO members, as originally intended.[10]

[edit] Organization

Members of the GEO on a sham fight of what would be an assault on a building riding a VAMTAC vehicle
Members of the GEO on a sham fight of what would be an assault on a building riding a VAMTAC vehicle

The GEO depends officially on the General Operative Subdirector of the Policía Nacional and it's commander by a police superintendent. Its 200 members are divided in an Operative Section and a Support one.[3]

GEO's Operative Section is formed by two Operative Action teams, a group of Formation and Specialities and a Techniques and Experiences team. The action teams are called 40 and 50 and them all are under the command of an inspector.[11]

Each group, with a subinspector as head overseer is split in two subgroups which are formed by three operative commandos of five men each. Every operative commando includes two snipers, a lock picking specialist, an explosives expert, a combat diver and a special environment technician.[11]

The Formation and Specialities operative team features the instructors of the formation and recycling courses. The Techniques and Experiences team is the one that tests new equipment and looks for new possible terrorist objectives.[11]

Administrative, medical and transport personnel act as members of the Support Section[11]. The vehicles of the GEO depend on this section.[3]

[edit] Access and training

Joining the GEO isn't an easy task and is only accomplished by approximately 8% of the candidates every year. To join the GEO it's a must to have been a member of the Policía Nacional for two years[12]. It's necessary to have at least one of the following traits: expertise in a martial art, scuba diving skill, being a marksmanship instructor, being an explosives expert and having worked on one of the operative groups the Police has on some province capitals.[13]

The trial features both physical fitness and psychological tests. Its physical fitness test includes arm flexions on a bar, vertical jump, an obstacle course, running three kilometres in eleven minutes and a half, fifty meters of freestyle swimming, a strength test, a speed race and a last challenge which tests the candidates' decision capacity. On the psychological and intelligence test the mental capabilities of the candidates are checked.[13]

[edit] Specialization

After having passed the access trial, GEO potential members go have to go through a specialization course in Guadalajara which is not passed by all successful aspirants. It's hard, technical and very structured.[13]

There are four areas which all candidates must have mastered. They are: instrumental, juridical, socio-professional and police sciences and techniques. Police science and technique features high speed and off-road driving, lock picking techniques, abseiling and climbing techniques, maneuvers with helicopters, transmissions, explosives and knowledge about terrorist groups. Instrumental area is the one that deals with physical aptitudes such as marksmanship, obstacle courses, martial arts, physical fitness, swimming, sniping, diving and proficiency with motorcycles. The remaining areas are the ones that are focused on rights of terrorist groups and exchanging experience with members of similar groups of other countries.[13]

[edit] Equipment

The basic uniform of the GEO includes: anorak, jacket, sweater, t-shirt, pants, boots and beret. Overalls are used as a complementary clothing piece. During summer, GEO members use a short-sleeved shirt instead of the sweater and the jacket.[14]

Aside from their uniform, GEO members also use protective gear which features helmets, Bolle Commando protective goggles, balaclava, Draguër gas mask, ballistic vest, Safariland sheaths for SIG P226 and gloves.[15]

They also use vision enhancing devices. They employ MATIS thermographic cameras, daylight thermographic cameras, binoculars, PalMIr 250 night vision cameras, Philips BM8028A1 binocular night vision goggles, ITT AN/AVS-9 binocular night vision goggles, ITT Pocket F6010 night vision visor and laser rangefinders.[15]

To communicate between them they use the Matra SIRDEE (Sistema Integral de Radiodifusión Encriptada del Estado)[16], Motorola MXR-1000 and MXR-2000 models and VHF/UHF portable repeaters.[15]

For operations underwater they use other special gear. It includes: neoprene suits of different thicknesses, dry suits for dives in contaminated water, "twin-hose" and "single-hose" open-circuit scubas, dive computers, underwater robots for dives up to 200 meters and different dive support equipment.[15]

The GEO also uses vehicles on its operations. Among them are: different types of cars and bikes, special boats, Police helicopters and if necessary, CH-47 Chinook heavy helicopters of the Spanish Army.[3]

[edit] Weapons

GEOs utilise a wide range of arms. Most used sniper rifles by them are: Mauser SP66, PSG-1, DSR AMP Police-1, Sako TRG 41 and 21, SAKO A-II (silenced) and G3 (used like a sniper rifle)[17]. Their assault rifles are SG 552, G41 TGS and HK33[18]. They use Franchi, Remington and Heckler & Koch shotguns. MP5 and FN P90 are the submachine guns they use the most. Their pistols are SIG P226 (9 mm) and USP Compact[15]. GEO members also employ electroshock weapons, which caused some controversy when Amnesty International denounced the use of such weapons by the Policía Nacional.[19]

To increase shooting accuracy they employ several shooting support devices. Currently, they make use of Holosight sights, AMT holographic sights, Schmidt & Bender 1.5 - 6 x 42 daylight sights, Simrad KN250F night vision sights, Zeiss Diavari daylight sights, Varo AN/PVS-4 night vision sights, EDS laser sights and Sure-Fire flashlights.[15]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Ubicación (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  2. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Operaciones (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e Ryan, Mann and Stilwell, p. 110
  4. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Inicio (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  5. ^ a b c d e Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Historia (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  6. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Operaciones en territorio nacional (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  7. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Operaciones en el extranjero (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  8. ^ Roberto Bécares and Olalla Cernuda. Cuatro terroristas islámicos se inmolan en un piso de Leganés y matan a un agente de policía (Spanish). www.elmundo.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  9. ^ Uno de los GEO heridos en el piso de Leganés explica que nunca supieron si los terroristas tenían explosivos (Spanish). www.elmundo.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  10. ^ La falta de GEOS (Grupo Especial de Operaciones) obliga a sustituir a parte de los destinados en Bagdad por antidisturbios (Spanish). www.belt.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  11. ^ a b c d Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Organización (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  12. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Ingreso (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  13. ^ a b c d Ryan, Mann and Stilwell, p. 226
  14. ^ Confederación Española de Policía - Orden de 1 octubre de 1992 (PDF) (Spanish). www.cepolicia.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Material (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  16. ^ Sistemas digitales para la Guardia Civil, policía y otros servicios de emergencia en España (Spanish). web.madritel.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  17. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Fusiles de precisión (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  18. ^ Grupo Especial de Operaciones - Fusiles de asalto (Spanish). www.policia.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  19. ^ Amnistía Internacional denuncia el descontrol en el uso de armas paralizantes tipo Taser (Spanish). www.elmundo.es. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links