Pakistan Rangers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Military of Pakistan |
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Joint Services Parade in 2005 |
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Service branches | Pakistan Army
Pakistan Coast Guard |
Headquarters | Rawalpindi |
Leadership | |
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | General Tariq Majid |
Secretary of Defense | Kamran Rasool |
Chief of Army Staff Chief of Air Staff Chief of Naval Staff |
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed Afzal Tahir |
Military age | 16-49 years old [1] |
Available for military service |
39,028,014 males, age 16-49 (2007 est.), 36,779,584 females, age 16-49 (2007 est.) |
Fit for military service |
29,428,747 males, age 16-49 (2007 est.), 28,391,887 females, age 16-49 (2007 est.) |
Reaching military age annually |
1,969,055 males (2007 est.), 1,849,254 females (2007 est.) |
Active personnel | 619,000 (ranked 7th) |
Reserve personnel | 528,500 |
Expenditures | |
Budget | $4.26 billion (ranked 39th) |
Percent of GDP | 4.5 (2006 est.) |
Related articles | |
History | Military history of Pakistan UN Peacekeeping missions Weapons of mass destruction |
Ranks | Awards and decorations of the Pakistan military |
The Pakistan Rangers are a paramilitary force under the control of the Pakistan Army. Approximately 50,000 Rangers provide for the internal security of Pakistan.
[edit] History
After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, the protection of its eastern boundaries was allotted to particular regions, such as the Punjab Border Police Force, Bahawalpur State Police, Khairpur State Police and Sindh Rifles. Because the Rangers were neither correctly structured nor outfitted for a specific duty, in 1958 it was restructured and renamed as the West Pakistan Rangers. After the 1971 war, this force was federalized underneath the Ministry of Defence as the Pakistan Rangers and shortly in 1974, it was made a component of the Civil Armed Forces (CAF) under the Ministry of Interior.
Headquartered in Lahore, the Rangers are also very active in securing important monuments and guarding national assets in that city. The Rangers have notably contributed towards maintaining law and order in Karachi in crisis situations, and were also employed extensively for the Lal Masjid Operation.
[edit] Standard equipment
- Automatic Rifles - 7.62mm G3A3, 7.62mm G3P4
- Machine Guns - 7.62mm MG3
- Sub-Machine Guns - 9mm MP5A2 & MP5P4, 9mm SMG-PK
- Pistols - 7.63 mm standard issue likely Tokarev TT-33
- Bullet Proof Jackets - Various local and foreign types
The formal headwear of the Rangers are similar to the ones worn by the Border Security Force.