The general director of the Civil Guard, María Gámez, presides over the Solemn Raising of the Flag in tribute to Lieutenant Colonel Jesús Gayoso who died due to covid-19
He has also participated in the closing and delivery of dispatches of the LI Special Training Course (ADE)
These events were attended by the President of the Government of La Rioja, Concha Andreu; the mayor of the City Council of Logroño, Pablo Hermoso; the government delegate in La Rioja, María Marrodán; and the Chief of Special and Reserve Units of the Civil Guard, Brigadier General José Antonio Iglesias Pollo, among others
The general director of the Civil Guard, María Gámez, has presided over a solemn raising of the Flag in tribute to Lieutenant Colonel Jesús Gayoso who died on March 27, 2020 due to Covid-19, whom she remembered as “a born leader and an example of effort and work ”. During this act, which was also attended by personnel from the Unit, family members and fellow promotion of Lieutenant Colonel, María Gámez presented her widow with a Tribute Book in which people from very different fields wanted to record their affection and condolences for the death of Jesús Gayoso.
Prior to this act, as a tribute to his person and leadership during his tenure in the Unit, a plaque in his honor and memory has been discovered in a training area located in the Special Forces Experiences Area that now bears his name. This area has been decorated with a mural dedicated to him, the work of the Bilbao artist, Carlos Corres.
Closing "LI Special Training Course"
This was followed by the closing ceremony of the “LI Special Training Course (ADE).” María Gámez pointed out how demanding this course is, not only due to the physical effort but also due to the great capacity for psychological adaptation it requires. "Getting here is not an easy road and there are many people who stay on the road. But you have already reached the end by passing one of the most demanding and hard courses in the training of the Civil Guard ”.
The general director has highlighted that the preparation, professionalism and implication that the Rural Action Unit staff has is what has allowed the defeat of ETA terrorism and currently allows the Unit to be essential in the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking in the Campo de Gibraltar and also deployed in missions abroad.
A total of 43 people, of which 39 are civil guards and 4 military, have managed to pass the tests. For the first time, a woman has successfully completed this training period, Lieutenant María Sol Rodríguez.
María Gámez has pointed out that it is a moment of satisfaction for the Civil Guard as an institution, because we are taking another step towards real equality, we are achieving that women occupy the place that corresponds to them in this Body, just as it happens in society to the serving the institution. Starting from the principles of merit and ability, with effort and work, we verify, it has continued, that there are no positions forbidden to women and that women can perform the same functions as their colleagues.
The Director General ended her remarks by referring to the message written on the mural in the training area dedicated to Lieutenant Colonel Gayoso at the Special Experiences Range: ALWAYS GAR.
Special Training Course
The Course has a duration of 675 teaching hours spread over 90 days.
This course is divided into three phases: adaptation, training and operational performance. The first is aimed at selecting people who have the best psychophysical capacities and adaptation to the profile sought. The second is to impart the teaching content aimed at acquiring the bases of the qualification that the course focuses on. Finally, the operational action is focused on holding sessions whose common factor is proximity to the operational reality.
Rural Action Unit of the Civil Guard
The Rural Action Unit (UAR), deployed in the Basque Country and Navarra since 1980, has as a specific mission the fight against terrorist elements and the execution of operations that involve great risk and require a rapid response, as well as the specialization of its personnel. and the completion of the courses entrusted to it, nationally and internationally.
To carry out these tasks, the UAR is structured into an operational unit, the Rapid Action Group (GAR), and another to support training and instruction, the Special Training Center (CAE).
The GAR, as a unit integrated in the Civil Guard reserve, is a "special operations" Unit conceived and prepared for the planning and execution of devices and tasks against terrorist elements, as well as missions that involve great risk or require a rapid response. .
The CAE is a teaching center for training in special operations of recognized international prestige, which has double dependency: on the one hand, organic and functional, of the Head of Special and Reserve Units (JUER) and, on the other hand, a dependency technical-teacher of the Headquarters of Teaching of the Civil Guard.
Although the origin and main task was the fight against ETA, its “special capacities” have caused the Unit to be redirected towards two new lines of action:
National scope
Within the territorial scope of the Basque Country and Navarra, it works in coordination with the Information Service to cover their procurement needs, as well as any other support they may require.
In the rest of the national territory, after the implementation of alert level 4 of the Antiterrorist Prevention and Protection Plan in May 2015, its deployment began in critical infrastructures (ports / airports) and in public spaces for large events, as well as the main element of interception of possible jihadist cells.
Currently, it is part of the Special Plan to fight drug trafficking in the Strait area. In turn, they also carry out coordinated operations with the Central Operating Unit (UCO), in different areas of the Spanish geography.
At international level
RAG components have participated in a multitude of international operations since 1994, under the umbrella of all international organizations: NATO, EU, UN and OSCE.
The most outstanding international activities in recent years have been the following:
- Participation from the beginning of the GAR-SI Sahel Project, which consists of replicating the GAR unit in the G-5 countries and Senegal.
- Deployment in EUFOR-RCA in the years 2014/2015.
- Deployment in Iraq, Inherent Resolve (May 2017-March 2020), where they deployed a total of 144 men (BPC Besmayah).
- Team of Security of the Spanish Ambassador in Lebanon (since 2006) and participation in the mission UNIFIL in this country.
- Special Operations Exercise Flintlock led by SOCAFRICA (USAFRICOM) and executed in Africa (Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina-Faso) since 2016.
The Unit's contribution to international activities in the last three years is as follows:
- Year 2018 they have participated with 122 components in 18 countries.
- Year 2019 they have participated with 207 components in 32 countries.
- Year 2020 they have participated with 59 components in 9 countries.
For more information, you can contact the Press Office of the Civil Guard at 915.146.010.
