Friday, February 12, 2010

Saudi Arabian National Guard

Posted by newsonline at 3:35 AM 0 Comments

The Saudi Arabian National Guard or SANG (aka White Army) is one of five branches or services of the Saudi Arabian Defence Forces/military. It serves both as defence force against external threats but as a security force against internal threats. It duties include protecting the royal family , guarding against coups,and protecting the Holy Places of Mecca and Medina.

It is both a standing force of 25,000, with a reserve of 40,000 and a tribal militia of 25,000. The SANG is the King's private army consisting of personnel drawn from tribes loyal to the King and Royal Family. It is always commanded by a highranking member ofthe royal family, usually a Crown Prince. It consists of a mobile force of two mechanized brigades and four motorized infantry brigades. The militia portion consists of around 24 battalions of fowj, tribal warriors on "retainer". The force was extensively reorganized and retrained by the Vinnel Corporation (using over a thousand US Vietnam War veterans) in the 1980s and performed well in the Gulf War/ Operation Desert Storm especially in the battle for Hafar al Batin .
1 History

The SANG was founded as the successor to the Jamiat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun or Ikhwan, the tribal army of Abdul al Aziz ibn SaudAbdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal Al Saud ( 1880 November 9, 1953), also known by several abbreviated forms of this name, or simply as Ibn Saud was first monarch of Saudi Arabia. He was born into the House of Saud (also Sa'ud), which had historically. The Ikhwan had helped Abd al Aziz conquer the Arabian penninsula and take it from Ottoman Turkey in World War One. However, the Ikhwan committed many excesses and atrocities not just on Turks but on other Arabs as well. The various tribal groups of the Ikhwan also had a tendency to go off and do their own things and thus needed to be brought under a more centralized control. The SANG was also known as the White Army during this time due to the wearing of traditional Arab dress unstead of uniforms.
2 Command

The SANG's communications and chain of Command is completely seperate from regular Saudi Arabian military channels with a senior member of the royal family as its head. Prince Amir Abd Allah commanded the SANG for three decades since 1962 and three of his sons held high positions within the organization. Its General Headquarters, located in RiyadhRiyadh Ar-Riyad Arabic:) is the capital of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, located in the Nejd region. It is situated in the centre of the Arabian peninsula on a large plateau and is home to over 3,500,000 people (14% of the nation's population). Riyadh cove, directly controls the three regional sectors and the training facilities and the King Abdul Aziz Independent Mechanized Brigade of four battalions.

The three Regional ( Eastern, Central and Western)sectors each command one or more mechanized or motorized brigades, several independentSecurity and Military Police and logistical battalions, but also the irregular fowj battalions.
3 Equipment

The SANG is, by tradition, issued equipment not issued to the regular military, it doesn't possess any tanks but does possess several thousand wheeled armored fighting vehicles and Armoured personnel carrierEast German BRDMs on parade during celebrations of the 40th anniversary of East Germany in 1989 Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of infantry. They usually have only a machine gun although variants cs. It does possess its own helicopters and light aircraft and all the remaining types of military hardware to include artillery. When in modern uniforms personnel wear a green beret, the MuslimA Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. The word Muslim means one who submits and implies complete submission to the will of God ( Allah). Muslims believe that nature is itself Islamic, since it follows natural laws placed by God. Thus, a Muslim s color for purity.

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