National Guard Garde Nationale الحرس الوطني el-Ḥaras el-Waṭanī
Official TNG insignia
Abbreviation	GN
Motto	فداء للوطن Redemption for the homeland
Agency overview
Formed	1 April 1956[1]
Employees	15,000 (est.)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Tunisia
Constituting instrument	Beylical Decree of 6 September 1956, establishment of the National Guard[1]
General nature	Gendarmerie Civilian police
Specialist jurisdiction	National border patrol, security, and integrity.
Operational structure
Elected officer responsible	Taoufik Charfeddine, Minister of the Interior
Parent agency	Ministry of the Interior

The Tunisian National Guard (French: Garde Nationale, Tunisian Arabic: الحرس الوطني, romanized: el-Ḥaras el-Waṭanī) is the national gendarmerie force of the Republic of Tunisia and separated from the Tunisian Armed Forces.

History

During French protectorate of Tunisia, the French national gendarmerie is tasked to maintain law and order in Tunisia.^[2] Shortly after Tunisia's independence, the Tunisian National Guard was created in 1956 by Beylical Decree of 6 September 1956 to replace the French national gendarmerie, which returned to France.^[1][3] Originally dependent on the ministry of Defense, the force was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, due to President Habib Bourguiba's mistrust of the military.^[4]

Missions

Tunisian National Guard, along with Tunisian National Police, is the first line of defense against internal security threat.^[5] Tunisian National Guard role as stipulated in article 2 of Decree No. 2006-1162 on the special status of agents of the National Guard, are as follows:^[6]

• for maintaining public order,
• preserving the security,
• land and sea borders guards,
• road/highway traffic and safety, public safety,
• search for criminals and,
• judicial investigations.

Organization

The Tunisian National Guard is led by a Director General, and consist of an inspectorate general and five directorate general, which are:^[3][7]

• Inspectorate General.
• Directorate General of Public Security.
• Directorate General of Intervention Units.
• Directorate General of Border Guards.
• Directorate General of Common Services.
• Directorate General of the Mutual of Civil Protection National Guard officials.

Aside of five directorate general, It also have Directorate which works directly under Director General of the National Guard:^[3]

• Directorate of Research and Investigation.
• Directorate of Anti-Terrorism.
• Directorate of Studies, Strategic plan and International Cooperation.
• The Special Unit.
• The Central Secretariat.
• The Central Operations Room

Naval Vessels and Aircraft

27 Naval Vessels

• 6 patrol boats P350TN (140 t, 35 m), donated by Italy (2 delivered 12.2012; 3 delivered between 2013/2014; 1 will be delivery within 2.2015)
• 7 patrol boats Classe 800/P58 (30 t, 17 m), donated by Italy middle years '00
• 4 patrol boats Classe 700 (18 t, 15 m), donated by Italy in May 2011
• 8 patrol boats Classe Squalo (13 t, 13,5 m), donated by Italy middle years '00
• 2 motorboats Classe 500 (8,5 t, 11 m), donated by Italy in 2009/2011

3 Aircraft

• 3 Bell 429 helicopters^[8]

Ranks

Officer ranks

Rank group	General/flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Tunisian National Guard[6] v t e
									أمير لواء 'amir liwa'		عميد Amid	عقيد Aqid	مقدم Muqaddam		رائد Ra'id		نقيب Naqib		ملازم أول Mulazim awwal			ملازم Mulazim
									Général de brigade		Colonel-major	Colonel	Lieutenant-colonel		Commandant		Capitaine		Lieutenant			Sous-lieutenant

Other ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Tunisian National Guard[6] v t e
	وكيل أول Wakil 'awal						وكيل Wakil				عريف أول Earif 'awal						عريف Earif						رقيب أول Raqib 'awal				رقيب Raqib								جندي متطوع Jundiun
	Adjudant-chef						Adjudant				Sergent-chef						Sergent						Caporal-chef				Caporal								Soldat