Opinion (Rogério COPETO / Official GNR): ONE UNIT OF THE NATIONAL FRAMEWORK OF GNR.
According to the latest news, territorial deploying Protection Intervention Group and Relief (GIPS) It will be extended to the entire national territory, as realized TSF on 19 February through play "GNR will spend fighting fires throughout the country".
Rogério COPETO
Lieutenant Colonel of the GNR
Master in Law and Security and Homeland Security Auditor
Head of the Education Division / Command Doctrine and Training
By TSF "the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, announced that the National Guard (GNR) will participate in fighting fires throughout the country. The intervention of the GNR in this field, what, currently, only exists in 11 districts, It will be extended to the entire national territory ... and also have expanded attack companies".
Under the National Defense System for Forest Fire (SNDFCI) They are attributed to the GNR various responsibilities in defense for Forest Fire, ranging from surveillance, detection and surveillance, whose coordination lies with the GNR through the Protection Service of Nature and the Environment (SEPNA).
But as is well known GNR not only integrates the surveillance device, detection and surveillance, also integrating the combat device fires, through GIPS, which was created by Decree-she 22/2006, of 2 Feb., so completing this month its twelfth birthday. not leaving, this time, doubts about its added value for the SNDFCI, having constituting, in their land and heliborne shed, as a major force 1st Intervention during its existence.
Was the important work that the GIPS held during their 12 years old, which was awarded by the Government, with Service Medal Distinguished Gold Grade, on 18 December 2017, as echoed the "News of Coimbra" of 17 of December, in the article entitled "GIPS receives Distinguished Service Gold Medal for Public Safety", where it is stated that " GIPS has the specific mission the implementation of preventive actions and first-line intervention, throughout the national territory, in emergency protection and rescue, particularly in forest fire occurrences or hazardous materials, disasters and serious accidents. For the fulfillment of its mission has 584 Military, distributed 22 Air Media Centers, which held about seven thousand patrols and traveled more than 700 thousand kilometers during 2017.O GIPS still made 4 403 heliborne outputs for the initial attack forest fire, having achieved a success rate of 98,03 % and 449 extended ground attacks, in total 1473 hours of intervention".
With an efficiency rate of around 100%, is normal state to recognize the work of GIPS, but this recognition comes from the whole society, more or less publicly, as exemplified by the recognized opinion piece Investigator Domingos Xavier Viegas, with the title "The fourth pillar", published in the Public on 9 Feb., which states that "a GNR, which came to be challenged by some people at the beginning, with a great deal of professionalism, discretion and good sense, I learned to assert themselves and managed to position itself within the system, as a reliable entity, effective and even essential. I will say that is, in the context of forest fires, perhaps the one that plays more diverse functions and therefore more inclusive of all processes".
but after 12 years in the service of the Portuguese and Portugal, without forgetting the numerous international missions as part of its Protection and Rescue skills, the GIPS will suffer this year an increase in its effective to double, longer a subunit belonging to the Intervention Unit (UI), to constitute one more unit of nationwide GNR, dependent on the Operational Command of the GNR and present throughout the national territory, continuing to run heliborne missions to fight forest fires springs (1ª intervention), making move from helicopter (light or medium) and ground missions to fight forest fires, making be transported in firefighting vehicles, in 1st Intervention stocks in emerging fires, as well as "Expanded Attack" on larger fires, as was already, when solicited, through the land Intervention Teams.
The so-called "Expanded Attack" or as some like to call it "Attack Muscular", It is developed using the reinforcement means of fire departments that are in "Initial Attack", whose doctrine is already fully consolidated, being the "Initial Attack" to a fire made using the local fire department means and by means of two more bodies from neighboring fire, through a predefined triangulation, may include bodies from different districts firefighters, having as principle the proximity to fire.
From the foregoing it can be seen that the GIPS in addition to its primary mission, that fulfilled 98% effectiveness, who are the first responders in fire stock springs, ever performed actions "Initial Attack" and "Expanded Attack", and in the case of the latter, only through terrestrial means and not through heliborne teams, as echoed the Express of 24 July 2017, in the article entitled "GIPS do not make large fires", where it is stated that "the military of the GNR integrated device in air combat forest fires are not undertake extended attack operations, when fires are already large. Helicopters stationed at bases Figueiró Wine and Pampilhosa da Serra, that are operating in the fire of Sertã, They are fly only with the pilot. the brigades, what on earth to give effective help to discharges of aircraft, They are stopped in air media centers. These military, responsible for the initial attack and fighting fires springs, intervene during the first ninety minutes. But if the fire is not dominated this time, and the aircraft continue mobilized to fight, "The helicopter just to go it alone with the pilot, in extended attack mission "and the military protection and Relief Intervention Group (GIPS) integrated are demobilized".
for these reasons, it is concluded that this year the unit that will be born of the GIPS the actual increase will have "extended attack companies", which basically will be a upgrade of land Intervention Teams, with a mission to perform actions of "Initial Attack" and "Expanded Attack", continuing the heliborne teams run 1st intervention actions, It is however their most significant change to extend its deployment territorial, the entire national territory, vowing to continue to fulfill its mission with a high degree of complexity and visibility, which greatly contribute to project the image of the National Guard within and across borders, bringing honor and luster to the country.
