Imperial Border Guard
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| Border guard force overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1949 |
| Preceding Border guard force | |
| Jurisdiction | Belhavia |
| Headquarters | Government District, Provisa, Belhavia |
| Employees | 23,678 (2015) |
| Border guard force executive |
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The Imperial Border Guard of Belhavia (also commonly referred to as the IBG or Green Caps) is an Belhavian Imperial paramilitary border guard force responsible for border control of the Empire's land and maritime borders. It also has special national security mandates to find and prevent illegal immigrants, terrorists, smugglers, illegal trafficking of persons, and smuggled contraband.
Although primarily a land-based force, the Border Guard maintains a coast guard branch of riverine and patrol boats. Although Border Guardsmen man border checkpoints, they work in tandem with immigration officers from the Department of Immigration and Aliyah, who process the flow of passported persons into and out of Belhavia.
The IBG was founded in mid 1949 after the Imperial restoration and proclamation of the Second Empire from the reorganization and merging of the Imperial Frontier Patrol and Colonial Border Guards.
In wartime, the Border Guard is subsumed under the operational command of the Imperial Army as an auxiliary paramilitary force. If Belhavia borders an enemy territory, the IBG forces will withdraw from their frontier watches and border checkpoints, which will be reinforced and defended instead by regular Army units.
History
The Imperial Border Guard was merged and reorganized following the 1949 Imperial Restoration over concerns of bordering regional conflict and the re-establishment of Belhavian credibility on the rule of law by having effective border controls.
The IBG was put under Imperial Army control during the 1959-60 North Taverian War and assisted in the land campaign into southern Estovnia.
In the early 1980s after the passage of the Counter-Narcotics Enforcement Act, the Border Guard joined the War on Drugs' Anti-Drug Task Force with the DISE.
The Imperial Border Guard implemented stronger controls and enforcement methods in conjunction with the Imperial Home Guard during the 2006-2007 Shelvay illegal immigration crisis.
In early January 2016, the IBG increased frontier watches and performed several impromptu wartime drills with local Imperial Army units in light of aggressive anti-CDI and anti-Belhavia actions by the Estovnian government.
Organization
The Imperial Border Guard is headquartered at its main offices in the Government District in Provisa called "Central Command." Most of its primary administrative and logistical offices are based here. Its executive is housed in the Office of the Chief of the Imperial Border Guard.
The functional branches of the IBG are:
- Land Border Service
- The division charged with the protection of all land borders and frontiers.
- Maritime Border Service
- The coast guard division of the Border Guard force.
- Interagency Liaison Branch
- The staff (mostly administrative) that liaise and coordinate with sister organizations such as DISE, IBI, etc.
Jurisdiction and formations
The IBG has full jurisdiction at the Belhavian land and maritime border, and up to 30 miles inland, referred to as an "informal border zone." Within this 30-mile zone, the IBG mans 44 inner checkpoints; within Belhavia proper, these inner posts are largely by the Estovnian and UTR borders as well as near large immigration centers in the coastal North Belhavia near Dakos and Freeport City. In the colonies, inner checkpoints exist in New Shelvoy and Tobia.
Inside the "border zone", usually at or right near the border demarcation line, the so-called "Green Caps" have erected checkpoints (at border crossings), watchtowers, small garrison barrack bases, and other installations at various points along the border according to border patrol and strategy needs. From these small bases, Border Guardsmen patrol "frontier watches," the official term for a set patrol area.
Formations
- The 1st Border Guards Regiment handles border duties in the West, North, and (primarily) Northwest of Belhavia proper on or near the Estovnian border.
- The 2nd Border Guards Regiment handles reciprocal work along the inner Ayton-Shelvay border.
- The 3rd Border Guards Regiment patrols the Far South, both along the western unincorporated frontier and the eastern Ayton-Shelvay border.
- The 4th Border Guards Regiment is dispersed among the colonies, though most of its personnel are in New Shelvoy and Tobia.
Interagency relationships
DIA
The DIA is considered the primary collaborative partner agency to the IBG. All border checkpoints and crossings are shared between the Border Guard and DIA officers, who share security and screening duties and workspace.
DISE
The DISE often partners with the IBG on an ad hoc manner, dealing with preventing criminals on the run from crossing the border, among other joint actions. On a permanent basis, a standing IBG group partakes in joint War on Drug operations with DISE's Anti-Drug Task Force in its Office of Anti-Criminal Activities.
IAB
The Border Guard and Imperial Army perform joint wartime military exercises and border-fortification drills twice a year. Many Army bases are located near the border or within the informal border zone, and the two organizations often coordinate on shared matters and concerns.
IHG
The Imperial Home Guard is the primary armed force available at the Border Guard's request for situations involving armed force at the border; both the Home Guard and Army may be called upon by the Border Guard, but usually the IHG is requested to provide military-grade strength in certain border situations.
IBI
On a rarer but occasional basis, the IBG and the IBI coordinate on counterintelligence and espionage operations involving spies coming and going through the border.
See also
- Imperium Civile Praesidii (Tarsas)
- Papal Army (Rodarian border guard function)
- Eagleland Gendarmerie