Rapid Response Brigades
| Rapid Response Brigades | |
|---|---|
| File:Flag RRB.png Flag of the Rapid Response Brigades, bearing the organization's full name below its emblem. | |
| Active | 2007-present |
| Country |  Menghe |
| Type | Gendarmerie, riot police |
| Role | Crowd control, riot control, domestic counter-terrorism |
| Size | ~40,000 |
| Part of | File:Ministry of Internal Security.png Ministry of Internal Security |
| Motto(s) | 항상 준비 Hangsang Junbi "Always Prepared" |
| March | Our Fast Brigade |
The Rapid Response Brigades (신속 대응 여단/ 迅速對應旅團, Sinsok Daeŭng Yŏndan) are paramilitary motorized police units in the Socialist Republic of Menghe. Although they operate military-grade equipment, they are part of the Internal Security Forces and are subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Security, and are not part of the Menghean Army. The organization's full name is 국내 보안 부대-신속 대응 여단, Guknae Boan Budae - Sinsok Daeŭng Yŏndan, "Rapid Response Brigades of the Internal Security Forces."
History
From the 1960s through the 1980s, the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe retained a large force of motorized infantry under the command of the Ministry of State Security. Together, these units formed the State Security Corps. In addition to standard riot control missions, they also served as a balance against the power of the Menghean People's Army, which was never fully placed under Communist Party control.
Units of the State Security Forces opposed Choe Sŭng-min's Decembrist Revolution, but were unable to retake central Donggyong, and surrendered when other Army units around the city moved in to support the coup faction.
As one of its first acts, the Interim Council for National Restoration abolished the State Security Forces in 1987. In their place, they handed internal security duties to the Gunchal or military police, which were placed under the direct control of the Army and were reliably loyal to the nationalist pro-coup faction. While the Internal Brigades of the Gunchal inherited the old military arsenal of the State Security Corps, and invested in upgrading their equipment, they also streamlined their organization from Divisions into Brigades and placed a greater focus on less-lethal weapons rather than live ammunition. They also disbanded their divisional Tank Battalions, but retained wheeled APCs in many units.
As part of the 2005 military reforms, Menghe's national leadership sought to streamline the Menghean Army around the mission of external national defense, separating them from the internal defense roles of an enlarged Ministry of Internal Security. In 2007, the Gunchal's Internal Brigades were formally transferred to the control of the Internal Security Forces, forming today's Rapid Response Brigades. During this transfer, the units kept their old organization, equipment, and personnel, as well as their uniforms and insignia. Training requirements were loosened somewhat, though conscripts must still have a good record of ideological loyalty in their Youth Vanguard units.
Mission
Officially, the Rapid Response Brigades are tasked with combating terrorism and defending public order. The only unit to consistently handle the former mission is the Hŭksan Brigade, which is stationed in Siyadag Province. There, it works to suppress a local separatist movement influenced by radical Shahidism. Other Rapid Response units, usually individual Battalions, are sometimes rotated in and out of Siyadag, and all personnel are trained in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency tactics so that they can deploy to Siyadag if the insurrection flares up.
The remaining Rapid Response Brigades serve primarily as riot police and crowd control units. Given the Menghean regime's distrust of public demonstrations outside its control, this mission takes up the lion's share of actual Internal Security operations. Rapid Response Brigades may deploy if local police units are unable to break up a protest, or they may be mobilized ahead of a major public event or symbolic anniversary if the Ministry of Internal Security anticipates a possible riot.
Brigade organization
The Rapid Response forces are organized into individual Brigades, each of which is assigned to a territory encompassing one or more provinces. Each Brigade is commanded by a Brigadier-General (Junjang) and consists of roughly 2,200 personnel. For mid-size public disturbances, especially in rural areas, a Rapid Response Brigade may mobilize a single Battalion or reinforced Company; the individual Battalions are structured so that they can mobilize and conduct crowd control operations with only minimal Brigade support, and in each province Battalions are usually dispersed or forward deployed near major cities to shorten reaction times.
A 2014 central regulation by the Ministry of Internal Security states that each Rapid Response Brigade must follow the same basic organization.
- Headquarters and command center
- Headquarters and staff platoon
- Signals platoon
- Media correspondence platoon
- Rapid response battalion (x3), each with:
- Headquarters platoon
- Rapid Response company (x4)
- Water cannon company
- LRAD platoon
- Logistics and support company
- Medical platoon
- Logistics and support battalion
- Prisoner transport company
- CBRN defense and decontamination company
- EOD platoon
- Medical company
Variations on this structure exist, usually with regard to supporting units. The Donggyŏng Capital Brigade includes ATGM companies in each Battalion and has its own independent tank company and 122mm artillery battalion at the Brigade level, in order to slow the advance of troops into the capital during a coup or mutiny. Units in the wealthier, more urbanized coastal provinces have also led the adoption of LRAD units, while as of 2017 some inland units such as the Chikai Internal Brigade have yet to adopt this system.
Equipment
Although their organizational charter forbids them from using lethal weapons against civilians - a reference to the Decembrist Revolution - the Rapid Response Brigades still carry JS-103 assault rifles and train with shotguns and submachine guns. These weapons would be used against insurgent fighters, mutinous troops, and armed smuggling groups.
In crowd-control missions, the same units would trade out their military weapons for less-lethal alternatives, including pepper spray, CS grenades, straightstick batons, and riot guns firing beanbag rounds or rubber buckshot. The first row of crowd control personnel will also carry riot shields for blocking and protection.
The Rapid Response Brigades inherited a variety of armored combat vehicles from the Gunchal, most of them variants of the BSCh-7 wheeled APC. The Ministry of Internal Security has developed two additional BSCh-7 variants for crowd control, one with a 7.62mm machine gun and one with a 42mm launcher for tear gas grenades. Not all rapid response companies ride in BSCh-7s, with some using lighter 4x4 wheeled cars and a modified squad organization.
Alongside their LRAD platforms, some Rapid Response Brigade units have been experimenting with non-lethal directed energy weapons, in both microwave-based and laser-based forms. It is believed that the Sunju Internal Brigade has the former in service, but has not used it operationally.