National Guard of Georgia


The National Guard of Georgia is a branch of the Defense Forces of Georgia. It is tasked with responding to external threats, civil disturbances, and natural disasters. The GNG is also responsible for the mobilization of reservists.

History

The GNG was established on December 20, 1990 after President Zviad Gamsakhurdia ordered the creation of what is now the Defense Forces of Georgia and held the first military parade on Boris Paichadze Stadium. Tengiz Kitovani was appointed as the head of GNG.
GNG was mainly manned by volunteers and more experienced Georgian officers who were serving in Soviet Armies at the time and returned to Georgia to serve in the newly created Georgian Land Forces. Thus, it became the first national military formation in then-Soviet Georgia which would later provide the basis for the regular armed forces.
Almost from its birth, the National Guard became directly involved in Georgian politics. In August 1991, soon after its foundation, the GNG was split between supporters of Gamsakhurdia and Kitovani. The split happened after Kitovani announced that the president was about to dissolve the National Guard. Kitovani and his supporters left the barracks and took up positions near Tbilisi. They joined Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua and the paramilitary leader Jaba Ioseliani during the Georgian Civil War which began in December 1991. The remaining parts of the GNG retained their loyalty towards Gamsakhurdia.
Units of the National Guard were a major paramilitary force to have fought in the Georgian Civil War, South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflicts in the early 1990s.

Modern Guard

Following US EUCOM recommendations, new roles, functions, and structure were assigned to the National Guard. As of January 2007, the National Guard of Georgia consisted of 554 veteran personnel

Structure

The National Guard of Georgia is composed of:
The main missions of National Guard are: