National Guard (GN) & Sedena Training Based on Culiacanazo Scenarios

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The experience of the arrest and release of Ovidio Guzmán, known as the Culiacanazo in October 2019, and other confrontations between the armed forces and organized crime, has caused National Guard elements to receive training at facilities of the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) to improve its operations in the field of public security.

As part of this training, a total of 1,200 members of the GN and 500 more from Sedena carried out a simulation of scenarios similar to those that their colleagues have faced in the field, such as interventions to safeguard internal security and the capture of leaders of cartels.

 

 
"In various parts of the Republic, where the levels of violence are high, many sides have come forward and from there we can have the example of these situations," explained the Brigadier General of the General Staff, General Isaac Bravo, commander of the National Center of Training of the Sedena, who supervised and evaluated the elements that participated in the drill carried out this Wednesday at Military Camp 42 A Santa Gertrudis, Chihuahua. 

Since its creation, in 2019, the GN has received support from Sedena, but in 2022 it was incorporated into the military institution, so its members receive direct military training. This incorporation continues today since the Supreme Court ordered that the separation of the GN from the Sedena, and its reincorporation to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, must be concluded no later than December 31.

Therefore, the officers who are going to direct the GN in the future, already disincorporated from the Sedena, were trained at the Military College, where they graduated with a degree in National Security.

Training Scenarios

The training scenario sets were built by Sedena to simulate a real town in the northeast of the country.

Its participants were divided into three groups: the security forces, members of organized crime, and residents. Most of the supposed residents work in the stables and the cattle farm that is in the military base that has 60,538,583 hectares of extension and was given the task of representing the daily life of any population.

With couples strolling in the center; people shopping in the market; a cotton tree; a popsicle and ice cream vendor; young people playing basketball at one end of town and others playing soccer.

Military Barracks Attack

The first drill was that of an attack on a military barracks a few meters from where the "town" begins, according to Bravo, this type of activity is part of the attacks suffered not only by members of the Sedena but also by the National Guard that this six-year term totals 1,153 and 581, respectively.

"Attacks on barracks have occurred in several places and fortunately we have defense and action plans, which are being implemented in the National Guard so that we have the same procedures," the military command explained.

Targeted Arrest Distraction

With the use of real weapons and bullets and the participation of GN patrols and helicopters, the participants simulated a deception operation to distract organized crime in order to arrest dangerous members.

In this scenario, the guards staged a confrontation with members of organized crime, in which handmade armored vehicles secured from drug cartels were used to train the Armed Forces.

“They have an internal information system, like the hawking that involves people who are loyal to them, who work for crime or who are under threat, therefore, we have to take into account that we are observed from a distance all the time. time,” Bravo related while the elements simulated the capture of a criminal.

Attempted Cartel Rescue

Then came the time of an attempted rescue of a criminal in which the simulated casualties were not only on the side of the "bad guys" but also the elements of the GN, for which a helicopter intervened to provide medical aid to his companions.

Finally, it was the turn of elements of the Sedena to intervene in the drill. General Bravo explained that this occurs when organized crime exceeds local public security and even the National Guard itself, whose jurisdiction is federal, there is no other option than the intervention of the Army to support the population and recover territories dominated by organized crime.

Source Proceso