Albanian Gendarmerie (Italian Empire)

Albanian Gendarmerie
Xhandarmëria Shqiptare Gendarmeria Albanese
The War Flag of the Albanian Gendarmerie
Active	1915-1939 1946-present
Country	Kingdom of Albania
Allegiance	Italian Empire
Type	Gendarmerie
Role	Law enforcement
Size	17,946 troops
Nickname	Arma d'Albania
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Gjon Ulbasoni

The Arm of the Royal Gendarmerie (Albanian: Arma e Xhandarmëria Mbretnore, A.X.M.; Italian: Arma della Gendarmeria Reale), also known as Albanian Gendarmerie (Albanian: Xhandarmëria Shqiptare; Italian: Gendarmeria Albanese) is the Gendarmerie force of the Kingdom of Albania. Being an Albanian militarized police force, it has several entities which has to respond to: for police and security duties the Gendarmerie depends on the Albanian Ministry of Interior; for co-ordination purposes, it depends on the Directorate General of Public Security in Rome; finally, for military purposes it reports to the Army Higher Command Balkans head-quartered in Tirana. It is to be noted that the Albanian Gendarmerie is mainly a preventive force of public security, but it has also detective/repressive duties as a judicial police corps.
Officers and agents of the Gendarmerie depend on their superiors. For institutional services the Corps Commands depend on government authorities having jurisdiction over the area where they are located. Those authorities, except in extraordinary cases, only turn to commanders who then give necessary provisions.
The Albanian Gendarmerie is a deeply rooted force in the Albanian society, and therefore it is usually given a small quota of representatives in collegial government institutions. A military atmosphere prevails - dress codes, behaviour standards, and rank distinctions are strictly adhered to. Esprit de corps is inculcated with regular ceremonies and institutionalisation of rituals such as applauding personnel dispatched to or returning from assignments and formally welcoming senior officers to the mess hall at all meals.

History

The Gendarmerie traces its origins back to 1915, when the Gendarmerie School was established by the Carabinieri. The Mission drafted, adapted from the Italian regulations, Regulations and General Staff as well as borrowed from the Italian model were the type of recruitment (voluntary and selective) and weaponry. During the late 1920s, the Royal Albanian Gendarmerie was re-organised and staffed by British officers as part of the Royal Albanian Army. In 1939, when Albania was annexed to Italy, it was merged with the Carabinieri, constituting the "Carabinieri Higher Command for Albania" (It.: "Comando Superiore Carabinieri per l'Albania"); after the proclamation of the Republic, the Higher Command was transformed in an autonomous Gendarmerie force. In 1967, the Albanian Guard of Finance (heir of the Guardia di Finanza Higher Command for Albania) was merged into the Gendarmerie. The first Commandant General of Albanian descent was Brigadier General Gajur Deralla, who held office from 1957 to 1960.
The Albanian Social Republic was reverted to Kingdom (whose crown is held by Duce of Italy) on 28 October 2002. The current Commandant General is Major General Gjon Ulbasoni, who took office in 2012.

Political control

The Albanian Fascist Party has an active and dominant organisation within the armed forces. The Political Directorate of the Royal Gendarmerie, however, continued to exist as part of the Ministry of Interior. The Political Directorate controls political officers within all services and units of the Gendarmerie. The fascist leadership considers the directorate essential to ensure that the armed forces conformed with ideology as interpreted by the party.
The reliability of senior military leaders is assured by their membership in the party. All students over eighteen years of age in military schools are also party members. Political officers indoctrinate conscripts with Fascist ideology and the party line. Reinforcing the actions of officers and military courts, they help ensure discipline in military units. They have authority to take action against soldiers whose attitudes or conduct is considered contrary to the efficiency or good order of the armed forces.
Historically, military professionalism has been a secondary consideration to political reliability in determining promotions and still today the political reliability plays a significant role.

Organisation

The Gendarmerie has a mainly territorial focus. The General Command, held by a Major General, assisted a General Staff, provides overall guidance. The Commandant-General is also Director-General of Public Security.
Under the General Command, there are a Schools Command, 3 Legions (Girocastro, Pristina and Tirana), 13 battalions (1 per Province), with 52 companies (1 per sub-prefecture) and 112 Territorial Stations. The Gendarmerie has 594 officers, 2,110 subofficers and 15,242 corporals and gendarmes. The Gendarmerie also has a Central Operational Unit (Al: Njësia Operative Qendrore; It: Unità Operativa Centrale) which handles most serious crimes, and two Legion Forensics Cabinets, while for public order duties the Gendarmerie is often supported by the Albanian Fascist Militia.
The main Commands under the Albanian Gendarmerie are led by Brigadier Generals or Colonels:

• Xhandarmëria Rrugore (Traffic Gendarmerie);
• Xhandarmëria Kufitare (Border Gendarmerie);
• Xhandarmëria e Komunikimeve (Communications Gendarmerie): protect Albania’s lines of communication, which include bridges, railroads, telephone, telegraph and telematic networks;
• Xhandarmëria për Objektiva Ekonomikë (Gendarmerie for Economic Objectives): act as guard police for state buildings, factories, construction projects, and similar state-owned enterprises (alongside the Albanian Fascist Militia and the Albanian National Royal Guard);
• Xhandarmëria e Burgjeve (Prison Gendarmerie): serve as prison and labour camp guards;
• Xhandarmëria Pyjore (Forestry Gendarmerie)
• Komandat e Shkollave të Xhandarmërisë (Gendarmerie Schools Command).

Some other bodies are led by senior officers:

• Njësia e Policisë Ushtarake (Military Police Unit) led by a Major;
• Reparti i Policisë Financiare (Finance Police Unit, with three Legional units) led by a Lieutenant Colonel.

Border Gendarmerie

The Border Gendarmerie (Xhandarmëria Kufitare) is the border and custom police command under the supervision of the Albanian Gendarmerie. It is tasked to oversee and control the transiting of goods and persons across the country's territory. Protecting external borders is considered by the Regime as necessary as suppressing any form of internal opposition. The purpose of the Border Gendarmerie is to prevent the illegal escape of Albanian nationals abroad and to block any illegal entry of foreigners from abroad (in this case illegal immigrants also risked the death penalty since were considered "diversions"). The Border Force units consists mainly of young Albanians recruited from the mandatory military service. Given the delicacy of their function, these young men are chosen from the most loyal recruits to the party.
The Border Gendarmerie carries out enforcement measures to prevent the illegal border crossings of foreign nationals and nationals engaged in the illegal trafficking of goods.
The force consists of five battalions:

• Border Gendarmerie Legion Command;
• 1st Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Coriza;
• 2nd Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Delvina;
• 3rd Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Durazzo;
• 4th Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Scutari;
• 5th Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Pristina;
• Port Police Unit.

The Border Gendarmerie is led by a Colonel and it has a statutory strength of 91 officers, 222 Subofficers and around 1,500 men, in 14 companies of 48 platoons subdivided into 119 squads. The Squads are the lowest independent units and often an individual Squad garrisons a border crossing.
Together to the Finance Police Unit, the Border Gendarmerie relies for functional purposes on the Albanian Ministry of Natonal Economy, for disciplinary and administrative matters on the Gendarmerie General Command and for professional guidance on the Royal Guard of Finance.

Port Police Unit

The Port Police Unit (Reparti i Policisë Portuale) is a subdivision of the Border Gendarmerie, led by a Lieutenant Colonel. Its personnel is operationally separate from the Border Gendarmerie, but it is administratively handled by the relevant Battalion. It has four Groups, located in the main ports of Albania:

• Durazzo (3rd Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Durazzo);
• Valona (2nd Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Delvina);
• Santiquaranta (2nd Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Delvina);
• San Giovanni di Medua (4th Border Gendarmerie Battalion, in Scutari).

Forestry Gendarmerie

The Forestry Gendarmerie (Xhandarmëria Pyjore) is a subdivision of the Albanian Gendarmierie under the functional guidance of the Ministry of Environment. The body is specialised in defending Albanian agro-forestry heritage, safeguarding the environment and landscape. It complies with the fulfilment of security services as well as the control of the territory, with particular reference to rural and mountainous areas.
The Forestry Gendarmerie have as primary role to safeguarding woodlands, but also have other numerous and varied institutional tasks, which is part of a wider context of protection of the environment and the territory, human health, animal protection, flora and landscaping, conservation biodiversity. It is also charged to protect the Albanian National Parks, marine and other protected areas.
Some of important duties of the Forestry Gendarmerie are the control of implementation of the law on forests, pastures, protected areas, wild flora and fauna, hunting activities and other activities carried out in the national forests; the Gendarmerie also proposes the revocation of licenses when subjects act in violation of the relevant law. Finally, the Forestry Gendarmerie prevents and fights illegal exploitation and trading of wood material, crime in the forestry sector, pastures, protected areas and forests with special function, wild flora and fauna, medicinal, aromatic and ethereal herbs, forest and non-forest products of national forests fund, as well as any other activity contrary to the law.
The Forestry Gendarmerie is led by a Colonel, and it is organised on a Central Unit, with command and coordination tasks, and on three Forestry Battalions, each deployed within a Legion's boundary. Each Battalion is subdivided into an Investigative Unit (Platoon-level), in a Territorial Company (10 to 20 Stations), and in a Patrol Company, consisting of a varying number of roving Teams.

Gendarmerie Schools Command

The Gendarmerie Schools Command (Komandat e Shkollave të Xhandarmërisë) is the branch dealing with training and education of all Gendarmerie personnel. The Command is organized according to military patterns; the Gendarmerie Academy in Valona deals with officer training, while the two Cadet Gendarmes Schools, in Girocastro and Tirana, deal with troops training. The Subofficers training is carried out by the Gendarmerie Academy in Valona, which also operates the Subofficers School. The head of the Gendarmerie Schools Command is a Brigadier General and doubles as Commander of the Gendarmerie Academy.
As for the Italian P.S. organisation, Schools and Academy are strategically placed across the Country in order to provide and additional manpower reserve, in case of rebellions or uprisings.

Gendarmerie Academy

The Gendarmerie Academy is a public institution which aims at educating Officers of the Albanian Gendarmerie. The main mission of the Academy is to develop and transmit knowledge through the process of teaching and scientific research and to improve the professional standards by conducting university studies in the field of policing and security. The Academy also trains and specialises senior officers to management position and offer them knowledge on strategic analyses and planning.

Equipment

The Albanian Gendarmerie has both light and police-level equipment and paramilitary vehicles, in order to be able to counter threats to public order. Most of the vehicles in service are of Italian production, but some are produced in Albania.

Air vehicles

The Albanian Gendarmerie deploys a total of 12 helicopters:

• 3 x Agusta ET101 lift helicopter;
• 9 x Leonardo B212 patrol/utility helicopter.

Ground vehicles

The Albanian Gendarmerie uses several types of ground vehicles. All of them are Italian, both imported from Italy and built in Albania itself:

• Fiat 6616 infantry fighting vehicle;
• VTLM Lince multirole light vehicle;
• VRT Ombra reconnaissance vehicle;
• ACTL Iveco SM44 Heavy Truck 8x8;
• ACTL Iveco SM44 Heavy Truck 6x6;
• ACTL Iveco SM44 Light Truck 4x4;
• Iveco VM 90 multirole light vehicle;
• TT-12 armoured personnel carrier;
• De Tomasi Scirocco AR90 4x4 patrol car;
• Fiat Panda 4x4 patrol car;
• Alfa Romeo 156 patrol car.

Personal weapons

• Beretta AR70/90 assault rifle;
• PM12 submachine gun;
• Breda MIT11 light machine gun;
• Benelli M4 shotgun;
• Beretta 92 semiautomatic pistol.

Uniforms

The Albanian Gendarmerie wears dark blue uniforms, similar in cut and style to Italian uniforms. Contrary to the M.V.S.N. and to the Albanian Royal Guard, the Gendarmerie does not use the Sam Brown belt and features a red strip on their trousers.

• 

  Albanian Gendarmerie service uniform.

Issues

The Albanian Gendarmerie does not always enforce the law equally. Personal associations, political or criminal connections, poor infrastructure, or inadequate supervision often influence enforcement of laws. Low salaries, poor motivation and leadership contribute to occasional corruption and unprofessional behaviour. The Gendarmerie reportedly engage in abuse of suspects during arrest and interrogation. Sometimes, individuals arrested or detained by police have been exposed to sustained physical violence or even tortured.

Ranks and insignia

The Albanian Military Star.

The Albanian Gendarmerie is led by a Major General, and therefore there is no Lieutenant General; when the Italian Lieutenant General conducts his inspections and visits, he wears his Italian uniform. From a graphic point of view, the officer insignia pattern is closely modelled on the Italian one, with the Generals' insignia coming from a reform proposal for all the Generals' insignia, also in Italian Corps. All officer rank insignia feature the Star as basic component. Subofficers are the Albanian translation of Italian Marshals, and they are military subofficers like the Italian counterparts: their insignia have the horizontal stripes of the non-Italian subofficers. Finally, enlisted ranks do not have sleeve insignia but shoulder boards depicting their rank; the Albanian Gendarmerie is the only Corps which has such a rank system. Enlisted ranks are six, just as the Italian C.P.R. and Carabinieri.
As a whole, the Albanian Gendarmerie is a State military corps, just like the Royal Police Corps or the Royal Carabinieri, and is part of the Italian military system, although its State is the Kingdom of Albania, and not the Kingdom of Italy. In order to display this different affiliation, the Albanian Gendarmerie has an its own version of the Military Star. The Albanian Military Star actually is an Italian Military Star surmounted by an Helm of Skanderberg, the Albanian most important national hero. This symbol has been inherited by the Italian Kingdom of Albania (1939-1946), and it is considered by Albanian nationalists a proud distinction.

Albanian Gendarmerie military officers ranks and insignia
Albanian Gendarmerie rank	Nëntoger	Toger	Kapiten	Major	Nënkolonel	Kolonel	Gjeneralbrigad	Gjeneralmajor
English translation	Second Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier General	Major General
Royal Police Corps rank (also Italian translation)	Sottotenente	Tenente	Capitano	Maggiore	Tenente Colonnello	Colonnello	Brigadier Generale	Maggior Generale
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Sottotenente	Tenente	Capitano	Maggiore	Tenente Colonnello	Colonnello	Generale di Brigata	Generale di Divisione
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Second Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier	Major General
Shoulder board insignia

Albanian Gendarmerie Subofficers ranks and insignia
Albanian Gendarmerie rank	Nënzyrtar	Shefi Nënzyrtar	Nënzyrtar Klasa e Pare
Royal Police Corps rank	Maresciallo di P.S.	Maresciallo Capo di P.S.	Maresciallo Maggiore di P.S.
Italian translation	Sottufficiale	Sottufficiale Capo	Sottufficiale di Prima Classe
English translation	Subofficer	Chief Subofficer	Subofficer First Class
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Maresciallo	Maresciallo Capo	Maresciallo Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Warrant Officer Class Two	Warrant Officer Second Class	Warrant Officer First Class
Shoulder board insignia

Public Security military Enlisted ranks and insignia
Albanian Gendarmerie rank	Xhandar	Xhandar Klasa e Parë	Tetar	Shefi Tetar	Rreshster	Kapter i Parë
Royal Police Corps rank	Agente	Agente Scelto	Appuntato	Appuntato Capo	Vicebrigadiere	Brigadiere
English translation	Gendarme	Gendarme First Class	Corporal	Chief Corporal	Sergeant	Sergeant Major
Italian translation	Gendarme	Gendarme di Prima Classe	Caporale	Caporale Capo	Sergente	Sergente Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Soldato	Caporale	Caporale maggiore	Caporale Capo	Sergente	Sergente Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Private	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Staff Sergeant (senior echelon)
Shoulder board insignia

See also

• Law enforcement in the Italian Empire
• Albanian National Royal Guard (Italian Empire)