The GNR Intervention Unit Protection and Relief Group (GIPS) of the Intervention Unit was awarded on 18th December at 10:30 am, in Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, by His Excellency the Prime Minister, Dr. António Costa, with the Distinguished Public Safety Services Gold Medal.
GIPS has as its specific mission the implementation of first-line prevention and intervention actions, throughout the national territory, in an emergency situation of protection and relief, particularly in cases of forest fires or hazardous materials, catastrophes and major accidents.
In order to carry out its mission, 584 military personnel have been deployed in 22 Air Force Centers, which carried out around 7,000 patrols and covered more than 700,000 kms during 2017. GIPS also carried out 4,403 helicopter based initial attacks of forest fires, having achieved a success rate of 98.03% and 449 extended land attacks, in a total of 1473 hours of intervention.
The military ceremony included a Military Parade and an exhibition of means of the various specialties of that Subunit.
The Distinguished Public Security Services Gold Medal intends to distinguish the subunit by the fulfilment of varied missions, with a high degree of complexity and visibility. These in many ways contribute to project the image of the Republican National Guard beyond borders, bringing honour and recognition to the country, and has thus has been publicly recognised