The ''Brigada Especial Operativa Halcón'' (BEOH; Hawk Special Operations Brigade) is a

special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...

division of the

Buenos Aires Provincial Police The Buenos Aires Provincial Police (, informally ''Policía Bonaerense'') is the police service responsible for policing the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina. Organisation It is one of the biggest police services of Argentina, responsible for ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

History

Argentina did not possess a viable

counter-terrorist Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to com ...

capability until 1978, when it hosted the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. At that time, the military dictatorship ruling Argentina accepted the possibility that such a widely televised event was a likely forum for a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

incident. The result was the formation of a special counter-terrorist team, the ''Brigada Halcón''. This special operations group was involved in the " Ramallo massacre", when operatives from the ''Brigada Halcón'' shot dead one alleged bank robber and his two hostages.

Formation

Today, the unit is made up of seventy-five commandos, subdivided into fifteen-man tactical teams. Each team has two

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

s, one medic, one negotiator, an

explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

expert, a communications specialist, an intelligence specialist, and eight tactical assaulters. While many current members are veterans of the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

, the ''Brigada Halcón'' is under the operational control of the

federal police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

, under the direct command of the Buenos Aires Police Department.

Training

Initial training is divided into three two-month stages. Skills such as combat shooting, heliborne insertion, HALO/HAHO parachuting,

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

, sniping,

intelligence gathering Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or Confidentiality, confidential information (Intelligence (information), intelligence). A person who commits espionage on ...

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

, and offensive

driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...

are covered in this period. The unit also handles VIP protection and is also responsible for hijacked aircraft throughout the nation.

Equipment

''Brigada Halcón'' members use foreign weapons and gear, as well as locally manufactured protective gear and uniforms.

History

Formation

Training

Equipment

See also