Typically, the armed forces of various countries are divided into first-line combat units and second-line internal guard units.
The first-line combat units are easy to understand, that is, the navy, land and air force and other services are specifically responsible for fighting foreign enemies; then what is the second-line internal guard force?
In fact, it is the armed forces that undertake the task of safeguarding the country's internal security.
It is only due to the differences in the national conditions of each country that the tasks, titles, and affiliations of the Internal Guard Forces are not the same.
For example, China's internal guard is called the Armed Police Force, Russia's Internal Guard is called the National Guard, the American Internal Guard is called the National Guard, and the French Internal Guard is called the Gendarmerie...
So let's compare the internal guard forces of China, the United States and Russia, what is the difference between the armed police force, the National Guard, and the National Guard? Who is the top leader of the three units?
If we talk about the rank of the first in command of the three units, only the commander-in-chief of the Russian National Guard has the highest rank: China's armed police force belonged to the deputy theater-level unit at the beginning of its formation, and the commander and political commissar of the armed police force is still equipped with the rank of lieutenant general.
Former commander of the Armed Police, General Wang Ning
However, in December 1996, due to the increase in the number and number of troops, as well as the increasingly important strategic position of the armed police force, the deputy theater level of the armed police force was promoted to a theater level unit, and the military and political officers all wore the rank of general. Yang Guoping, then commander of the Armed Police, became the first general of the Armed Police of the Republic, and since then, all commanders of the Armed Police have been generals.
For the National Guard of the United States, its first officer is not called the commander of the National Guard, but the director of the National Guard, whose rank is a four-star general, such as the current director of the National Guard, Daniel Hokansen, who is the same rank as the chairman of the U.S. Military Joint Staff and the chief of staff of the service.
Gen. Daniel Hokansen, Director of the National Guard
Under the U.S. National Guard, there are also Army National Guard and Air National Guard, of which the commander of the Army National Guard is at the rank of lieutenant general, and the current Director of the National Guard, Daniel Hokansen, is promoted from the position of Lieutenant General of the Army National Guard; while the Commander of the Air National Guard is only a major general, for example, the current Air National Guard Commander is transferred from the position of Commander of the Colorado National Guard.
The russian National Guard, formerly known as the Russian Interior Guard, whose top command was only the rank of general, was later re-established in Russia to avoid a repeat of the overthrow of Ukrainian President Yanukovych in 2014, Putin expanded the Interior Guard into the National Guard in 2016, and the commander-in-chief of the National Guard was General Zollotov, a bodyguard and captain who had followed President Putin for more than two decades.
The commander-in-chief of the Russian National Guard, Major General Zlotov
Therefore, it can be seen from the above that before 2016, the "Internal Guard Forces" of China, the United States and Russia were actually generals, and later after Russia changed the Internal Guard to the National Guard, the highest rank of the Russian Internal Guard was raised to the same rank as the Russian Defense Minister and the Chief of the General Staff.
In terms of the affiliation of the three units, the Russian National Guard has the highest status.
Why?
Let's look at the changes in the status of the Russian National Guard before and after the restructuring. Before the restructuring in 2016, Russia's Internal Guard Army was subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, although the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations were under the direct management of the President, rather than managed by the Cabinet of the Russian Prime Minister, but the Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Guard Was also the First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After the restructuring, the Internal Guard of the Ministry of internal affairs was reorganized into the National Guard Army, which was separated from the Ministry of internal affairs, and the National Guard army was no longer subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but was directly managed by the president and became a ministerial unit at the same level as the Ministry of internal affairs; the commander-in-chief of the National Guard was upgraded from a general to a general, no longer concurrently serving as the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was directly responsible to President Putin, equivalent to the forbidden army directly managed by the emperor in ancient times.
Before the restructuring of China's armed police force in 2018, it belonged to a dual leadership system, which belonged to both the command of the Central Military Commission and the leadership of the State Council, and the minister of public security concurrently served as the first political commissar of the armed police force. Moreover, governments at all levels can direct the mobilization of local armed police units under their jurisdiction.
However, after the restructuring, the armed police force was separated from the jurisdiction of the State Council and was directly under the command of the Central Military Commission. The commander of the Armed Police Force is not a member of the Central Military Commission and is not a member of the leading body of the Central Military Commission, the highest military leading body in our country. Local governments also have no right to mobilize armed police forces anymore.
As for the National Guard, although the four-star general of the National Guard is a member of the U.S. Military Joint Board of Staff under the leadership of the Department of Defense, the Department of Defense has no authority to lead and command the National Guard, but only has the right to direct him.
The real leadership of the National Guard is in the hands of the state governments, directly under the deputy governors of the states who are in charge of the affairs of the National Guard, and the main task is to safeguard the security interests of the national and local governments, maintain social stability and participate in emergency rescue and disaster relief;
Each of the 50 U.S. states, washington, and three overseas possessions has their own National Guard units, with the State National Guard at the behest of the Governor, the Washington City National Guard at the behest of the President of the United States, and the National Guard of the U.S. Overseas Territories at the behest of the Governor. At the same time, the President of the United States has the right to call all National Guards.
Since the National Guard is also the reserve force of the US military, once it comes to wartime, the president can transfer the National Guard to the ranks of the active duty U.S. regular army in a single word, which means that the US Department of Defense also has the right to lead the National Guard in wartime.
In terms of the duties and tasks of the three units, it is the fiercest of the Russian National Guard, in addition to his power as the Home Guard to forcibly enter the house under legal circumstances, to fight terrorism by force, to suppress riots, prison riots, etc., there is also a high degree of right to fire, as long as Russian citizens or law enforcement personnel themselves are directly threatened, the Guards can directly fire without warning.
The U.S. National Guard has three main responsibilities, namely home defense, disaster relief, and overseas operations. Disaster relief, for example, in 2005, hurricane Katrina swept through the United States, and the Air National Guard sent more than 3,000 aircraft, carrying more than 30,000 passengers and more than 11,000 tons of urgently needed supplies.
In addition to overseas operations, the duties and tasks of the armed police force also include the tasks of homeland defense and disaster relief, but also the responsibility of safeguarding rights at sea. The Coast Guard force newly included in the armed police establishment is the armed forces that specialize in guarding China's coastal rights and interests.