The Royal Bodyguard (RBG) of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

is a part of the

Royal Bhutan Army The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA; dz, བསྟན་སྲུང་དམག་སྡེ་, bStan-srung dmag-sde) is a branch of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan responsible for maintaining the country's territorial integrity and sovereign ...

but independent as it is under the personal command of the

King of Bhutan The Druk Gyalpo (; 'Dragon King') is the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as ''Druk ...

and is in charge of the security of the

(currently

Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 21 February 1980) is the Druk Gyalpo (Dzongkha: Dragon King) of the Kingdom of Bhutan. After his ...

) and other members of the Royal Family. The strength of the force is more than one thousand soldiers, and it is the most elite unit of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan. The

commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

is Brigadier Pem Dorji. The soldiers are well trained and well equipped with the latest armaments and training in all fields such as

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

, etc. The Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan proved themselves during brief conflict with northeastern extremist groups camped in Bhutan and under the personal command of the then fourth king of Bhutan, as the guards had no casualties and spearheaded most of the attacks.

Former Commandant

Major General Dhendup Tshering was commissioned on 12 June 1971 from the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

. Prior to joining the Royal Bodyguard in 1973, he served in the Northern Borders. As a lieutenant colonel, he assumed the command of the Royal Bodyguard in 1988. In his 44 years of command, the general played a vital role in managing the anti-national crisis in 1990 and 2003 operations against the militants. The general is a recipient of Drakpoi Thugsey and Drakpoi Wangyel for his service to the Tsa-Wa-Sum.

Criticism

The RBG has come under fire for conducting arbitrary detention and torture against those who speak out against Bhutanese government affairs. As well as for murdering Nepalese living in the souths before driving them out of the country.

References

{{Reflist Military of Bhutan Bhutanese monarchy Guards regiments