Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is a paramilitary force in Bangladesh. Mainly associated with guarding the borders of the country, this force is known by the Bangladeshi as “The Vigilant Sentinels of Our National Frontier”. The British had first organized the Ramgarh Local Battalion in 1795 by recruiting the native population. The battalion was succeeded by the Eastern Frontier Rifles, which guarded the frontier from 1891 to 1920, when it was disbanded. Border duties were assumed by the East Pakistan Rifles after the partition, after the independence of Bangladesh EPR became Bangladesh Rifles and finally after the mutiny of BDR it came to be known as BGB.
Apart from its primary task of protecting the borders, the members of Border Guard Bangladesh have taken part in other military operations. This force was vested with the additional task of checking smuggling in 1958. Its members took up arms in an organized manner against the Pakistan Army during the liberation war of 1971. Several members earned gallantry awards – for example, Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh and Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf earned the highest gallantry award, the Bir Sreshtha; 8 others were awarded the Bir Uttam, 40 other the, Bir Bikram and 91 the Bir Patik.
The BGB is headed by a Director General. The BGB administration and almost all its officers are Bangladesh Army officers.There are however, around 100 officers from BGB troops who rose to the rank of officers. They can be promoted as high as Deputy Director equivalent to Colonel in the Army. Its total manpower is 40,000, organized into a central headquarters, 14 sectors, battalions and border outposts, mainly along the borders.