12th Brigade "Guadarrama"

DESCRIPTION: On a red field gules, two ribboned and fruit-laden branches, tied at the end with a bow in the colors of the National Flag, the right-hand laurel and the left-hand oak, vert (green), a silver tank pointing towards the right.

JUSTIFICATION: The traditional red background symbolizes the Army, while the tank conveys the armored nature of this Great Unit. The laurel symbolizes undying victory and the oak embodies strength and effort. All of this is epitomized in the concept of nation.

MOTTO: "FAST, HARD, AWAY" (APRISA, DURO, LEJOS).

Approved in Act No. 49 of the Report on Uniformity on October 6th, 1993.

 

HISTORICAL RECORD

At kilometer 18 of the highway from Madrid to Colmenar Viejo, in an area of gentle hills, with splendid views of the Sierra de Guadarrama, the 12th Brigade "Guadarrama" is stationed at its "El Goloso" base.

Our Brigade was created when the Army was reorganized by a Senior General Staff Directive of January 1965 and in accordance with the provisions of General Instruction No. 165/142, dated July 10th of the same year, of the Central General Staff. The 1st Armored Division "Brunete” was created with some of the Units of the disbanded 11th Pentomic Division "Guadarrama" and of the former Armored Division "Brunete", and it includes the 10th and 11th Mechanized Brigades and 12th Armored Brigade, as well as a Core of Divisional Troops.

The Armored Brigade was configured as a Great Elemental Unit, with an armored procedure, giving the Armored Division its character. It is constituted as a powerful, maneuvering Unit, capable of carrying out rapid, violent, deep and resolute actions. In this line, it constitutes a fundamental deterrent at the strategic level and is a decisive element at the operational and tactical level with projection capacity appropriate to its means.

It has adopted the motto "Fast, Hard, Away", which contains the purest essence of the Tank Units and reflects the characteristics of its maneuver. This motto perfectly describes all its actions.

The first Brigade Roster is of February 1st, 1966. For this reason, this day is considered to be its date of birth.

The Armored Brigade had the 31st Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Asturias" and 61st Armored Regiment "Alcázar de Toledo" as core elements, and as support elements, the 12th Self-Propelled Campaign Artillery Group, the 12th Mixed Battalion of Engineers and the 12th Logistics Group.

At the beginning of 1970, the regrouping of the entire Brigade was completed. The 61st "Alcázar de Toledo" Regiment was moved to El Goloso from Campamento. In 1974, the moment arrived for this Brigade to intervene in a real tactical action. The II/61 Tank Battalion, current Battalion "LEON", and the 12th Artillery Group moved to the Sahara, reaching its beaches on October 19th. On June 24th, 1975, the Brigade suffered its first casualties in the campaign.

With the Reorganization of 1985, the Base Services Unit "El Goloso" was created, a Unit charged with dealing with various services and tasks to support the Brigade. With the implementation of the North Plan, from February 1st, 1996, it received the new name of 12th Armored Infantry Brigade "Guadarrama", being included in the 1st Mechanized Division "Brunete", along with the 10th and 11th Mechanized Brigades.

On January 1st, 1997, the Brigade was reorganized, creating the “Headquarters Battalion”, in which the “Signals Company and the Headquarters Company” were integrated; the "Mixed Battalion of Engineers" was disbanded and the 12th Sapper Battalion was created in its place.

In 2006, a new deployment and organization of the Army Force was established and the Heavy Forces were constituted. Thus, what was called the “Armored Division” and later the “Mechanized Division” was renamed the “Heavy Forces Command”, and the 12th Armored Infantry Brigade “Guadarrama” was included therein.

On January 1st, 2017, and in compliance with communicated Resolution No. 02/2015 and General Standard 03/15, the "San Marcial" Division was created, based on the former Heavy Forces of the Army. The 66th Infantry Regiment "América" and the 12th Cavalry Group "Villaviciosa" were made to report to the 12th Brigade "Guadarrama". The 66th Infantry Regiment "America" ceased to be under the command of the 12th Brigade on December 31st, 2018.

The Brigade’s organization was modified by order of the Minister of Defense under Order DEF/1362/2018 of December 20th and General Regulation of the JEME 02/18. The change was made effective as of January 1st, 2020, and the 63rd "Barcelona" Regiment was made to report to the 12th Brigade and the 12th Cavalry Group "Villaviciosa" became part of the RAC 61.

By order DEF/708/2020 of July 27th, governing the basic organization of the Army, the 12th "Guadarrama" Brigade was made to report to the "Castillejos" Division as of January 1st, 2021, and the 63rd Regiment "Barcelona" ceased to belong to the 12th Brigade "Guadarrama" on the same date.

From December 1998 to date, the Brigade has traveled to numerous international settings, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, during Peacekeeping operations.

The unit has the most modern materials, such as "Pizarro" Infantry combat vehicles and "Leopardo 2E" combat tanks.