Detaşamentul de Intervenţie Rapidă Detaşamentul Special de Protecţie şi Intervenţie ( Ex . Detaşamentul de Intervenţie Rapidă , DIR ) ( DSPI , The Special Detachment of Protection and Intervention ) of the Romanian Ministry of Defense is an elite special operations unit of the Romanian military . It should not be confused with the " Detaşamentul de Poliţie pentru Intervenţie Rapidă " ( DPIR / SPIR / DIR , Police Rapid Intervention Detachment ) of the Police Force . They are different units , with radically different capabilities and reporting structure . History . During the early 1990s , a very small special operations ( SOF ) detachment was born within the Romanian military . It was incorporated in what was at that time the 30th Guard Brigade , or " Brigada 30 Gardă " Mihai Viteazul " " . Referred to simply as " the special operations subunit " , this small detachment was relatively unknown , even among armed forces personnel . In a few years , the unit was renamed Detaşamentul pentru Protecţia Demnitarilor Militari ( DPDM , " Detachment for the Protection of Military Dignitaries " ) . DPDM continued to be part of the 30th Guard Brigade . In 1998 , the same year when the top - secret Grupul Antiterorist of the Foreign Intelligence Service ( SIE ) was born , the DPDM was given its current name , Detaşamentul de Intervenţie Rapidă , and starting with 2009 was renamed into " Detaşamentul Special de Protecţie şi Intervenţie " . In 2000 , DSPI was moved again , from the 30th Guard Brigade to the Military Police . This was followed 5 years later by the reduction of the 30th Guard Brigade and its transformation into a regiment . The number of DSPI operatives continued to grow , and the detachment reached company - size soon ( 145 members in 2003 ) . In December 2003 , the military , which had kept the detachment secret for six years , unveiled it in a public show on television . DSPI was presented as being a small detachment of carefully selected operatives used mainly to protect military VIPs in Romania , as well as foreign VIPs visiting the country . However , when interviewed by a reporter , a DSPI operative stated that he had participated in several operations abroad , along with similar units from other NATO countries . Captain Arthur Elisei also suggested that DSPI has been partially modeled after the British SAS ; the detachment has also trained with the Israeli Sayeret Mat ' kal and Italy ' s GIS ( Gruppo di Intervento Speciale ) . Organization . DSPI is a special unit inside the military , and is formed of highly skilled individuals . A very large percentage of its members are champions in martial arts , kickboxing , athletic disciplines and so on . DSPI was , until December 2003 , top secret . DSPI operatives operate both in small 4 - or 6 - man teams and in larger teams , depending on the task to be performed . Although the detachment ' s main missions are VIP protection and anti - terrorist intervention , the unit is also capable of hostage rescue , airborne / seaborne assault and DA ( Direct Action ) , which make it the Romanian equivalent of the British SAS , US Army ' s Delta Force or Israel ' s " Sayeret Mat ' kal " . DSPI is one of the three structures composing the Special Operations Command ( created in 2005 ) , the others being PSY OPS unit and the " Batalionul 1 Operaţii Speciale " ( Special Forces Battalion ) . Present , " Detaşamentul Special de Protecţie şi Intervenţie " is part of structure of the Direcţia Generală de Informaţii a Apărării . Weapons . Despite Romania being a NATO member , DSPI operatives continue to often sport AK - 47 rifles when engaged in public events ; however they are also equipped with a host of other weapons which are used according to the mission objectives :