Swiss Guard SAK?

[Rich S]

Seriously, do members of the Papal Swiss Guard carry a SAK? If so, what kind? I saw a program on TV a while back about the Swiss Guard: they are actually Swiss soldiers, specially selected, and have training as good or better than Navy Seals and the Secret Service combined.

Rich

[enki_ck]

Well as they are Swiss soldiers, they carry an issued SAK. I'd say the new 2008 Soldier.

I saw a documentary a while back and they were carrying the old Soldier back then (Alox Pioneer configuration without keyring) but that was prior to 2008.

http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Soldier+2008

[ColoSwiss]

The Swiss Guard gift shop offers a Vic Spartan. Don't know what the actual Guards use.

As for the Swiss Guards, they have to be former Swiss military, but are employed by the Holy See (Vatican City).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard

[stressmaster5000]

There is a Papal Swiss Guard SAK with metal inlay I saw among SB Roger's photos from a Swiss museum. Can not find it right now.

[Smaug]

As for the Swiss Guards, they have to be former Swiss military, but are employed by the Holy See (Vatican City).

Does Switzerland actually have a full-time military, besides the militia? If not, doesn't it mean that just about any Swiss man who has served his obligatory army time would qualify?

I guess not, if the bit about being highly trained is correct. (trained as well as Navy SEAL and Secret Service combined sounds like an urban legend)

[Rich S]

The part about the training was actually what was shown on the TV mentioned. Assume it is true.
Rich

[Styerman]

They are like many ceremonial units , better than competant . Their modern weapons , are mostly Sig , or Sig Sauer . I would suspect they would have the 08" Soldier .

Who knows , maybe a Mil. Spec. Spirit , ot two .

Chris

[Etherealicer]

As for the Swiss Guards, they have to be former Swiss military, but are employed by the Holy See (Vatican City).

Does Switzerland actually have a full-time military, besides the militia? If not, doesn't it mean that just about any Swiss man who has served his obligatory army time would qualify?

I guess not, if the bit about being highly trained is correct. (trained as well as Navy SEAL and Secret Service combined sounds like an urban legend)

First the easy question:
In addition to being Swiss, you also need to be catholic and at least 1.8m tall. And during the military evaluation you need to get lots of points in athletics (I think its only second to the rescue soldiers which need the highest score) and you get a psychological evaluation.

As for the training:
I would not be surprised if they had similar training as the Secret Service, the also provide a similar function. As for the quality I cannot attest to that. But the one I met was pretty impressive (Brilliant observation skills)

Switzerland does have a full time military. I'm not up do date on my military politics but I believe its mostly the high ranking officers and special units (like fighter pilots, no basics like infantry). All though full time is a bit of a stretch as the Swiss air force has office hours 9 to 5. Outside of these hours Swiss air-space is patrolled/protected by the French Air Force

[deputy tom]

They are like many ceremonial units , better than competant . Their modern weapons , are mostly Sig , or Sig Sauer . I would suspect they would have the 08" Soldier .

Who knows , maybe a Mil. Spec. Spirit , ot two .

Chris

In addition to Sigs, they also carry Glock 19s. As far as which knife they use I don't know but would like to. tom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard

[anon]

In addition to Sigs, they also carry Glock 19s. As far as which knife they use I don't know but would like to. tom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard

Didn't they used to carry Browning GP-35s and Uzis(FN?) up until the 90s or so?

[sLaughterMed]

Switzerland does have a full time military. I'm not up do date on my military politics but I believe its mostly the high ranking officers and special units (like fighter pilots, no basics like infantry). All though full time is a bit of a stretch as the Swiss air force has office hours 9 to 5. Outside of these hours Swiss air-space is patrolled/protected by the French Air Force

And here I thought the military arrangement between the Japanese and the US was strange... Seriously? Office hours? That sounds like a pretty cushy military posting to me. I assume the Swiss still have staff on the ground monitoring things, just with French pilots in the sky, yes?

[deputy tom]

In addition to Sigs, they also carry Glock 19s. As far as which knife they use I don't know but would like to. tom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard

Didn't they used to carry Browning GP-35s and Uzis(FN?) up until the 90s or so?

I didn't see anything to indicate that in the wiki link. tom. 

[enki_ck]

Switzerland does have a full time military. I'm not up do date on my military politics but I believe its mostly the high ranking officers and special units (like fighter pilots, no basics like infantry). All though full time is a bit of a stretch as the Swiss air force has office hours 9 to 5. Outside of these hours Swiss air-space is patrolled/protected by the French Air Force

And here I thought the military arrangement between the Japanese and the US was strange... Seriously? Office hours? That sounds like a pretty cushy military posting to me. I assume the Swiss still have staff on the ground monitoring things, just with French pilots in the sky, yes?

Don't worry, no one is walking into Switzerland that easily. Up until recently, a year or so ago, they had all of the bridges, roads, railways, ... leading into the country rigged with tons of explosives. For real.