Kataeb Regulatory Forces

Kataeb Regulatory Forces قوى الكتائب النظامية
Participant in Lebanese civil war (1975-1990)
Kataeb Regulatory Forces logo (1961-1977)
Active	1961 – 1980
Groups	Kataeb Party, Lebanese Front
Leaders	William Hawi, Amin Gemayel, Bashir Gemayel
Headquarters	Achrafieh (Beirut), Bikfaya
Strength	15,000 fighters
Originated as	8,000 fighters
Allies	Lebanese Army, Army of Free Lebanon (AFL), Guardians of the Cedars (GoC), Tyous Team of Commandos (TTC), Al-Tanzim, Tigers Militia, Marada Brigade, Lebanese Youth Movement (MKG), Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Opponents	Lebanese National Movement (LNM), Tigers Militia, Marada Brigade, Lebanese Arab Army (LAA), Amal Movement, Lebanese Army, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Syrian Army

The Kataeb Regulatory Forces – KRF or RF (Arabic: قوى الكتائب النظامية | Quwwāt al-Katāʾib an-Niẓāmiyyah), Forces Regulatoires du Kataeb (FRK) in French were the military wing of the right-wing Lebanese Christian Kataeb Party, otherwise known as the 'Phalange', from 1961 to 1977. The Kataeb militia, which fought in the early years of the Lebanese civil war, was the predecessor of the Lebanese Forces.

The Phalange party militia was not only the largest and best organized political paramilitary force in Lebanon but also the oldest. It was founded in 1937 as the “Militants’ organization” by the President of the Party Pierre Gemayel and William Hawi, a Lebanese-American glass industrialist, who led them during the 1958 civil war. Fighting alongside the pro-government forces, the Phalangists defended the Metn region, a traditional Phalangist stronghold centered at the town of Bikfaya and the Gemayel family’ feudal seat, and kept the main roads connecting Beirut to that territory open, where the Gemayels held numerous commercial interests.

Disbanded in January 1961 by order of the Kataeb Party' Political Bureau, Hawi created in their place the Kataeb Regulatory Forces. In order to coordinate the activities of all Phalange paramilitary forces, the Political Bureau set up the Kataeb War Council (Arabic: Majliss al-Harbi) in 1970, with William Hawi being appointed as head. The seat of the Council was allocated at the Kataeb Party’s Headquarters at the heart of Achrafieh quarter in East Beirut and a quiet expansion of KRF units followed suit, complemented by the development of a training infrastructure. Two company-sized Special Forces units, the “1st Commando” and the “2nd Commando” were created in 1963, soon followed by the “Pierre Gemayel” squad (later a company) and a VIP protection squad. To this was added in 1973 another commando platoon (Arabic: Maghaweer) and a “Combat School” was secretly opened at Tabrieh, near Bsharri in the Keserwan District; another special unit, the “Bashir Gemayel brigade” – named after Pierre Gemayel’s youngest son, Bashir – was formed in the following year, absorbing the old “PG” company in the process.