These had been established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to separate black rural civilians from guerillas during the Rhodesian Bush War.

Rather than an entirely static rural force it carried out patrols and ambushes and guarded key urban points and lines of communication.

[1] The protected villages were initially guarded by personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which had been augmented with white national service men, who employed black district security assistants.

[4]: 81 [5] The unit took over half of the Ministry of Internal Affairs allocation of national servicemen and also absorbed many of its district security assistants as guards.

[2]: 95  The Guard Force focused on former black members of the Rhodesian African Rifles for recruitment to positions as local commanders.

[7] Brigadier W. A. Godwin was appointed to command in February 1977, as Rawlins became director of psychological warfare in the Rhodesian Army.

From 1978 the force became responsible for protection of white-owned farms and later took over guard duties from the police at a number of fixed sites and lines of communication.

Peter Baxter, writing in 2014, described it as a "a modestly trained paramilitary unit" that was intended for rearline duties but often found itself in action as the protected villages became targets for attack by the guerrillas, who were less keen on engaging the Rhodesian Army.

[15] As the inhabitants of the villages endured poor living conditions and an often tyrannical rule by the Guard Force, they often welcomed their "liberation" by the guerillas.

[16] Historian Paul L. Moorcraft states that the Guard Force "often committed crimes against the populations they were charged with protecting" and concurs with Baxter's assessment of them as a rearline unit: "had they stood against a determined, well-trained enemy they would have had little chance".

[12] In June 1978 a combined Protection Brigade was formed of territorial Rhodesian Defence Regiment troops and members of the Guard Force, in an attempt to use veteran officers of the former to bring up standards in the latter.