National Guard (Nicaragua)
Encyclopedia
In Nicaragua
, the National Guard was a militia
and a gendarmerie
created during the occupation of that country by the United States from 1909 to 1933. It became notorious for human rights
abuses and corruption
under the regime of the Somoza family.
requested that the U.S. Marines
(equally interested in central control) remain in Nicaragua until an indigenous security force could be trained; the Nicaraguan government hired a retired US General to set up the Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua. US forces left in 1925, but after a brief resurgence of violence, returned in 1926, taking over command of the National Guard until 1933, when it was returned to Nicaraguan control under the government of Juan Bautista Sacasa
.
Sacasa, under political pressure from José María Moncada, who had been a leader of a rebel faction which later joined the government after U.S. mediation efforts, appointed Anastasio Somoza García
as chief director of the National Guard. Somoza Garcia was trusted as a friend of Moncada, a supporter of the liberal revolt, and a nephew of Sacasa. He was trusted by the U.S. from his service as a translator to Henry Stimson during the 1927 peace conference, schooling in the U.S., and training under the U.S. Marines (apparently, as an officer in the National Guard).
After the departure of U.S. troops in 1933 (at the depth of the Great Depression
), the Sacasa government opened negotiations with the rebel faction of Augusto César Sandino
. Sandino insisted on the dissolution of the National Guard, leading Somoza Garcia to react ruthlessly by arresting and executing Sandino, in violation of a safe passage agreement Sacasa had given the rebel leader. The National Guard then swiftly defeated Sandino's forces, further weakening the Sacasa government. By this time the force had grown to some 3000 troops.
After using the influence of the National Guard to support Sacasa's re-election in 1936, Somoza Garcia flouted civilian power, installing military cronies in key civilian posts and forcing Sacasa to resign that June. With an ally appointed interim president, Somoza Garcia then resigned from the National Guard position of chief director in order to meet constitutional requirements to run for the presidency himself. Breaking with the party, he established the Partido Liberal Nacionalista (PLN, National Liberal Party) and won the election with a remarkable 107,201 votes to 108. On January 1, 1937, President Somoza Garcia reappointed himself chief director of the National Guard, beginning a military dictatorship that would last four decades.
act and under the terms of the Rio Treaty, but did not publicly approve of Somoza Garcia's extraconstitutional governance. The National Guard, which had been limited to small arms and was largely composed of rifle companies, began to acquire surplus equipment such as tanks and artillery.
The regime permitted nominal political dissent, and, in 1947, agreed to elections, hoping to mollify both United States and local opponents, but quickly deposed the winning candidate in a coup d'etat
that brought strong disapproval from the United States. Under a new constitution, an assembly-appointed president, and a strong anti-communist stance relations improved. Nevertheless Somoza Garcia was the power behind the curtain and an increasing target of attempted coups and assassination; he even developed a personal bodyguard separate from the National Guard. In 1956, Somoza Garcia was fatally shot by a young dissident poet.
Succeeded in the presidency by one son, Luis Somoza Debayle
, he was succeeded as head of the National Guard by another, Anastasio Somoza Debayle
, a graduate of the United States Military Academy
at West Point
. Brutal repression of political opposition followed. In 1957, the National Guard was involved in the only external military action of its existence, a brief border skirmish with Honduras
. The National Guard cooperated with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
in the preparation for the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion
of Cuba, permitting its bases to be used for training and staging areas. In 1965, the National Guard participated in a peacekeeping
operation in the Dominican Republic
under the aegis of the OAS
.
Even as trusted friends of the family succeeded Luis in the presidency, his brother remained firmly in control of the National Guard. Eventually, in 1967, Anastasio himself was elected president; Luis soon died of a heart attack, leaving Anastasio in sole control. Without his brother's technocratic influence, Anastasio's corrupt ways were unrestrained. The 1972 earthquake, which severely damaged the capital of Managua
, brought further evidence of corruption, as members of the National Guard openly looted damaged businesses and misappropriated international aid, and Somoza Debayle's personal wealth soared during the reconstruction period. In 1974, the growing Sandinista movement FSLN (named after the assassinated Sandino) succeeded in forcing the government to accept an amnesty, after which Somoza Debayle declared a state of siege and the National Guard launched a violent and repressive reaction. Though the FSLN was weakened, so was the regime.
After the assassination of opposition leader among the business elites Pedro Chamorro in January 1978, the Nicaraguan public reacted with a series of nationwide strikes and increasing political unrest against the regime. The National Guard was re-organized and expanded, growing to a force of more than 10,000, with localized security companies dispersed throughout the country and modern specialized units such as mechanized and engineer battalions, a Presidential Guard, and a reinforced tactical battalion. The strengthened National Guard continued to tighten its grip but opposition only grew broader and fiercer. A humiliating hostage crisis ensued in August 1978 when Sandinista rebels led by "Comandante Cero (Commander Zero)" future Contra leader Eden Pastora took over the National Assembly. This hostage crisis was the second major action launched by the Sandinistas.
By March 1979, the Somoza regime faced an open civil war as well as being cut off from all aid by the United States, including blocking of a shipment of weapons and ammunition coming from Israel. With ammunition, spare parts, fuel, and medical supplies running dangerously low the increasingly hard-pressed National Guard could no longer sustain a prolonged fight against the rebels. Already plagued by shaky morale, and weakened by casualties and desertions after seven weeks of battle, GN units were gradually forced to fall back to Managua.
At this point, on 17 July 1979 Somoza Debayle resigned from office and fled the country by plane to Miami, FL., followed suit by almost all the senior military officers of the GN General Staff. Somoza’s successor as head of state, interim President Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños
opened negotiations for a cease-fire but at the same time tried to strengthen his political position by filling with younger colonels and lieutenants colonels the depleted National Guard´s General Staff, now headed by the new Chief Director Lt. Col. (later General) Federico Mejía González. The 12,000 Guardsmen under his command, now besieged in the government quarter of Tiscapa hill at Managua and Managua International Airport
, and at the remaining holdouts throughout the country were exhorted to continue the fight.
After negotiations with the Sandinistas broke down due to his refusal to resign on 18 July, President Urcuyo fled to Guatemala, leaving in charge GN Chief Director General Mejía who tried unsuccessfully to pursue conversations for the cease-fire. Faced with the rejection by the Sandinistas of his list of demands – which included retention of all property belonging to individual officers – in exchange for a surrender, on the dawn of 19 July 1979, General Mejía and most of the high-ranking officers of the General Staff left Nicaragua by plane, leaving their men leaderless.
Early in the morning of that same day as 5,000 Sandinista guerrillas and 10,000 assorted "people's militia" took control of Managua's city center and called for a cease-fire, the last senior commander of the National Guard, Lt. Col. Fulgencio Largaespada Baez finally bowed to the inevitable and ordered his demoralised and exhausted soldiers to lay down their arms. Upon the conclusion of the civil war, 7,500 Guardsmen were taken prisoner – with many former Guards suspected of violating human rights being held in detention by the Sandinistas –, while another 4,500 officers and enlisted men fled to neighbouring Honduras
, Costa Rica
and Guatemala
to organize an armed opposition force to the new Nicaraguan government, which would later become known as the Contras
.
The Sandinista junta replaced the disbanded Guardia Nacional with two new forces, the Ejército Popular Sandinista (EPS, Sandinista Popular Army
) and the Policía Sandinista (Sandinista Police). Eventually, alumni of the National Guard would be reconstituted, with the support of the CIA and Honduras, as the Contra
rebels.
(US Officer’s belt, M1921) was frequently worn with the tunic. A tropical white linen dress uniform
very similar to the US Navy’s Service Dress White or "chokers", was adopted by the Guardia and naval service officers and Military Academy cadets. Comprising a high-collar tunic, slacks and white shoes plus a matching peaked cap, the tunic was worn with removable exaggerated twisted cord epaulettes on formal occasions whilst enlisted ranks wore exaggerated black bluff chevrons instead.
Starting in the mid-1930s, Guardia officers began being issued with the M1937 or M1942 American peaked caps, in either light tropical khaki and Olive Drab wool cloth, which slowly began to replace the campaign hat in service dress. The khaki US M1934 sidecap (AKA 'garrison cap
') was also supplied to GN personnel during the 1930-40s.
Guardia uniforms underwent some changes in the 1950s and 60s, with officers adopting the US M1942 light khaki service dress, comprising tunic, slacks and a matching peaked cap with brown-japanned chinstrap and peak, or black dress cap with gold chinstrap, black peak with gold leaf embroidery for field and general ranks (the GN Chief Director had additional French-style embroidery on the cap band), and silver triangular national cap badge. For formal occasions, senior officers adopted a black ceremonial version of their M1942 service dress with gold embroidered insignia whilst the other ranks’ retained the old khaki ‘Chino’ uniform as barrack dress or for walking-out, usually worn with the khaki sidecap. The ‘Sam Browne’ belt was discontinued, and brown (black for the other GN branches) leather shoes replaced the earlier breeches and riding boots.
Nicaraguan Air Force
(FAGN) officers received a royal blue
US Air Force-style M1947 service dress, worn with a light blue shirt and royal blue tie on formal occasions; a short-sleeved shirt and matching royal blue sidecap was worn by officers and other ranks in active service. The Nicaraguan Navy
retained both the white dress and khaki uniforms, with officers’ adopting a modified version of the M1942 tunic with removable shoulder boards, which was worn with a light khaki shirt and black tie on service dress.
Nicaraguan National Police (PNGN) officers’ continued to wear as service dress the ‘Chino’ khaki shirt (in long or short sleeve versions) and trousers with shoes or combat boots, whereas female constables were given a khaki short-sleeved shirt and assorted knee-length skirt worn with a flat-top, short snapped-brimmed white hat. Their male counterparts retained the ‘Montana Peak’ Hat as standard headgear, though the latter also began to be replaced by a light khaki M1954-type Visor Cap; Police officers on traffic control duties were given a white-topped version. It never superseded interely the earlier headgear however, for photos taken in Managua at the time of the 1972 earthquake do show local policemen going on patrol still wearing the old ‘Montana’ Hat. While on patrol duties, the M1912 black leather Sam Browne belt with pistol holster and assorted magazine pouches (US GUU-1/P model), handcuff pouch and M1944 baton in its respective carrier was worn.
Around the late 1960s Guardia units began to receive surplus American olive green tropical uniforms, the US Army OG-107
coton sateen utilities and the M1967 Jungle Utility Uniform. Elite formations within the GN received camouflage versions of these same uniforms, first in “Duck Hunter” pattern, soon followed by “Tigerstripe
” (ERDL Thai Tadpole type) and “Highland
” (ERDL 1948 Leaf pattern, aka “Woodland pattern”). National Police BECAT teams had their own distinct “Tan leaf” pattern, which consisted of puzzle leaf-shapes in medium brown, light brown, and sandy-grey on a tan background.
Standard headgear for all-ranks in the Guardia was either the US Army M1943 'Walker cap' or the tropical OG-106 Baseball cap
, partially replaced on the field by US Army ‘Boonie hats’ or US Marines’ utility caps in both olive green and ERDL camouflage versions. Specialized units authorized berets wore them pulled to the right, American-fashion, with both US and Israeli patterns being used.
Black leather combat boots were also provided by the Americans who issued both the early US Army M-1962 ‘McNamara’ model and the M-1967 model with ‘ripple’ pattern rubbler sole; the US Army Jungle boot
of Vietnam War
fame does not appear to have been much favoured by Nicaraguan soldiers and Police officers alike, who preferred to wear the black leather ones even while operating in tropical jungle or marshy ground environments.
Armoured crews, depending on the vehicle they manned, received either the old World War II US M1938 ‘Gruyére’ composite fiber-and-leather crash helmet or the Vietnam
-era fibreglass ‘bone dome’ CVC
helmet though neither models offered any satisfactory protection against Shrapnel or small arms rounds. Guardia’s military and Nacional Police personnel were also issued with flak jackets, either the Ballistic Nylon
US M-1952 and M-1952/69 ‘Half-collar’ versions or the Israeli-produced Kevlar
Rabintex Ltd.
Type III RAV 200 Protective Vest (SHAHPATS).
Web gear was supplied by the Americans, who provided to the early Guardia infantry companies the khaki
web M-1910 infantry equipment in all of its versions (M-1917/18 and later World War II/ Korean War
patterns). With the full introduction of semi-automatic and automatic small-arms, however, the GN and Police adopted both the US Army M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment
(LBE) in khaki
cotton canvas and the M-1967 Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment
(MLCE) in OG nylon
; some photos do show that the All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment
(ALICE), an upgrade of the latter, was also given to some Guardia troops in 1978-79. Usually, personnel armed with M-1s and M16s tended to be issued with American web gear whereas those soldiers or policemen issued Galils or UZI SMGs received the IDF
green nylon
EPHOD Combat Vest instead.
s, horizontal linked brass bars for company officers and vertically placed gilded or silvered stars for field officers. The sequence however was slightly different, with Sergeants’ ranks being limited to two only; Captains were identified by three bars instead of two as per in the US Armed Services, whilst Majors had a five-point gilded star in lieu of a leaf. Interestingly, National Guard rank insignia, from Subteniente to Coronel, resembled a US antecedent—but that of the Confederate States Army
.
There were also some differences in colour and nomenclature according to the branches of service: Ground Forces
’ NCOs had yellow on dark-green chevrons, the Air Force personnel wore white on royal blue ground forces’ rank insignia whilst the Navy’s Seamen and Petty Officers’ ranks were identical to the other branches of the Guardia, but Line Officers had US Navy-style rank insignia on removable navy blue
shoulder boards instead.
followed more closely the American practice. The ground forces officers’ service dress tunic had the triangular national cap badge on the collar and US-style brass lapel insignia: crossed rifles – infantry
; crossed cavalry sabres – armour
; crossed cannons – artillery
; castle – engineers and signals, whilst pilot-qualified officers of the Air Force had the winged propeller badge on the lapels.
On the olive green or camouflage combat uniforms, officers’ wore cloth subdued or black metal pin-on rank insignia on the right collar, branch insignia on the left, and NCOs’ yellow chevrons on an olive green background. A subdued name-tape was worn over the right breast pocket, the ‘Guardia’ national title on the left, and full-colour or subdued unit patches and shoulder titles on both sleeves. For parade in field dress branch-colour neck scarfs were worn, being light blue for infantry and EEBI ‘Commandos’, black for armour, red for artillery, yellow for engineers and signals, and apple green for the GN General Staff.
, who provided since the late 1920s everything that the Guardia used, from uniforms and boots to rifles, artillery and vehicles. However, starting in the early 1950s, the Somozas made consistent efforts to diversify their sources of military hardware and supplies in a hope to reduce their dependence from the US. The majority of its weaponry until the mid-1970s consisted of US-made surplus ‘hand-me-downs’ from both world wars, Korea
and Vietnam
, partially supplemented by more modern equipment either donated or sold by Israel
, Spain
, Argentina
and South Africa
, particularly after US aid was cut in 1978. Other countries like Italy
, Germany
, Portugal
, Paraguay
, Sweden
, and the Philippines
were also involved in providing some form of covert aid or acted as brokers in secret arms deals.
(BAR) M1919A2 US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) light machine-gun – the GN also appears to have received the American-made version of the famed World War I British
-made Lewis gun
.303 (7.7mm), the Savage Model 1917 LMG chambered for the US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) cartridge –, with officers and NCOs receiving the Thompson M1928A1 US .45 caliber (11.4mm) sub-machinegun, as well as the Colt M1911 .45 caliber (11.4mm) automatic pistol
as personal sidearm.
In the 1940s-50s the GN received surplus American infantry weapons of World War II/Korean War
-vintage – M1/M2 US .30 carbines (7.62 x 33mm) and M1 ‘Garand’ US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) semi-automatic rifles replaced the earlier bolt-action ‘Springfields’, with Thompson M1A1 and M3 Grease Gun sub-machinegun models in US .45 caliber (11.4mm) the older Thompson M1928A1 model. Although the popular Colt pistol was retained, Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolvers in .38 Special were also adopted.
Heavy machine guns, in the form of Browning
M1919A4 US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) and the larger M2HB .50 Browning (12.7 x 99mm) were added to the Guardia's arsenal.
Assault rifles began to be adopted towards the end of the 1960s, though they never displaced entirely the earlier weaponry, such as the ‘Garand’ rifle which remained the weapon of choice for soldiers serving in the Guardia’s infamous firing squads and the security companies, who employed it to disperse demonstrations. Nevertheless, by 1978-79 most GN infantry formations had either the Belgian FN FAL
7.62 x 51mm NATO or US M16A1 5.56 x 45mm assault rifles, with elite units receiving the Israel
i-made Galil SAR and ARM variants in 7.62 x 51mm which was adopted in the mid-1970s. At squad level, the Belgium-made FN MAG
58 and US M60
light machine guns both in 7.62 x 51mm NATO, replaced the obsolete BAR and Savage models though the heavier Brownings’ were retained as platoon and company’ machine guns. The Israeli 9mm UZI sub-machinegun was also given to armoured crews, Police BECAT teams and EEBI “Commando
” troops, who were also issued the US M40A1 Sniper rifle
7.62 x 51mm (militarised version of the civilian Remington 700
) and the Ithaca
Model 37 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.
Handgrenades were supplied by the Americans, who provided M-59 ‘baseball’ Grenades, M-26A1 Fragmentation Grenades, M-34 White Phosphorus and M-18 Colored Smoke Grenades. The Nicaraguan infantryman was also provided with two types of portable rocket weapons, the shoulder-fired US M79
‘Blooper’ 40mm single-shot grenade launcher and the expendable anti-tank, one-shot US M72
66mm LAW.
81mm; some selected elite troops even received the Israeli-designed Soltam
M65 120mm heavy mortar. In addition, they were also issued US M20
75mm, M67
90mm and M40
106mm recoilless rifles. The field artillery battery was provided with US M101A1 150 mm towed Howitzers whereas the Anti-Aircraft battery operated US Maxson M45 Quadmount turrets on towed wheeled trailers and Israeli-supplied Hispano-Suiza HS.404
20mm autocannons mounted on the TCM-20 turret configuration. Usually installed on the back of cross-country vehicles, such weapon systems proved useful in the direct fire supporting role, particularly against fortified positions and to root out snipers from urban buildings.
It is also rumored that the Anti-Aircraft battery received from Israel in 1977-78 a unspecified number of surplus US-made General Dynamics
FIM-43 Redeye
man-portable surface-to-air missile
s (SAM).
M4A3E8 (76) and M4A3E8 (105) Sherman tanks, four M3A1 Stuart light tanks, and 40 T17E1 M6 Staghound armoured cars of Israeli origin (some had their turrets removed and replaced by a 30. or 50. cal Browning HMG mount instead). In addition, two obsolete L3/33 tankette
s acquired from Italy
in the mid-1930s were reportedly held in reserve, but only one was still kept in running conditions by 1979.
Apart from a mere 10 M2 Half Track Car
s, the Guardia suffered from a chronic shortage of light armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for its infantry units, forcing them to rely on their extensive fleet of transport and liaison vehicles. These ranged from old World War II-vintage Willys
Jeeps, US Willys M38A1 MD jeeps, Spanish Santana 88 Ligero Militar jeeps, Land Rover
Series III model and Toyota Land Cruiser light pickups, to Spanish VIASA-Ebro trucks
“Campeador” one-ton pickups, Dodge M37 - 3/4 ton 1953 utility trucks, Israeli ("Nun-Nun") M325 Command Cars and Mercedes-Benz
Unimog
406 light trucks. Heavy transport vehicles were also employed, ranging from older World War II GMC CCKW
2½ ton and 1-1/2 ton Chevrolet G506 trucks
to newer US M35A2 2-1/2 ton cargo trucks and Spanish Pegaso
3046 heavy duty trucks, which the GN received in both civilian and military versions.
Besides being used as troop carriers these vehicles also doubled as ‘gun-trucks’, being fitted with heavy machine-guns, recoilless rifles and AA autocannons. Moreover, their lack of protection rendered them highly vulnerable to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or small-arms fire, and many were lost together with their crews in 1979 due to intense street fighting and ambushes in rural areas.
Commandeered tracked Caterpillar
or wheeled civilian Bulldozers of American and Spanish origin were also employed by the Guardia during the battles for Masaya
and Managua to clear paths on rebel-held urban neighbourhoods by demolishing buildings turned into bunkers by the guerrillas.
General Anastasio Somoza Debayle
(aka ‘Tachito’). The GN was primarily organized for internal security and counterinsurgency (COIN) operations rather than national defense, with most infantry units being assigned static garrison duties, and consequently its conventional military value was very low. Out of this total some 10,000-12,500 served in the ground forces proper, organized into one Presidential Guard battalion, one armoured battalion, one mechanized infantry
battalion, one mechanized company, one engineer battalion, one Military Police
battalion, one field artillery battery and one antiaircraft battery, plus sixteen security companies. All above mentioned units were deployed in traditional Spanish colonial fashion in fortress-like Quarteles (barracks-cum-garrisons) at the main cities, including the national capital Managua
.
The Headquarters of the GN’s General Staff
was placed at the heart of the government quarter of Tiscapa Hill near downtown Managua, allocated in a underground bunker
-style complex built after the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake
; the quarter’s adjacent facilities also housed the main offices’ of the Guardia’s own administration, signals, engineering, medical, logistics and military justice support services, and the main military schools.
Managua was also home to most of the GN’s main tactical units such as the Batallón de la Guardia Presidencial (Presidential Guard Battalion), the Primero Batallón Blindado (1st Armoured Battalion), the Batallón de Combate General Somoza (BCGS, General Somoza Combat Battalion), the Batallón de Ingeniería (Engineer Battalion), the Batallón de Policía Militar (Military Police Battalion), and the Artillery Batteries.
The Compañías de Seguridad de la Guardia Nacional (CSGN, Security Companies for short) were dispersed throughout the country’s 16 provinces (Spanish
: Departamentos), being allocated one per each in the provincial capitals of Boaco
(Boaco), Jinotepe
(Carazo
), Chinandega
(Chinandega), Juigalpa (Chontales), Estelí
(Estelí), Granada
(Granada), Jinotega
(Jinotega), León
(León), Madriz
(Somoto), Masaya
(Masaya), Matagalpa
(Matagalpa), Ocotal
(Nueva Segovia), Rivas (Rivas), San Carlos
(Río San Juan) and Bluefields
(Zelaya).
FAGN main air elements at the time consisted of four squadrons – one attack, one helio, one transport and one advanced training – provided with a mixed inventory of aircraft of various types, mostly of US, Israeli, British, Canadian and Spanish origin, the majority being propeller
-driven. All FAGN aircraft and personnel were concentrated at the military airbase adjacent to the Mercedes International Airport at Managua
, which also housed the Aviation School.
s ('Dabur-1'), plus an unknown number of older US sea- and rivercraft of unspecified type, presumably of World War II
-vintage. Main MG-GN naval bases were situated at the coastal towns of Corinto (Chinandega
) on the Pacific coast
and Puerto Cabezas
(Zelaya) on the Caribbean coast, with secondary naval stations set up at San Juan del Sur
(Rivas
) and El Bluff
near Bluefields
(Zelaya).
numbering some 9,000-10,000 male and female uniformed constables. Most of its lighty-armed personnel were concentrated in the main cities (Managua, Leon, Matagalpa and Masaya) on police duties, or assigned to the Brigadas Especiales contra Actos de Terrorismo (BECAT, Special Counter-insurgency Brigades). This was an urban rapid-reaction, anti-terrorist unit closely modelled on SWAT
, whose members received camouflage uniforms and Israeli helmets and flak vests, being armed with UZI SMGs, M-16s, pump-action shotguns and sniper rifles. Recognizable by their M38A1 MD Jeeps with wire-cutters installed on front and painted in blue-and-white National Police colours, BECAT teams were frequently employed in raids at Nicaraguan urban slums in search for hidden guerrillas, and quickly earned an unenviable reputation for brutality.
, in armed jeeps and gun-trucks plus two small artillery and armoured car platoons.
at the Inter-American Military Academy (aka “School of the Americas”) at Fort Gulick
in the Panama Canal Zone
, in the Psychological and Special Warfare Academy at Fort Bragg, and at the Inter-American Defence College in Washington, DC.
and Staff College
of the Guardia Nacional. Modelled after the West Point Academy, the AMN was initially staffed by a cadre of US Army instructors headed by Brigadier-General Charles L. Mullins (1939–1942), himself a West Point graduate. He was succeeded as Director of the AMN by other three US Army senior officers, Brigadier-General Fred T. Cruse (1942–1943), Brigadier-General Lee Roy Bartlet (1943–1946) and Brigadier-General John F. Greco (1947) until GN Infantry Colonel Anastasio Somoza Debayle
was appointed its first Nicaraguan-born Director in 1948.
upon its return from the United States
after attending the American school for psychological and special warfare at Fort Bragg
. Initially attached to the 3rd company of the General Somoza Combat Battalion and headquartered at Tiscapa Hill just outside Managua
, the EEBI was an indigenous Special Forces
training center modelled after Fort Bragg, and was tasked of training the Guardia’s own elite anti-guerrilla 'Commandos', the ‘Black Berets’. Inspired on the US Special Forces (USSF), Chilean Army
Commandos’ and Brazilian Army
Paratroopers’ training programs, the School’s own special curriculum placed emphasis on counterinsurgency. Advanced courses ranged from basic light infantry
skills, jungle combat and survival to sniper
, light and heavy weapons (mortars
and artillery
), demolitions, ‘Commando’ operations and intelligence, reconnaissance
(Ranger), communications, medical, airborne
and even light armor tactics. Ex-USSF and exiled South Vietnamese LLDB
instructors conducted most of the training, though the School’s teaching staff is said to have included anti-Castro Cuban exiles, Guatemalans and Chileans, as well as Israeli and German mercenaries.
productions, all set during the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution
, the first being the 1980 German movie The Uprising shot on location at Nicaragua. This was followed in 1983 by the Hollywood movies Last Plane Out
and Under Fire
; the later was actually shot at Mexico
with Mexican Army
soldiers portraying both Guardia’ troops and FSLN guerrillas.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, the National Guard was a militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
and a gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
created during the occupation of that country by the United States from 1909 to 1933. It became notorious for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses and corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
under the regime of the Somoza family.
Creation
Prior to the U.S. occupation, the long period of civil strife had encouraged the development of a variety of private armies. The freshly elected government of President Carlos José SolórzanoCarlos José Solórzano
Carlos José Solórzano Gutiérrez was the President of Nicaragua between 1 January 1925 and 14 March 1926.-Biography:...
requested that the U.S. Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
(equally interested in central control) remain in Nicaragua until an indigenous security force could be trained; the Nicaraguan government hired a retired US General to set up the Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua. US forces left in 1925, but after a brief resurgence of violence, returned in 1926, taking over command of the National Guard until 1933, when it was returned to Nicaraguan control under the government of Juan Bautista Sacasa
Juan Bautista Sacasa
Juan Bautista Sacasa Sacasa was the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1933 to 9 June 1936. He was the eldest son of Roberto Sacasa, 44th and 46th President of Nicaragua, and wife and cousin Ángela Sacasa Cuadra...
.
Sacasa, under political pressure from José María Moncada, who had been a leader of a rebel faction which later joined the government after U.S. mediation efforts, appointed Anastasio Somoza García
Anastasio Somoza García
Anastasio Somoza García was officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination.-Biography:Somoza was born in San Marcos, Carazo Department in Nicaragua, the son of...
as chief director of the National Guard. Somoza Garcia was trusted as a friend of Moncada, a supporter of the liberal revolt, and a nephew of Sacasa. He was trusted by the U.S. from his service as a translator to Henry Stimson during the 1927 peace conference, schooling in the U.S., and training under the U.S. Marines (apparently, as an officer in the National Guard).
After the departure of U.S. troops in 1933 (at the depth of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
), the Sacasa government opened negotiations with the rebel faction of Augusto César Sandino
Augusto César Sandino
Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion against the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua between 1927 and 1933...
. Sandino insisted on the dissolution of the National Guard, leading Somoza Garcia to react ruthlessly by arresting and executing Sandino, in violation of a safe passage agreement Sacasa had given the rebel leader. The National Guard then swiftly defeated Sandino's forces, further weakening the Sacasa government. By this time the force had grown to some 3000 troops.
After using the influence of the National Guard to support Sacasa's re-election in 1936, Somoza Garcia flouted civilian power, installing military cronies in key civilian posts and forcing Sacasa to resign that June. With an ally appointed interim president, Somoza Garcia then resigned from the National Guard position of chief director in order to meet constitutional requirements to run for the presidency himself. Breaking with the party, he established the Partido Liberal Nacionalista (PLN, National Liberal Party) and won the election with a remarkable 107,201 votes to 108. On January 1, 1937, President Somoza Garcia reappointed himself chief director of the National Guard, beginning a military dictatorship that would last four decades.
Somoza regime
Somoza Garcia rapidly took complete control of Nicaraguan institutions including the National Guard, promoting allies and purging enemies. The National Guard was the backbone of a growing network of control, eventually including telecommunications, railroads, and key civilian agencies from customs to hospitals to tax collection. In 1938, Somoza Garcia appointed a civilian assembly that rubber-stamped constitutional changes allowing him to stay in office; his personal fortune expanded as he and his family took over key areas of the private economy. Increasingly pervasive corruption comparable to a gangland mob, with bribery, kickbacks, and sometimes violent enforcement, protected the power of the Somoza family at all levels. The U.S. supported the National Guard through the World War II Lend-LeaseLend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
act and under the terms of the Rio Treaty, but did not publicly approve of Somoza Garcia's extraconstitutional governance. The National Guard, which had been limited to small arms and was largely composed of rifle companies, began to acquire surplus equipment such as tanks and artillery.
The regime permitted nominal political dissent, and, in 1947, agreed to elections, hoping to mollify both United States and local opponents, but quickly deposed the winning candidate in a coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
that brought strong disapproval from the United States. Under a new constitution, an assembly-appointed president, and a strong anti-communist stance relations improved. Nevertheless Somoza Garcia was the power behind the curtain and an increasing target of attempted coups and assassination; he even developed a personal bodyguard separate from the National Guard. In 1956, Somoza Garcia was fatally shot by a young dissident poet.
Succeeded in the presidency by one son, Luis Somoza Debayle
Luis Somoza Debayle
Luis Anastasio Somoza Debayle was the President of Nicaragua from 29 September 1956 to 1 May 1963, but was effectively dictator of the country from 1956 until his death. He was born in León.Luis was educated at LSU...
, he was succeeded as head of the National Guard by another, Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...
, a graduate of the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
. Brutal repression of political opposition followed. In 1957, the National Guard was involved in the only external military action of its existence, a brief border skirmish with Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. The National Guard cooperated with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
in the preparation for the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
of Cuba, permitting its bases to be used for training and staging areas. In 1965, the National Guard participated in a peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
operation in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
under the aegis of the OAS
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
.
Even as trusted friends of the family succeeded Luis in the presidency, his brother remained firmly in control of the National Guard. Eventually, in 1967, Anastasio himself was elected president; Luis soon died of a heart attack, leaving Anastasio in sole control. Without his brother's technocratic influence, Anastasio's corrupt ways were unrestrained. The 1972 earthquake, which severely damaged the capital of Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
, brought further evidence of corruption, as members of the National Guard openly looted damaged businesses and misappropriated international aid, and Somoza Debayle's personal wealth soared during the reconstruction period. In 1974, the growing Sandinista movement FSLN (named after the assassinated Sandino) succeeded in forcing the government to accept an amnesty, after which Somoza Debayle declared a state of siege and the National Guard launched a violent and repressive reaction. Though the FSLN was weakened, so was the regime.
Collapse
Direct U.S. military aid ended in 1978, although the U.S. still attempted to pursue a policy of "Somocismo sin Somoza," effectively allowing the power structure of the National Guard to prevent a Sandinista victory while removing the increasingly unpopular Somoza from power. The Carter Administration sent Somoza a congratulatory note from Carter after his disputed victory in the 1978 elections.After the assassination of opposition leader among the business elites Pedro Chamorro in January 1978, the Nicaraguan public reacted with a series of nationwide strikes and increasing political unrest against the regime. The National Guard was re-organized and expanded, growing to a force of more than 10,000, with localized security companies dispersed throughout the country and modern specialized units such as mechanized and engineer battalions, a Presidential Guard, and a reinforced tactical battalion. The strengthened National Guard continued to tighten its grip but opposition only grew broader and fiercer. A humiliating hostage crisis ensued in August 1978 when Sandinista rebels led by "Comandante Cero (Commander Zero)" future Contra leader Eden Pastora took over the National Assembly. This hostage crisis was the second major action launched by the Sandinistas.
By March 1979, the Somoza regime faced an open civil war as well as being cut off from all aid by the United States, including blocking of a shipment of weapons and ammunition coming from Israel. With ammunition, spare parts, fuel, and medical supplies running dangerously low the increasingly hard-pressed National Guard could no longer sustain a prolonged fight against the rebels. Already plagued by shaky morale, and weakened by casualties and desertions after seven weeks of battle, GN units were gradually forced to fall back to Managua.
At this point, on 17 July 1979 Somoza Debayle resigned from office and fled the country by plane to Miami, FL., followed suit by almost all the senior military officers of the GN General Staff. Somoza’s successor as head of state, interim President Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños
Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños
Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños was Nicaraguan politician, who served as Vice President of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from May 1967 to May 1972. He was born in Rivas and died in Managua....
opened negotiations for a cease-fire but at the same time tried to strengthen his political position by filling with younger colonels and lieutenants colonels the depleted National Guard´s General Staff, now headed by the new Chief Director Lt. Col. (later General) Federico Mejía González. The 12,000 Guardsmen under his command, now besieged in the government quarter of Tiscapa hill at Managua and Managua International Airport
Managua International Airport
Augusto C. Sandino International Airport is the main airport in Managua, Nicaragua. Inaugurated as Las Mercedes Airport in 1968 it was later renamed Augusto C. Sandino International Airport during the Sandinista regime in 1980s and again in 2001 to Managua International Airport by then president...
, and at the remaining holdouts throughout the country were exhorted to continue the fight.
After negotiations with the Sandinistas broke down due to his refusal to resign on 18 July, President Urcuyo fled to Guatemala, leaving in charge GN Chief Director General Mejía who tried unsuccessfully to pursue conversations for the cease-fire. Faced with the rejection by the Sandinistas of his list of demands – which included retention of all property belonging to individual officers – in exchange for a surrender, on the dawn of 19 July 1979, General Mejía and most of the high-ranking officers of the General Staff left Nicaragua by plane, leaving their men leaderless.
Early in the morning of that same day as 5,000 Sandinista guerrillas and 10,000 assorted "people's militia" took control of Managua's city center and called for a cease-fire, the last senior commander of the National Guard, Lt. Col. Fulgencio Largaespada Baez finally bowed to the inevitable and ordered his demoralised and exhausted soldiers to lay down their arms. Upon the conclusion of the civil war, 7,500 Guardsmen were taken prisoner – with many former Guards suspected of violating human rights being held in detention by the Sandinistas –, while another 4,500 officers and enlisted men fled to neighbouring Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
to organize an armed opposition force to the new Nicaraguan government, which would later become known as the Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
.
The Sandinista junta replaced the disbanded Guardia Nacional with two new forces, the Ejército Popular Sandinista (EPS, Sandinista Popular Army
Sandinista Popular Army
The Sandinista Popular Army was the military established in 1979 by the new Sandinista government to replace the National Guard, following the overthow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In post-Sandinista Nicaragua, it has been remolded into the National Army of Nicaragua. Joaquín Cuadra was chief of...
) and the Policía Sandinista (Sandinista Police). Eventually, alumni of the National Guard would be reconstituted, with the support of the CIA and Honduras, as the Contra
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
rebels.
List of Chief Directors
- Major GeneralMajor GeneralMajor general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Anastasio Somoza GarcíaAnastasio Somoza GarcíaAnastasio Somoza García was officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination.-Biography:Somoza was born in San Marcos, Carazo Department in Nicaragua, the son of...
(1928–1956) - General Anastasio Somoza DebayleAnastasio Somoza DebayleAnastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...
(1956–1979) - General Federico Mejía González (July 1979)
- Lieutenant-Colonel Fulgencio Largaespada Baez (July 1979)
Uniforms and insignia
Standard uniform for all ranks since the late 1920s was the US Army tropical ‘Chino’ khaki cotton shirt and pants, worn with the US M1912 Campaign Hat (aka ‘Montana Peak Hat’) in Olive Drab felt with the triangular Nicaraguan national cap badge. Officers and sometimes NCOs wore in the field breeches and riding boots or the US M1931 cavalry laced boots whereas the other ranks’ had their trousers trucked into US-type canvas (or leather) gaiters and ankle boots. A four-pocket, open-collar beltless tunic modelled after the US M1926 pattern was adopted by Guardia Officers' and worn with a khaki shirt and tie, replaced by a white shirt and black tie on formal occasions; in active and formal service, a brown leather Sam Browne beltSam Browne belt
The Sam Browne belt is a wide belt, usually leather, which is supported by a strap going diagonally over the right shoulder. It is most often seen as part of a military or police uniform.-Origins:...
(US Officer’s belt, M1921) was frequently worn with the tunic. A tropical white linen dress uniform
Dress uniform
Dress uniform , is the most formal military uniform, typically worn at ceremonies, official receptions, and other special occasions; with order insignias and full size medals...
very similar to the US Navy’s Service Dress White or "chokers", was adopted by the Guardia and naval service officers and Military Academy cadets. Comprising a high-collar tunic, slacks and white shoes plus a matching peaked cap, the tunic was worn with removable exaggerated twisted cord epaulettes on formal occasions whilst enlisted ranks wore exaggerated black bluff chevrons instead.
Starting in the mid-1930s, Guardia officers began being issued with the M1937 or M1942 American peaked caps, in either light tropical khaki and Olive Drab wool cloth, which slowly began to replace the campaign hat in service dress. The khaki US M1934 sidecap (AKA 'garrison cap
Garrison cap
A Side cap is a foldable military cap with straight sides and a creased or hollow crown sloping to the back where it is parted. It is known as a garrison cap , a wedge cap , or officially field service cap, , but it is more generally known as the side cap.It follows the style which...
') was also supplied to GN personnel during the 1930-40s.
Guardia uniforms underwent some changes in the 1950s and 60s, with officers adopting the US M1942 light khaki service dress, comprising tunic, slacks and a matching peaked cap with brown-japanned chinstrap and peak, or black dress cap with gold chinstrap, black peak with gold leaf embroidery for field and general ranks (the GN Chief Director had additional French-style embroidery on the cap band), and silver triangular national cap badge. For formal occasions, senior officers adopted a black ceremonial version of their M1942 service dress with gold embroidered insignia whilst the other ranks’ retained the old khaki ‘Chino’ uniform as barrack dress or for walking-out, usually worn with the khaki sidecap. The ‘Sam Browne’ belt was discontinued, and brown (black for the other GN branches) leather shoes replaced the earlier breeches and riding boots.
Nicaraguan Air Force
Nicaraguan Air Force
The Nicaraguan Air Force continues the former Sandinista air units. Before 1979 the Nicaraguan National Guard had some air units .-Air force:...
(FAGN) officers received a royal blue
Royal blue
Royal blue describes both a bright shade and a dark shade of azure blue. It is said to have been invented by millers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of which won a competition to make a dress for the British queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz....
US Air Force-style M1947 service dress, worn with a light blue shirt and royal blue tie on formal occasions; a short-sleeved shirt and matching royal blue sidecap was worn by officers and other ranks in active service. The Nicaraguan Navy
Nicaraguan Navy
The Nicaraguan Navy of Somoza's National Guard consisted of a few old patrol boats in the early 1980s. The Sandinistas acquired more modern vessels, although none were larger than fifty tons....
retained both the white dress and khaki uniforms, with officers’ adopting a modified version of the M1942 tunic with removable shoulder boards, which was worn with a light khaki shirt and black tie on service dress.
Nicaraguan National Police (PNGN) officers’ continued to wear as service dress the ‘Chino’ khaki shirt (in long or short sleeve versions) and trousers with shoes or combat boots, whereas female constables were given a khaki short-sleeved shirt and assorted knee-length skirt worn with a flat-top, short snapped-brimmed white hat. Their male counterparts retained the ‘Montana Peak’ Hat as standard headgear, though the latter also began to be replaced by a light khaki M1954-type Visor Cap; Police officers on traffic control duties were given a white-topped version. It never superseded interely the earlier headgear however, for photos taken in Managua at the time of the 1972 earthquake do show local policemen going on patrol still wearing the old ‘Montana’ Hat. While on patrol duties, the M1912 black leather Sam Browne belt with pistol holster and assorted magazine pouches (US GUU-1/P model), handcuff pouch and M1944 baton in its respective carrier was worn.
Around the late 1960s Guardia units began to receive surplus American olive green tropical uniforms, the US Army OG-107
OG-107
OG-107 utilities were the basic work uniform of all branches of the American Military from 1952 until finally being discontinued in 1989. The designation came from the United States Army's color code Olive Green 107, which was a gray green.-History:...
coton sateen utilities and the M1967 Jungle Utility Uniform. Elite formations within the GN received camouflage versions of these same uniforms, first in “Duck Hunter” pattern, soon followed by “Tigerstripe
Tigerstripe
Tigerstripe is the name of a group of camouflage patterns developed for close-range use in dense jungle during jungle warfare by the South Vietnamese Armed Forces/US Forces. It derives its name from its resemblance to a tiger's stripes...
” (ERDL Thai Tadpole type) and “Highland
ERDL pattern
ERDL pattern is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories in 1948. It was not issued to elite reconnaissance and special operations units until early 1967, during the Vietnam War....
” (ERDL 1948 Leaf pattern, aka “Woodland pattern”). National Police BECAT teams had their own distinct “Tan leaf” pattern, which consisted of puzzle leaf-shapes in medium brown, light brown, and sandy-grey on a tan background.
Standard headgear for all-ranks in the Guardia was either the US Army M1943 'Walker cap' or the tropical OG-106 Baseball cap
Baseball cap
A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded stiff brim. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams ,...
, partially replaced on the field by US Army ‘Boonie hats’ or US Marines’ utility caps in both olive green and ERDL camouflage versions. Specialized units authorized berets wore them pulled to the right, American-fashion, with both US and Israeli patterns being used.
Black leather combat boots were also provided by the Americans who issued both the early US Army M-1962 ‘McNamara’ model and the M-1967 model with ‘ripple’ pattern rubbler sole; the US Army Jungle boot
Jungle boot
Jungle boots are a type of combat boot designed for use in jungle warfare or in hot, wet and humid environments, where a standard leather combat boot would be uncomfortable or unsuitable to wear...
of Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
fame does not appear to have been much favoured by Nicaraguan soldiers and Police officers alike, who preferred to wear the black leather ones even while operating in tropical jungle or marshy ground environments.
Helmets and web gear
The combat helmets worn by the Guardia and Nacional Police were the US steel M-1 issued with a ‘Mitchell pattern’ camouflage cover and the Israeli-made Orlite OR-201 ballistic helmet, which began to replace the earlier M-1 in 1977. Period photos however, do show GN soldiers within the same units wearing side-by-side both US and Israeli types, often worn plain without camo covers.Armoured crews, depending on the vehicle they manned, received either the old World War II US M1938 ‘Gruyére’ composite fiber-and-leather crash helmet or the Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
-era fibreglass ‘bone dome’ CVC
CVC
- Science and Industry :*Compact Video Cassette - a quarter-inch video cassette format*Card Verification Code - a security feature on credit cards*Card Verifiable Certificate - a format for digital certificates usable by smart cards...
helmet though neither models offered any satisfactory protection against Shrapnel or small arms rounds. Guardia’s military and Nacional Police personnel were also issued with flak jackets, either the Ballistic Nylon
Ballistic nylon
Ballistic nylon is a thick, tough, synthetic nylon fabric used for a variety of applications. Ballistic nylon was originally developed by the DuPont corporation as a material for flak jackets to be worn by World War II airmen...
US M-1952 and M-1952/69 ‘Half-collar’ versions or the Israeli-produced Kevlar
Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
Rabintex Ltd.
Type III RAV 200 Protective Vest (SHAHPATS).
Web gear was supplied by the Americans, who provided to the early Guardia infantry companies the khaki
Khaki
This article is about the fabric. For the color, see Khaki . Kaki, another name for the persimmon, is often misspelled "Khaki".Khaki is a type of fabric or the color of such fabric...
web M-1910 infantry equipment in all of its versions (M-1917/18 and later World War II/ Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
patterns). With the full introduction of semi-automatic and automatic small-arms, however, the GN and Police adopted both the US Army M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment
M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment
The M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment [LCE], also known as the Individual Load-Carrying Equipment [ILCE], replaced the M-1910 olive drab cotton canvas and web individual equipment which had remained in service, with various modifications since that year...
(LBE) in khaki
Khaki
This article is about the fabric. For the color, see Khaki . Kaki, another name for the persimmon, is often misspelled "Khaki".Khaki is a type of fabric or the color of such fabric...
cotton canvas and the M-1967 Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment
Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment
Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment, also known as M-1967 Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment or MLCE, was introduced into United States Army service in 1968 during the Vietnam War...
(MLCE) in OG nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
; some photos do show that the All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment
All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment
The All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment, or ALICE system, was adopted as United States Army Standard A on 17 January 1973 to replace the M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment [LCE] and M-1967 Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment [MLCE]. ALICE gear is still in some limited use in the US...
(ALICE), an upgrade of the latter, was also given to some Guardia troops in 1978-79. Usually, personnel armed with M-1s and M16s tended to be issued with American web gear whereas those soldiers or policemen issued Galils or UZI SMGs received the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
green nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
EPHOD Combat Vest instead.
Rank insignia
The Nicaraguan National Guard rank chart was directly inspired by the US Army, with chevrons pointed upwards for NCONon-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s, horizontal linked brass bars for company officers and vertically placed gilded or silvered stars for field officers. The sequence however was slightly different, with Sergeants’ ranks being limited to two only; Captains were identified by three bars instead of two as per in the US Armed Services, whilst Majors had a five-point gilded star in lieu of a leaf. Interestingly, National Guard rank insignia, from Subteniente to Coronel, resembled a US antecedent—but that of the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
.
There were also some differences in colour and nomenclature according to the branches of service: Ground Forces
Ground Forces
The Hungarian Ground Forces are one of the branches of the Hungarian armed forces. It is the army which handles Ground activities and troops including artillery, tanks, APC's, IFV's and ground support...
’ NCOs had yellow on dark-green chevrons, the Air Force personnel wore white on royal blue ground forces’ rank insignia whilst the Navy’s Seamen and Petty Officers’ ranks were identical to the other branches of the Guardia, but Line Officers had US Navy-style rank insignia on removable navy blue
Navy blue
Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue which almost appears as black. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world....
shoulder boards instead.
Guardia ranks (Ground Forces and National Police)
- Soldado – PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
(no insignia) - Soldado de primera – Private 1st class (one pointed chevron)
- Cabo – CorporalCorporalCorporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
(two pointed chevrons) - Sargento Segundo – SergeantSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
(three pointed chevrons) - Sargento Primero – Staff SergeantStaff SergeantStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
(three pointed chevrons above one arc) - Subteniente – 2nd Lieutenant (one bar)
- Teniente – 1st Lieutenant (two bars)
- Capitán – Captain (three bars)
- Mayor – MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
(one five-pointed star) - Teniente-Coronel – Lieutenant-Colonel (two five-pointed stars)
- Coronel – ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
(three five-pointed stars) - General de Brigada – Brigadier-General (four five-pointed stars)
- General de División (Director-Jefe de la Guardia Nacional) – GeneralGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
/National Guard Chief Director (five silvered five-pointed stars)
Air Force ranks
- Soldado – Airman basicAirman BasicAirman Basic is the lowest enlisted rank in the United States Air Force , immediately below Airman. The pay grade for Airman Basic is E-1.As opposed to all other USAF enlisted and officer ranks, Airman Basic has no rank insignia affiliated...
(no insignia) - Soldado de primera – AirmanAirmanAn airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force , it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank...
(one pointed chevron) - Cabo – Airman 1st class (two pointed chevrons)
- Sargento Segundo – Staff SergeantStaff SergeantStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
(three pointed chevrons) - Sargento Primero – Master SergeantMaster SergeantA master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in some armed forces.-Israel Defense Forces:Rav samal rishoninsignia IDF...
(three pointed chevrons above one arc) - Subteniente Piloto Aviador – Flight 2nd Lieutenant (one bar)
- Teniente Piloto Aviador – Flight LieutenantFlight LieutenantFlight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
(two bars) - Capitán Piloto Aviador – Flight Captain/Squadron LeaderSquadron LeaderSquadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
(three bars) - Mayor Piloto Aviador – Flight Major/Wing CommanderWing Commander (rank)Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
(one five-pointed star) - Teniente-Coronel Piloto Aviador – Flight Lieutenant-Colonel/Group CaptainGroup CaptainGroup captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
(two five-pointed stars) - Coronel Piloto Aviador – Flight Colonel/Air CommodoreAir CommodoreAir commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
(three five-pointed stars)
Navy ranks
- Soldado – SeamanSeamanSeaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....
(no insignia) - Soldado de primera – Able seamanAble seamanAn able seaman is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination of these roles.-Watchstander:...
(one pointed chevron) - Cabo – Seaman 1st class (two pointed chevrons)
- Sargento Segundo – Petty Officer 2nd classPetty Officer 2nd ClassPetty officer, 2nd class, PO2, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of master seaman and its equivalents, and junior to petty officer 1st-class and its equivalents...
(three pointed chevrons) - Sargento Primero – Chief Petty OfficerChief Petty OfficerA chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...
(three pointed chevrons above one arc) - Alférez – EnsignEnsignAn ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...
(one five-pointed star above one narrow bar) - Teniente de Corbeta – Lieutenant junior grade (one five-pointed star above one bar)
- Teniente de Fragata – Senior LieutenantSenior lieutenantSenior lieutenant is a military grade between a lieutenant and a captain. Sometimes senior lieutenant is called a first lieutenant....
(one five-pointed star above one narrow and one wider bars) - Teniente de Navío – LieutenantLieutenant (naval)LieutenantThe pronunciation of lieutenant is generally split between or , generally in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries, and or , generally associated with the United States. See lieutenant. is a commissioned officer rank in many nations' navies...
(one five-pointed star above two bars) - Capitán de Corbeta – Lieutenant CommanderLieutenant CommanderLieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
(one five-pointed star above one narrow between two wider bars) - Capitán de Fragata – CommanderCommanderCommander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
(one five-pointed star above three bars) - Capitán de Navío – CaptainCaptain (naval)Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
(one five-pointed star above four bars) - Contra Almirante – CommodoreCommodore (rank)Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
(one five-pointed star above one very wide bar)
Branch insignia
Branch insigniaUnited States Army branch insignia
Branch insignia of the United States Army refers to military emblems that may be worn on the uniform of the United States Army to denote membership in a particular area of expertise and series of functional areas...
followed more closely the American practice. The ground forces officers’ service dress tunic had the triangular national cap badge on the collar and US-style brass lapel insignia: crossed rifles – infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
; crossed cavalry sabres – armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
; crossed cannons – artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
; castle – engineers and signals, whilst pilot-qualified officers of the Air Force had the winged propeller badge on the lapels.
On the olive green or camouflage combat uniforms, officers’ wore cloth subdued or black metal pin-on rank insignia on the right collar, branch insignia on the left, and NCOs’ yellow chevrons on an olive green background. A subdued name-tape was worn over the right breast pocket, the ‘Guardia’ national title on the left, and full-colour or subdued unit patches and shoulder titles on both sleeves. For parade in field dress branch-colour neck scarfs were worn, being light blue for infantry and EEBI ‘Commandos’, black for armour, red for artillery, yellow for engineers and signals, and apple green for the GN General Staff.
Weapons and equipment
Throughout its existence, the Nicaraguan National Guard received military assistance mainly from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, who provided since the late 1920s everything that the Guardia used, from uniforms and boots to rifles, artillery and vehicles. However, starting in the early 1950s, the Somozas made consistent efforts to diversify their sources of military hardware and supplies in a hope to reduce their dependence from the US. The majority of its weaponry until the mid-1970s consisted of US-made surplus ‘hand-me-downs’ from both world wars, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, partially supplemented by more modern equipment either donated or sold by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, particularly after US aid was cut in 1978. Other countries like Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
were also involved in providing some form of covert aid or acted as brokers in secret arms deals.
Small-arms
The standard issue weapon of the Guardia Nacional (GN) infantry companies at the early 1930s was the ‘Springfield’ US M1903 .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) bolt-action rifle. The squad weapon was the Browning Automatic RifleBrowning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle was a family of United States automatic rifles and light machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge and designed...
(BAR) M1919A2 US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) light machine-gun – the GN also appears to have received the American-made version of the famed World War I British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-made Lewis gun
Lewis Gun
The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
.303 (7.7mm), the Savage Model 1917 LMG chambered for the US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) cartridge –, with officers and NCOs receiving the Thompson M1928A1 US .45 caliber (11.4mm) sub-machinegun, as well as the Colt M1911 .45 caliber (11.4mm) automatic pistol
Machine pistol
A machine pistol is a handgun-style, often magazine-fed and self-loading firearm, capable of fully automatic or burst fire, and normally chambered for pistol cartridges. The term is a literal translation of Maschinenpistole, the German term for a hand-held automatic weapon...
as personal sidearm.
In the 1940s-50s the GN received surplus American infantry weapons of World War II/Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
-vintage – M1/M2 US .30 carbines (7.62 x 33mm) and M1 ‘Garand’ US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) semi-automatic rifles replaced the earlier bolt-action ‘Springfields’, with Thompson M1A1 and M3 Grease Gun sub-machinegun models in US .45 caliber (11.4mm) the older Thompson M1928A1 model. Although the popular Colt pistol was retained, Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolvers in .38 Special were also adopted.
Heavy machine guns, in the form of Browning
M1919 Browning machine gun
The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...
M1919A4 US .30-06 (7.62 x 63mm) and the larger M2HB .50 Browning (12.7 x 99mm) were added to the Guardia's arsenal.
Assault rifles began to be adopted towards the end of the 1960s, though they never displaced entirely the earlier weaponry, such as the ‘Garand’ rifle which remained the weapon of choice for soldiers serving in the Guardia’s infamous firing squads and the security companies, who employed it to disperse demonstrations. Nevertheless, by 1978-79 most GN infantry formations had either the Belgian FN FAL
FN FAL
The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...
7.62 x 51mm NATO or US M16A1 5.56 x 45mm assault rifles, with elite units receiving the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-made Galil SAR and ARM variants in 7.62 x 51mm which was adopted in the mid-1970s. At squad level, the Belgium-made FN MAG
FN MAG
The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries, and it has been made under licence in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the...
58 and US M60
M60 machine gun
The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...
light machine guns both in 7.62 x 51mm NATO, replaced the obsolete BAR and Savage models though the heavier Brownings’ were retained as platoon and company’ machine guns. The Israeli 9mm UZI sub-machinegun was also given to armoured crews, Police BECAT teams and EEBI “Commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
” troops, who were also issued the US M40A1 Sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
7.62 x 51mm (militarised version of the civilian Remington 700
Remington 700
The Model 700 series of firearms are bolt-action rifles manufactured by Remington Arms since 1962. All are based on the same centerfire bolt action. They often come with a 3, 4 or 5-round internal magazine depending on caliber, some of which have a floor-plate for quick-unloading, and some of which...
) and the Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
Model 37 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.
Handgrenades were supplied by the Americans, who provided M-59 ‘baseball’ Grenades, M-26A1 Fragmentation Grenades, M-34 White Phosphorus and M-18 Colored Smoke Grenades. The Nicaraguan infantryman was also provided with two types of portable rocket weapons, the shoulder-fired US M79
M79 grenade launcher
The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40x46mm grenade which used what the US Army called the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the Vietnam War...
‘Blooper’ 40mm single-shot grenade launcher and the expendable anti-tank, one-shot US M72
M72 LAW
The M72 LAW is a portable one-shot 66 mm unguided anti-tank weapon, designed in the United States by Paul V. Choate, Charles B. Weeks, and Frank A. Spinale et al...
66mm LAW.
Mortars and Artillery
Guardia infantry and artillery formations were equipped with a variety of crew-served weapons. Light mortars ranged from the M2 60mm and M1 81mm models of World War II-vintage, to the more recent M-29M29 Mortar
The M29 is a United States produced 81 millimeter calibre mortar. It began replacing the M1 Mortar in U.S. service in 1952 being lighter and with greater range. It was replaced by the M252 Mortar in 1984...
81mm; some selected elite troops even received the Israeli-designed Soltam
Soltam
Soltam Systems is an Israeli Defense company located near Yokneam. The company has been developing and manufacturing advanced artillery systems, mortars, ammunition and peripheral equipment since 1952. Soltam Systems serves armed and special forces in more than 60 countries...
M65 120mm heavy mortar. In addition, they were also issued US M20
M20 recoilless rifle
The M20 recoilless rifle was a U.S. 75 mm caliber recoilless rifle used during the last months of the Second World War and extensively during the Korean War. It could be fired from an M1917A1 .30 caliber machine gun tripod, or from a vehicle mount, typically a Jeep. Its shaped charge warhead,...
75mm, M67
M67 recoilless rifle
The M67 recoilless rifle was a 90-mm antitank recoilless rifle made in the United States and later in the Republic of Korea. It could also be employed in an antipersonnel role with the use of the M590 antipersonnel round...
90mm and M40
M40 recoilless rifle
The M40 recoilless rifle was a lightweight, portable, crew-served 105 mm weapon intended primarily as an anti-tank weapon made in the United States...
106mm recoilless rifles. The field artillery battery was provided with US M101A1 150 mm towed Howitzers whereas the Anti-Aircraft battery operated US Maxson M45 Quadmount turrets on towed wheeled trailers and Israeli-supplied Hispano-Suiza HS.404
Hispano-Suiza HS.404
The Hispano-Suiza HS.404 was an autocannon widely used as both an aircraft and land weapon in the 20th century by British, American, French, and numerous other military services. The cannon is also referred to as Birkigt type 404, after its designer. Firing a 20 mm caliber projectile, it delivered...
20mm autocannons mounted on the TCM-20 turret configuration. Usually installed on the back of cross-country vehicles, such weapon systems proved useful in the direct fire supporting role, particularly against fortified positions and to root out snipers from urban buildings.
It is also rumored that the Anti-Aircraft battery received from Israel in 1977-78 a unspecified number of surplus US-made General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
FIM-43 Redeye
FIM-43 Redeye
The General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye was a man-portable surface-to-air missile system. It used infrared homing to track its target. Production was terminated in September 1969 after about 85,000 rounds had been built - in anticipation of the Redeye II, which later became the FIM-92 Stinger...
man-portable surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
s (SAM).
Combat and transport vehicles
The Guardia also fielded a small armoured corps, organized since 1978 into a single mechanized company while platoon-sized units where attached to General Somoza Combat Battalion, the Presidential Guard, the engineer battalion, and the EEBI Infantry School. The inventory consisted mostly of World War II-vintage American vehicles acquired in the 1950s – 10 ex-Philippine ArmyPhilippine Army
The Philippine Army is the ground arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Tagalog is Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas. On July 23, 2010, President Benigno Aquino III appointed Maj. Gen...
M4A3E8 (76) and M4A3E8 (105) Sherman tanks, four M3A1 Stuart light tanks, and 40 T17E1 M6 Staghound armoured cars of Israeli origin (some had their turrets removed and replaced by a 30. or 50. cal Browning HMG mount instead). In addition, two obsolete L3/33 tankette
Tankette
A tankette is a tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank"....
s acquired from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in the mid-1930s were reportedly held in reserve, but only one was still kept in running conditions by 1979.
Apart from a mere 10 M2 Half Track Car
M2 Half Track Car
The M-2 Half Track was an armored vehicle used by the United States during World War II.-History:The half-track design had been evaluated by the US Ordnance department using Citroën-Kégresse vehicles...
s, the Guardia suffered from a chronic shortage of light armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for its infantry units, forcing them to rely on their extensive fleet of transport and liaison vehicles. These ranged from old World War II-vintage Willys
Willys
Willys was the brand name used by Willys-Overland Motors, an American automobile company best known for its design and production of military Jeeps and civilian versions during the 20th century.-Early History:In 1908, John Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company...
Jeeps, US Willys M38A1 MD jeeps, Spanish Santana 88 Ligero Militar jeeps, Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
Series III model and Toyota Land Cruiser light pickups, to Spanish VIASA-Ebro trucks
Ebro trucks
Ebro trucks was a Spanish brand of light and medium trucks and buses, as well as all-wheel-drive utility vehicles and agricultural tractors, based mainly in Barcelona, Madrid, and Ávila....
“Campeador” one-ton pickups, Dodge M37 - 3/4 ton 1953 utility trucks, Israeli ("Nun-Nun") M325 Command Cars and Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
Unimog
Unimog
Unimog is a range of multi-purpose auto four wheel drive medium trucks produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The name Unimog is pronounced in German and is an acronym for the German "UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät", Gerät being the German word for machine or device...
406 light trucks. Heavy transport vehicles were also employed, ranging from older World War II GMC CCKW
GMC CCKW
The GMC CCKW is a 2½ ton 6X6 U.S. Army cargo truck that saw service in World War II and the Korean War, often incorrectly referred to as a "Deuce and a Half" or "Jimmy"...
2½ ton and 1-1/2 ton Chevrolet G506 trucks
Chevrolet G506 trucks
The Chevrolet G506 trucks were a series of 1½ ton trucks used by the U.S. Army during and after World War II.-History:The G506 was a U.S Army Ordnance Corps supply catalog designation for the 1.5-ton, 4X4, truck chassis built in large numbers by the Chevrolet Motor Division of GMC...
to newer US M35A2 2-1/2 ton cargo trucks and Spanish Pegaso
Pegaso
Pegaso was a Spanish make of trucks, omnibuses, tractors, armored vehicles, and, for a while, sports cars. The parent company, Enasa, was created in 1946 and based in the old Hispano-Suiza factory, under the direction of the renowned automotive engineer Wifredo Ricart...
3046 heavy duty trucks, which the GN received in both civilian and military versions.
Besides being used as troop carriers these vehicles also doubled as ‘gun-trucks’, being fitted with heavy machine-guns, recoilless rifles and AA autocannons. Moreover, their lack of protection rendered them highly vulnerable to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or small-arms fire, and many were lost together with their crews in 1979 due to intense street fighting and ambushes in rural areas.
Commandeered tracked Caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
or wheeled civilian Bulldozers of American and Spanish origin were also employed by the Guardia during the battles for Masaya
Masaya
Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name...
and Managua to clear paths on rebel-held urban neighbourhoods by demolishing buildings turned into bunkers by the guerrillas.
Ground Forces
In January 1978 National Guard overall strength peaked at about 25,000 officers and enlisted men under the direct personal command of their Chief Director and President of NicaraguaPresident of Nicaragua
The position of President of Nicaragua was created in the Constitution of 1854. From 1825 until the Constitution of 1838 the title of the position was known as Head of State and from 1838 to 1854 as Supreme Director .-Heads of State of Nicaragua within the Federal Republic of Central America...
General Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...
(aka ‘Tachito’). The GN was primarily organized for internal security and counterinsurgency (COIN) operations rather than national defense, with most infantry units being assigned static garrison duties, and consequently its conventional military value was very low. Out of this total some 10,000-12,500 served in the ground forces proper, organized into one Presidential Guard battalion, one armoured battalion, one mechanized infantry
Mechanized infantry
Mechanized infantry are infantry equipped with armored personnel carriers , or infantry fighting vehicles for transport and combat ....
battalion, one mechanized company, one engineer battalion, one Military Police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
battalion, one field artillery battery and one antiaircraft battery, plus sixteen security companies. All above mentioned units were deployed in traditional Spanish colonial fashion in fortress-like Quarteles (barracks-cum-garrisons) at the main cities, including the national capital Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
.
The Headquarters of the GN’s General Staff
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
was placed at the heart of the government quarter of Tiscapa Hill near downtown Managua, allocated in a underground bunker
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
-style complex built after the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake was an earthquake that occurred at 12:29 a.m. local time on Saturday, December 23, 1972 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a magnitude of 6.2 and occurred at a depth of about 5 kilometers beneath the centre of the city. Within an hour after the main...
; the quarter’s adjacent facilities also housed the main offices’ of the Guardia’s own administration, signals, engineering, medical, logistics and military justice support services, and the main military schools.
Managua was also home to most of the GN’s main tactical units such as the Batallón de la Guardia Presidencial (Presidential Guard Battalion), the Primero Batallón Blindado (1st Armoured Battalion), the Batallón de Combate General Somoza (BCGS, General Somoza Combat Battalion), the Batallón de Ingeniería (Engineer Battalion), the Batallón de Policía Militar (Military Police Battalion), and the Artillery Batteries.
The Compañías de Seguridad de la Guardia Nacional (CSGN, Security Companies for short) were dispersed throughout the country’s 16 provinces (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Departamentos), being allocated one per each in the provincial capitals of Boaco
Boaco
Boaco is the capital city and municipality of the Boaco department of Nicaragua. The municipality of Boaco has a population of 56,900 and an area of 1,086.81 km² while the department is 4,177 km2....
(Boaco), Jinotepe
Jinotepe
Jinotepe is a city in Nicaragua, located in Department of Carazo in the South Pacific region of Nicaragua at the municipality of Jinotepe. It borders with Managua, Masaya, Granada, and Rivas.It is a sister city of Santa Cruz, California, United States....
(Carazo
Carazo (department)
Carazo is a department in Nicaragua. It covers an area of 1,081.40 km² and has a population of 177,100 . The capital is Jinotepe.- Municipalities :# Diriamba# Dolores# El Rosario# Jinotepe# La Conquista# La Paz de Carazo# San Marcos...
), Chinandega
Chinandega
Chinandega is a town and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city has a population of 121,793 inhabitants with 151,000 in the municipality...
(Chinandega), Juigalpa (Chontales), Estelí
Estelí
Estelí, officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and municipality within the Estelí department. It is the third largest city in Nicaragua, an active commercial center in the north and is known as "the Diamond of the Segovias."...
(Estelí), Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
(Granada), Jinotega
Jinotega
Jinotega is the capital of Jinotega Department in the north central region of Nicaragua.-About:The capital city of the Department of Jinotega is the City of Jinotega. The Department of Jinotega produces 80% of the nation's coffee. It has a population of about 51,000 living inside a vast valley...
(Jinotega), León
León, Nicaragua
León is a department in northwestern Nicaragua . It is also the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. It was founded by the Spaniards as Santiago de los Caballeros de León and rivals Granada, Nicaragua, in the number of historic Spanish colonial homes and churches...
(León), Madriz
Madriz (department)
Madriz is a department in Nicaragua. It covers an area of 1,602 km² and has a population of 133,300 . The capital is Somoto.Madriz was created from Nueva Segovia department in August 1936, and named after José Madriz.- Municipalities :...
(Somoto), Masaya
Masaya
Masaya, culturally known as the City of Flowers, is the capital city of Masaya department. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast from Managua. The town of Masaya is situated just East of Masaya Volcano , an active volcano from which the city takes its name...
(Masaya), Matagalpa
Matagalpa
Matagalpa is a city in Nicaragua, the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 109,100 , while the population of the department is more than 480,000. Matagalpa is Nicaragua's fifth largest city and one of its most commercially active outside of Managua...
(Matagalpa), Ocotal
Ocotal
Ocotal is the capital of the Nueva Segovia Department in Nicaragua, Central America.-Description:Ocotal is the capital of the Nueva Segovia Department in Nicaragua with light industry and crafts. The main agricultural production is coffee. The city, which has a population of 31,932 , is located...
(Nueva Segovia), Rivas (Rivas), San Carlos
San Carlos, Río San Juan
San Carlos is the capital city of the municipality of San Carlos and of the Río San Juan Department of Nicaragua. The city proper has a population of roughly 12,174, while the city and surrounding communities contain 37,461 as of 2005. San Carlos is positioned on the confluence of Lake Nicaragua...
(Río San Juan) and Bluefields
Bluefields
Bluefields is the capital of the municipality of the same name, and of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in Nicaragua. It was also capital of the former Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions...
(Zelaya).
Air Forces
The Fuerza Aérea de La Guardia Nacional (FAGN, Air Force of the Nicaraguan National Guard) in 1978 comprised some 1,500 Officers and enlisted men, including pilots and ground personnel, under the command of Colonel Donaldo Humberto Frixote, himself an experient pilot and a staunch Somoza loyalist.FAGN main air elements at the time consisted of four squadrons – one attack, one helio, one transport and one advanced training – provided with a mixed inventory of aircraft of various types, mostly of US, Israeli, British, Canadian and Spanish origin, the majority being propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
-driven. All FAGN aircraft and personnel were concentrated at the military airbase adjacent to the Mercedes International Airport at Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
, which also housed the Aviation School.
- The Escuadrón de Combate (combat squadron), operated on air assault and counter-insurgency missions 10 Cessna 337 (O-2A) 'Skymaster' light aircraft and either seven or 11 North American T-28 Trojan A/D dual-seat trainers converted for the ground attack role, seven Lockheed T-33A dual-seat jet trainers converted to the fighter-bomberFighter-bomberA fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
role and seven Douglas B-26B/C 'Invader' reconnaissance/light bombers.
- The Escuadrón de Ala Rotatoria (helicopter squadron) aligned for aerial reconnaissance, search-and-rescue (SAR), transport and assault duties 11 Sikorsky S-58T (CH-34A) 'Choctaw' helio gunships (nicknamed "Skyraiders" by the Nicaraguans), 12 Hughes OH-6A/H-369HS 'Defender' light observation helicopters, four Hiller 12B 'Raven' light utility helicopters, three Hughes 269A/B (TH-55A) 'Osage' light utility helicopters, two Bell UH-1H 'Iroquois' utility transports and one Bell 47Bell 47The Bell 47 is a two-bladed, single engine, light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. Based on the third Model 30 prototype, Bell's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young, the Bell 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use on 8 March 1946...
H light utility helicopter.
- The Escuadrón de Transporte (transport squadron) operated 13 Douglas C-47 'Dakota' transports, eight Cessna 180Cessna 180The Cessna 180 is a four- or six-seat, fixed conventional gear general aviation airplane which was produced between 1953 and 1981. Though the design is no longer in production, many of these aircraft are still in use as personal aircraft and in utility roles such as bush...
'Skywagon' light utility aircraft, seven Cessna 185Cessna 185-Specification for differing configurations:-References:* Jan Churchill, Hit My Smoke: Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan KS, ISBN 0-89745-215-1...
(U-17B) 'Skywagon' light utility aircraft, seven Beech 18 (C-45) 'Expeditor' trainer & utility aircraft, six De Havilland Canada DHC-3 (U-1A) 'Otter' STOL utility transports, five CASA C-212 Aviocar medium transports, two IAI AravaIAI Arava|-See also:-References:* Cohen, Irvine J. "Arava: Israel's first-born bids for world market". Air Enthusiast International, February 1974, Vol 6, No 2. pp. 55–61, 92–93....
201 STOL utility transports, two Piper PA-23-250 'Aztec' twin-engined light piston utility transports, one Hawker Siddeley HS-125-600B mid-size business jetBusiness jetBusiness jet, private jet or, colloquially, bizjet is a term describing a jet aircraft, usually of smaller size, designed for transporting groups of up to 19 business people or wealthy individuals...
and one Rockwell Aero Commander 680FL 'Grand' utility transport.
- The advanced training squadron of the Aviation School operated 29 North American AT-6 'Texan' dual-seat trainers, 10 Piper PA-18 Super Cub light utility aircraft, seven Cessna 172Cessna 172The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing fixed-wing aircraft. First flown in 1955 and still in production, more Cessna 172s have been built than any other aircraft.-Design and development:...
J/K 'Skyhawk' utility aircraft and six Fairchild PT-19Fairchild PT-19|-See also:-Bibliography:* Mondey, David. American Aircraft of World War II . London: Bounty Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7537-1461-4....
A trainers.
Naval Forces
The Marina de Guerra de la Guardia Nacional (MG-GN, Nicaraguan National Guard Navy) in 1978 standed at about 1,000 Officers and ratings who manned some eight to 10 Israeli Dabur class patrol boatDabur class patrol boat
Dabur class is a class of patrol boats built in United States at the Sewart Seacraft shipyard for the Israeli Navy, and by IAI-Ramta.Dabur boats' first battle engagements were made in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War...
s ('Dabur-1'), plus an unknown number of older US sea- and rivercraft of unspecified type, presumably of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-vintage. Main MG-GN naval bases were situated at the coastal towns of Corinto (Chinandega
Chinandega
Chinandega is a town and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city has a population of 121,793 inhabitants with 151,000 in the municipality...
) on the Pacific coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
and Puerto Cabezas
Puerto Cabezas
Puerto Cabezas is a municipality in, and capital of, the North Atlantic Coast department of Nicaragua....
(Zelaya) on the Caribbean coast, with secondary naval stations set up at San Juan del Sur
San Juan del Sur
San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in south-west Nicaragua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan families and foreign tourists....
(Rivas
Rivas (department)
Rivas is a department of the Republic of Nicaragua. It covers an area of 2,155 km² and has a population of 166,900 . The department's capital is the city of Rivas.-Overview:...
) and El Bluff
El Bluff
El Bluff is a port city on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua within the bay of Bluefields. El Bluff handles limited cargo and has basic piers. It is also a base for the fishing vessels serving the Nicaraguan east coast going out to sea.-See also:Nicaragua...
near Bluefields
Bluefields
Bluefields is the capital of the municipality of the same name, and of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in Nicaragua. It was also capital of the former Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions...
(Zelaya).
National Police branch
Created in 1970 out of the law-enforcement branch of the Guardia, the Policia Nacional - Guardia Nacional (PNGN, National Police of the National Guard) was a municipal constabularyConstabulary
Constabulary may have several definitions.*A civil, non-paramilitary force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in Britain, in which all county police forces once bore the title...
numbering some 9,000-10,000 male and female uniformed constables. Most of its lighty-armed personnel were concentrated in the main cities (Managua, Leon, Matagalpa and Masaya) on police duties, or assigned to the Brigadas Especiales contra Actos de Terrorismo (BECAT, Special Counter-insurgency Brigades). This was an urban rapid-reaction, anti-terrorist unit closely modelled on SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
, whose members received camouflage uniforms and Israeli helmets and flak vests, being armed with UZI SMGs, M-16s, pump-action shotguns and sniper rifles. Recognizable by their M38A1 MD Jeeps with wire-cutters installed on front and painted in blue-and-white National Police colours, BECAT teams were frequently employed in raids at Nicaraguan urban slums in search for hidden guerrillas, and quickly earned an unenviable reputation for brutality.
Special Forces
By July 1979, the GN also fielded some 2,000-2,500 elite counterinsurgency EEBI troops, comprising 'Commandos' (aka the ‘Black Berets’) and infantry trainees led by Major – later Colonel – Anastasio Somoza PortocarreroAnastasio Somoza Portocarrero
Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero is a son of former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza Debayle and Hope Portocarrero de Somoza. Also known as El Chigüín—"daddy's kid"—Somoza Portocarrero had been the heir apparent to the Somoza dynasty prior to the ouster of his father by the...
, in armed jeeps and gun-trucks plus two small artillery and armoured car platoons.
Training instituitions
Between 1970 and 1976 4,252 Nicaraguan servicemen had been trained by the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the Inter-American Military Academy (aka “School of the Americas”) at Fort Gulick
Fort Gulick
Fort Gulick was a U.S. Army base in the former Panama Canal Zone located on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal near Fort Davis, on Gatun Lake.-History:It was perhaps best known as the location of the School of the Americas...
in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, in the Psychological and Special Warfare Academy at Fort Bragg, and at the Inter-American Defence College in Washington, DC.
Military Academy
Created on November 9, 1939, the Academia Militar de Nicaragua (AMN, Nicaraguan Military Academy) was the noncommissioned officers' and Officer Candidate SchoolOfficer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....
and Staff College
Staff college
Staff colleges train military officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career...
of the Guardia Nacional. Modelled after the West Point Academy, the AMN was initially staffed by a cadre of US Army instructors headed by Brigadier-General Charles L. Mullins (1939–1942), himself a West Point graduate. He was succeeded as Director of the AMN by other three US Army senior officers, Brigadier-General Fred T. Cruse (1942–1943), Brigadier-General Lee Roy Bartlet (1943–1946) and Brigadier-General John F. Greco (1947) until GN Infantry Colonel Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...
was appointed its first Nicaraguan-born Director in 1948.
Infantry Basic Training School
The Escuela de Entrenamiento Basico de Infanteria (EEBI, Infantry Basic Training School) was founded in 1976-77 by then Capitan Anastasio Somoza PortocarreroAnastasio Somoza Portocarrero
Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero is a son of former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza Debayle and Hope Portocarrero de Somoza. Also known as El Chigüín—"daddy's kid"—Somoza Portocarrero had been the heir apparent to the Somoza dynasty prior to the ouster of his father by the...
upon its return from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after attending the American school for psychological and special warfare at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg (North Carolina)
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
. Initially attached to the 3rd company of the General Somoza Combat Battalion and headquartered at Tiscapa Hill just outside Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...
, the EEBI was an indigenous Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
training center modelled after Fort Bragg, and was tasked of training the Guardia’s own elite anti-guerrilla 'Commandos', the ‘Black Berets’. Inspired on the US Special Forces (USSF), Chilean Army
Chilean Army
The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade....
Commandos’ and Brazilian Army
Brazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
Paratroopers’ training programs, the School’s own special curriculum placed emphasis on counterinsurgency. Advanced courses ranged from basic light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
skills, jungle combat and survival to sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
, light and heavy weapons (mortars
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
), demolitions, ‘Commando’ operations and intelligence, reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
(Ranger), communications, medical, airborne
Airborne forces
Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning...
and even light armor tactics. Ex-USSF and exiled South Vietnamese LLDB
Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces were the elite military units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . Following the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam in October 1955, the Special Forces were formed at Nha Trang in February 1956...
instructors conducted most of the training, though the School’s teaching staff is said to have included anti-Castro Cuban exiles, Guatemalans and Chileans, as well as Israeli and German mercenaries.
See also
- Banana Wars
- ContrasContrasThe contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
- Nicaraguan revolutionNicaraguan RevolutionThe Nicaraguan Revolution encompasses the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front which led to the violent ousting of that dictatorship in 1979, and the...
- Somoza Family
- Sandinista Popular ArmySandinista Popular ArmyThe Sandinista Popular Army was the military established in 1979 by the new Sandinista government to replace the National Guard, following the overthow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In post-Sandinista Nicaragua, it has been remolded into the National Army of Nicaragua. Joaquín Cuadra was chief of...
Secondary sources
- Bill Gunston, An Illustrated Guide to Military Helicopters, Salamander Books Ltd, London 1981. ISBN 978-0861011100
Pop culture
The Nicaraguan National Guard was featured in three major filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
productions, all set during the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution
Nicaraguan Revolution
The Nicaraguan Revolution encompasses the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front which led to the violent ousting of that dictatorship in 1979, and the...
, the first being the 1980 German movie The Uprising shot on location at Nicaragua. This was followed in 1983 by the Hollywood movies Last Plane Out
Last Plane Out
Last Plane Out is a 1983 film directed by David Nelson, son of Ozzie and Harriet. It was based on journalist Jack Cox's experience in Nicaragua when it was ruled by dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle and his battle against insurgents.-Plot:American journalist Jack Cox covers the civil war in...
and Under Fire
Under Fire (film)
Under Fire is a 1983 political film set during the last days of the Somoza regime in 1979 Nicaragua. It stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. The story is fictional, but was inspired by actual events, namely the murder of ABC reporter Bill Stewart by Somoza forces...
; the later was actually shot at Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
with Mexican Army
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...
soldiers portraying both Guardia’ troops and FSLN guerrillas.