National Guard (Salvador)

The National Guard was formed in 1912 to maintain order in the countryside, protect coffee plantations, combat crime and suppress riots. It performed the functions of internal troops, and from August 20, 1914 was included in the armed forces , however, it maintained autonomy and was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior ( Spanish Secretaría de Gobernación ) and the country's president ^[1] .

When creating the National Guard, the structure of the Spanish “Civil Guard” was taken as a model. The National Guards had full-time army armament and organizational structure, in peacetime they were consolidated into 14 companies (one company in each of the country's departments) ^[1] , however, if hostilities began, they could be reorganized into five battalions if necessary.

As one of the leaders of the Communist Party of El Salvador Miguel Marmol noted, “ In the first years of its activity, the National Guard played a huge role in improving the situation in the country. She began the fight against crime and, at the cost of huge losses, created her own network of permanent posts. The bandits attacked the National Guard paired patrols on the roads, and sometimes entire posts were destroyed by them. And only during the reign of the Melendez dynasty [1919-1923] did the government turn the National Guard into a corps to carry out repressions against political opponents, the corps began to be terrorist and criminal in nature ” ^[2] .

In 1918, a law was adopted on the National Guard, according to which a cavalry unit was created in each of the 14 companies of the National Guard ^[1] .

In 1923-1924, the first reform of the National Guard took place: a new charter was adopted and a school for training was opened ( School of National Guardsmen Gral. E Ing. And Ing. José María Peralta Lagos ) - soon, however, closed due to a shortage funds for its maintenance.

During the “100-hour war” with Honduras in July 1969, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd companies of the National Guard took part in the offensive in the first echelon together with units of the Salvadoran army; in the second echelon, the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th companies of the National Guard and the mortar company of the National Guard (armed with 81-mm mortars) were deployed ^[1] .

After preventing the attempted military coup in October 1972 (in which the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Brigade and the artillery brigade of the Salvadoran Army participated), the reinforcement of the National Guard began in 1973 ^[3] .

In 1974, the number of the National Guard was 3 thousand people ^[4] , in 1985 - 4 thousand ^[5] , in 1988 - 4.2 thousand, in 1989 - 7.7 thousand.

The command of the National Guard was characterized by far-right political positions. General Medrano and Major d'Aubusson were organizers of death squads , active participants in political repression and civil war.

After the end of the civil war in 1992, according to the Chapultepec Peace Agreements, the National Guard was disbanded, and a military police brigade was created to fulfill its functions ( Spanish Brigada Especial de Seguridad Militar , BESM ) ^[1] .

• September 15th battalion ( Spanish: Batallón 15 de Septiembre ) ^[3] - created on December 28, 1983 in the municipality of San Lorenzo, the initial strength was 218 troops, subsequently 500. It was intended to protect the Pan American Highway . On December 31, 1990, the battalion was disbanded.
• Company COPARU ( Spanish: Compañía de Operaciones Antiterroristas para Areas Rurales y Urbanas - "company for anti-terrorist operations in cities and rural areas") - was established in 1985.
• “Presidential Battalion” ( Spanish: Batallón Presidencial )

In addition, the National Guard had its own intelligence unit: “Special Investigation Service” ( Spanish: Servicio de Investigaciones Especiales , SIE).

In 1912-1924, the national guards wore a khaki uniform with metal buttons with brown boots and straps, cork helmets or cockade hats. The standard weapons were the Spanish 7-mm Mauser magazine rifles obtained from Chile ^[1] , and officers also had bladed melee weapons (swords).

In 1924, the guardsmen were re-equipped with Czech 7.92-mm magazine rifles vz.24 of the Mauser system (which remained in service with them until 1961). In 1931, German-made light machine guns were already in service ^[6] .

In 1950, the National Guards received a new uniform: dark green, with black straps and shoes, as well as the American M-1 helmets.

In 1961, instead of the obsolete Mausers, the main weapon was the M-1 self-loading carbines , and the Madsen M1934 and Madsen-Saetter machine guns were also transferred to the National Guard from the salvadoran army’s armaments ^[1] .

In 1968, a batch of machine guns HK21 was purchased for the National Guard ^[3] .

In January 1969, the national guards were re-equipped with German automatic rifles G-3 ^{[1] [7]} , and in May 1971 they received a new American-style uniform (OG-107) of olive green color, which was also worn with black straps and shoes. colors.

In the late 1970s, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, three German UR-416 armored personnel carriers ^[8] and German HK MP5 submachine guns entered service with the National Guard.

During the Civil War, the M-16 assault rifles, as well as camouflage , entered the arsenal of the National GuardsBDU American model.

Also, after the outbreak of the Civil War, the armed forces of the National Guard received several impromptu armored vehicles made on the chassis of trucks and motor vehicles.

• El Salvador // Radio control - Tachanka / [under the general. ed. N.V. Ogarkova ]. - M .: Military Publishing House of the USSR Ministry of Defense , 1980. - ( Soviet Military Encyclopedia : [in 8 vols.]; 1976-1980, vol. 7).