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Dominican Republic The Army
As of 1989, the Dominican army had a strength of
approximately 13,000. Army headquarters was located in
Santo
Domingo. The army consisted of infantry, armor, artillery,
communications, engineer, medical, military police,
transport,
and war matériel units. The army had no airborne or air
assets.
The army's principal tactical organizations were four
infantry regimental-type organizations called brigades.
Each
brigade had three to five infantry battalions, as well as
various
support units. There were seventeen infantry battalions in
all.
Several of the battalions assigned outside the capital
area
performed constabulary functions that included involvement
in
local political and administrative matters. Other major
combat
elements included one artillery battalion, one armored
battalion,
one presidential guard battalion, and one engineer
battalion.
Stationed near Santo Domingo, the First Brigade was
traditionally the most powerful of the brigades, by virtue
of its
location and military resources. The First Brigade had
five
infantry battalions, as well as the nation's only engineer
battalion. The Second Brigade and the Third Brigade were
located
at Santiago and Barahona, respectively. Their assets were
spread
across the country, and their units focused mainly on
local
problems. The Fourth Brigade, sometimes called the Armed
Forces
Training Center because of its extensive training mission,
was
located at San Isidro, just over ten kilometers east of
the
capital. The Fourth Brigade controlled the nation's only
armored
battalion, as well as three infantry battalions. The
Fourth
Brigade also provided basic, advanced, and specialized
training.
Also at San Isidro was the army's single artillery
battalion,
which was organized as a separate command under the
general
staff. Another separate and very powerful organization was
the
Combat Support Command, which included the presidential
guard
battalion and military police units. Although formally
under the
control of specific commands, the army's armored,
engineer, and
artillery assets were usually detached as support units to
each
of the four brigades.
As of 1989, armored assets included fourteen light
tanks,
twenty armored cars, and ten armored personnel carriers
(see
table 8, Appendix A). The field artillery was equipped
with
twenty-two 105mm howitzers. The army used United States
81mm and
120mm mortars and United States M40 106mm recoilless
launchers.
The principal small arm was the Federal Republic of
Germany (West
German) G3 7.62mm rifle. Much of the army's equipment was
outmoded or in poor repair.
Army enlisted personnel received basic training at the
Armed
Forces Training Center near San Isidro. Advanced and
specialized
training was also provided to relevant units. Officer
candidates
were required to have graduated from high school and to
have met
strict physical requirements. Once accepted as officer
cadets,
they attended the four-year Military Academy at Haina,
which had
been founded in 1921. The army conducted a six-month
course for
infantry captains and lieutenants--a basic course designed
to
prepare the students to function efficiently as company
commanders. Senior officers attended the armed forces
staff
college in Santo Domingo in preparation for
battalion-level and
higher commands.
Data as of December 1989
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