Draft:Honduran Army

The Honduran Army is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of Honduras, as established by the 1982 Constitution. Its recruits are all volunteers.

Honduran Army
Ejército de Honduras
The Honduran Army's emblem
Founded	December 11, 1825 (1825-12-11)
Country	Honduras
Type	Army
Role	Land warfare
Size	18,000 active (2024) 65,000 reserve (2024)
Part of	Armed Forces of Honduras
Patron	Our Lady of Suyapa
Motto(s)	Honor, Lealtad, Sacrificio ("Honor, Loyalty, Sacrifice")
Anniversaries	3 October (Honduran Soldier Day) 11 December (Honduran Army Day)
Engagements	List First Central American Civil War (1827–1829) Second Central American Civil War (1838–1840) Honduran-Salvadoran War of 1845 (1845) Guerra de los Padres (1860-1861) Olancho War (1864-1868) Honduran-Salvadoran War of 1871 (1871) First Honduran Civil War (1919) Second Honduran Civil War (1924) Second World War (1941-1945) Mocoron War (1957) Football War (1969)
Commanders
Commander General of the Armed Forces	Xiomara Castro
Minister of Defence	José Manuel Zelaya Rosales
Army Commander	Brigadier General Carlos Efraín Aguilar Hernández

History

Honduran cadets in 1884

The Honduran Army has its roots in the post-independence years, in the early 19th century. In 1831 the first Military School was founded in the San Francisco Barracks, an old nunnery. In the next few decades many wars were fought against the neighbouring countries and also filibusters. In 1895, the army's recruitment guidelines stated that in Honduras there were 18328 active soldiers and 7074 reservists. Reports from the National Congress of Honduras established, however, that in 1896 the country had 34442 men under arms, and between 1897 and 1898 36686 (both in active service and in the reserve), distributed in 67 battalions for the active service, and 22 in the reserve.

In 1909 the Corporals and Sargeants School was created, aiming to organize the army's troops over the Prussian doctrine. Nearly a decade later, in 1917, the National Military School was created to form cadets and officers for the army, based in Toncontin, in Tegucigalpa.

In 1937, a Machine Gun Corps was established (some 22 years after the British Machine Gun Corps had been established, and 15 years after it had been disestablished), and in 1946 the Basic Weapons School was created. In 1949, the Corporals and Sargeants School was reorganized according to the US doctrine. Three years later, the General Francisco Morazán Honduran Military Academy was established in Tegucigalpa.

By the 1980s, the army was made up by circa 30 thousand soldiers, distributed along three infantry brigades, four artillery battalions, an armoured cavalry regiment, an engineer battalion, a logistic support command, infantry schools, paratroopers, communications, and a Combined General Staff with officers from all three branches of the Armed Forces.

Peacekeeping

The Honduran Army has participated in various humanitarian missions headed by the UN, namely:

• Dominican Republic (DOMREP)
• Haiti (MINUSTAH)
• Western Sahara (MINURSO)

The Army also sent a battalion to Iraq during the Iraq War, Tarea Xatruch, which made up part of the Plus Ultra Brigade.

Structure

• Army General Command
• Army General Staff
• Army Inspector General
• Army Learning Center
• Combat Units
• Combat Support Units
• Combat Support Service Units

Arms

The Army's units are divided as follows:

• Combat Units
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry
  • Special Forces
• Combat Support Units
  • Artillery
  • Engineers
  • Communications
  • Military intelligence
• Combat Support Service Units
  • War materiel
  • Administration
  • Health
  • Military justice
  • Civilian affairs

Infantry

The infantry is provisioned with a regulamentation rifle, bayonet, survival equipment, etc., and divided in brigades, which then are divided into battalions, platoons and squads. Though when the army was formed flintlocks were still the standard infantry weapon, soon Remington rifles were adopted, and then M1 Garands. World War II represented a turning point for infantry combat, with the success of American firepower based tactics.

United States trainers from the 36th Infantry Division at target practice with Honduran soldiers

Artillery

The Artillery is the troop charged with the use of mortars, howitzers, rockets, missiles, etc., in offensive or defensive actions. Nowadays, there are four battalions of artillery in the Honduran Army.

Cavalry

Around 1750, a Horse Grenadier Corps was created in the province of Honduras by the Spanish colonial authorities, based in the city of Comayagua, though the Honduran Army's cavalry traces its roots to the Morazán Cavalry, a unit raised by President Francisco Morazán in the 19th century, famed for its mobility and performance in battle. The Army's cavalry was expanded from that unit, and maintained its organization until the end of World War I, which demonstrated the limits of traditional cavalry. Soon, armoured cars and tanks were adopted by the country's cavalry.

The Football War, fought in 1969, demonstrated, however, the limitations of the armoured cavalry model adopted by the Army. In 1977, a new model was adopted where the cavalry was reformed, starting to be reorganized into Mechanized Groups, formed mostly by officers and enlisted men taken from infantry units. The first of these was equipped with 12 RBY Mk 1 Israeli light reconnaissance vehicles. Also in 1977 their designation was switched to Reconnaissance Squadrons, and then, finally, in 1981, they were merged into a single Armoured Cavalry Regiment. That year, some tens of British Scorpion, Sultan and Scimitar armoured vehicles were obtained, and construction started and ended on a base for the regiment, located at the Francisco Morazán Department.

In 1983, tensions with Nicaragua made Army command order the regiment's second squadron into the Valle Department; there, it fought skirmishes against the Salvadoran Army, however. In 1984, some of its tanks were handed to infantry units, in order to bolster their capabilities. That same year, 72 Saladin armoured cars were bought from West Germany, allowing the Army to reorganize its Armoured Cavalry into two regiments, with the second being deployed to the Choluteca Department, bordering Nicaragua.

Organization

• Independent Units:
  • Tenth Infantry Battalion
  • First Military Engineer Battalions
  • Army Logistical Support Command

• 101st Brigade
  • Eleventh Infantry Battalion
  • Fourth Campaign Artillery Battalion
  • First Armoured Cavalry Regiment
• 105th Brigade
  • Third Infantry Battalion
  • Fourth Infantry Battalion
  • Fourteenth Infantry Battalion
  • Second Campaign Artillery Battalion
• 110th Brigade
  • Sixth Infantry Battalion
  • Ninth Infantry Battalion
  • First Communications Battalion
• 115th Brigade
  • Fifth Infantry Battalion
  • Fifteenth Infantry Battalion
  • Sixteenth Infantry Battalion
  • Army Military Training Center
• 120th Brigade
  • Seventh Infantry Battalion
  • Twelfth Infantry Battalion
• Special Operations Command
  • First Infantry Battalion
  • Second Infantry Battalion (Special Tactical Group)
  • First Campaign Artillery Battalion
  • First Special Forces Battalion

Honduran Army gunners together with United States trainers from the 5-206th Field Artillery in field exercises in the Francisco Morazán Department

Human rights record

During the 1980s, especially during the tenure of General Gustavo Álvarez Martínez as head of the armed forces, as the Contra War was fought in Nicaragua, the Honduran Army was responsible for a number of human rights violations, especially its Battalion 3-16, trained and supported by the CIA. Said battalion was a specialized intelligence and counter-intelligence unit, formed by hand-picked officers tasked with profiling and capturing those deemed to be traitors, such as supposed communist infiltrators. Human rights groups have deemed Battalion 3-16 as a death squad, attributing more than 100 civilian deaths to it.

Equipment

Armored vehicles

Name	Image	Type	Origin	Quantity	Status	Notes
FV101 Scorpion		Light tank	United Kingdom	10
RBY Mk 1		Reconnaissance vehicle	Israel	8
Alvis Saladin		Armoured car	United Kingdom	20
FV107 Scimitar		Reconnaissance vehicle	United Kingdom	2
Black Mamba Sandcat		Infantry mobility vehicle	Mexico	5

Utility vehicles

Name	Image	Type	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Humvee		Utility vehicle	United States	20
Ford F-350		Pickup truck	United States	7
Jeep J8		Utility vehicle	United States	5
M151		Utility vehicle	United States	15
M151A1C		Utility vehicle	United States	12
Trucks
Mercedes-Benz L series 4x4		Truck	Germany
Unimog		Truck	Germany	12
M 35		Truck	United States	14
Ashok Leyland Stallion		Truck	India	19
Ashok Leyland Topchi		Truck	India	14

Artillery

Name	Image	Type	Origin	Quantity	Notes
M101 howitzer		Howitzer	United States	4
M102 howitzer		Howitzer	United States	12
M198 howitzer		Howitzer	United States	12
Soltam M-66		Mortar	Israel	10
Soltam K6		Mortar	Israel	12
FM-81		Mortar	Argentina	11

Anti-tank weapons

Name	Image	Type	Origin	Caliber	Notes
M72 LAW		Rocket-propelled grenade launcher	United States	66mm
Carl Gustav M2		Recoilless rifle	Sweden	84mm
RPG-7		Rocket-propelled grenade launcher	Soviet Union	40mm

Air defence systems

Name	Image	Type	Origin	Quantity	Notes
TCM-20		Autocannon	Israel	14	20mm autocannon
M55A2		Autocannon	Yugoslavia	12	20mm autocannon

Small arms

Name	Image	Caliber	Type	Origin	Notes
Pistols
Glock		9×19mm	Semi-automatic pistol	Austria
Browning GP-35		9×19mm	Semi-automatic pistol	Belgium
Colt M1911		.45 ACP	Semi-automatic pistol	United States
SIG Sauer P228		9×19mm	Semi-automatic pistol	Switzerland
Beretta 92		9×19mm	Semi-automatic pistol	Italy
Submachine guns
Ingram MAC-10		.45 ACP	Submachine gun	United States
Heckler & Koch MP5		9×19mm	Submachine gun	Germany
Uzi		9×19mm	Submachine gun	Israel
Rifles
FN FAL		7.62×51mm	Battle rifle	Belgium
IMI Galil	File:Galil SAR sideview.png	5.56×45mm	Battle rifle	Israel
IWI Galil ACE 21		5.56×45mm	Battle rifle	Israel
M16 rifle		5.56×45mm	Assault rifle	United States	M16A1 and M16A2 variants.
M4 carbine		5.56×45mm	Assault rifle Carbine	United States
IWI Tavor X95		5.56×45mm	Assault rifle	Israel	Special forces.
Beretta SC-70/90		5.56×45mm	Carbine	Italy
Machine guns
FN MAG		7.62×51mm	General-purpose machine gun	Belgium
FN Minimi		5.56×45mm	Light machine gun	Belgium
M60		7.62×51mm	General-purpose machine gun	United States
Browning M2		.50 BMG	Heavy machine gun	United States
MG3		7.62×51mm	General-purpose machine gun	Germany	Mounted on the Saladin armoured cars.
M249		5.56×45mm	Light machine gun	United States
Grenade launchers
M203		40 mm	Grenade launcher	United States
Sniper rifles
Remington Model 700		7.62×51mm	Bolt-action rifle	United States
M40		7.62×51mm	Sniper rifle	United States
Galil Sniper		7.62×51mm	Sniper rifle	Israel
Barrett M82		.50 BMG	Anti-materiel rifle	United States

Military academies

General Francisco Morazán Honduran Military Academy

Named after the President of Honduras and Central America Francisco Morazán, this academy's purpose was to substitute the old Military Academy, which dated from the 19th century. It is located in the Francisco Morazán Department.

Armed forces military training schools

• Honduran Warrant Officers School
• Artillery School
• Communications School

References

Category:Military of Honduras Category:Armies by country