War of Independence in
Santo Domingo circa 1850
Haiti had invaded and occupied the
Dominican Republic from 1822 to 1844. The military forces of the First Republic's army comprised about 4,000 soldiers organized into seven line
infantry regiments, several loose
battalions, 6
cavalry squadrons and 3
artillery brigades. This army was supplemented by the national civic guard militia and the National Naval Armada, which was the original name of the Navy today. In addition to the aforementioned military corps, there were two expeditionary armies. The Southern was led by
Pedro and Ramon Santana in
Hato Mayor and
El Seibo, whereas the Northern Borders expeditionary army was led by
Major General Francisco A. Salcedo.
20th century s got out of a
Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter in
counter-terrorist and counter-illegal
drug trade operations The
United States military intervention of 1916 briefly brought about the disappearance of an independent military structure in the Dominican Republic. The military government was headed by
Captain William Knapp, who made an interim police force called the Constabulary, which was responsible for maintaining internal order and implementing the provisions of the US government. The purely police function of this body disappeared in 1917, leading to the creation of a National Guard. The National Guard inherited a hierarchical and organizational structure akin to the
US Marine Corps, which served as the basis for the modern armed forces. It is made up of three components: one terrestrial, one naval, and one air. This land component, now called the National Army, inherited its organizational structure from the National Guard organized by the US occupation forces, which operated from April 7, 1917, until June 1921, when it became the Dominican National Police by Executive Order No. 631 of Rear Admiral Thomas Snowden. After the end of the US military occupation in 1924,
Horacio Vásquez won the presidential elections of that same year. Among his first decisions was to decree the change of the Dominican National Police to the National Brigade. The name changed again on 17 May 1928 to the National Army. Due to the demand for presence throughout the country, posts and detachments in different parts of the country were created, with some provinces hosting company-size units to this day. Under
President Trujillo, many of these units, posts and detachments became part of the National Police and assisted in, the policing role. So great was the influence that had the National Guard in Dominican society and very particularly among the rural population that even today many Dominican often refer to the Armed Forces, especially the Army, as "The Guard." The
Navy has experienced only two name changes since its inception. It has gradually evolved from a body created for traditional military purposes to a component mainly responsible for enforcing the provisions on navigation, trade and fishing, as well as international treaties. The
Air Force, meanwhile, emerged as an independent component in 1948, under the chairmanship of
Generalissimo Rafael L. Trujillo Molina. Trujillo valued the capacity to project military power in the
Caribbean and ensured that it was one of the best-equipped air forces in the region in the 1950s. He saw the Air Force as a cornerstone against any invasion or subversion against his dictatorship. == Components ==