Creating a New Army
Upon taking power, the FSLN had a total of 15,000 combatants. Of this number, 2,000 had fought as more regular army units in the Southern Front or in the Northwestern Front, and 3,000 had made up guerrilla columns in the northern and eastern regions of the country. In the urban areas, there were 10,000 irregular militia members who fought with whatever they could find during the final insurrection.
By August 1979, the first units of the new army were formed, and this army was officially constituted on September 2 under the name of the Sandinista People's Army (EPS). The date had special significance as it was on the same date 52 years earlier that Sandino's army had been formed.
Creating an army like Sandino's nationalist, defensive, anti imperialist - was seen as the cornerstone of the revolution. But given the various types of persons and the varying degrees of military experience, the formation of a regular army was from the start a major challenge.
At that time, the priorities were:
- unite the armed forces;
- achieve a civil and political conscientization in the army, so that the soldiers would be identified with the revolution;
- form the EPS into a small, mobile force which would maintain contact with the militia forces.
During the first six months after the fall of Somoza, those who had participated in the insurrection had to be disarmed, and the selection process to integrate them into the EPS had to begin. This was not an easy task. At this stage, between 8 10 % of the EPS were women; during the war, about 25% of the combatants had been women.
Military ranks were not established until 1980, with the highest being Commander: Commander of the Revolution, Brigade Commander, etc. The emphasis in these early months was on literacy, as approximately 45% of the EPS soldiers were illiterate.
In February 1980, the Sandinista People's Militia (MPS) was formed to support the EPS and to involve all Nicaraguans in national defense. The MPS were voluntary and accepted men and women between the ages of 16 and 60. Their tasks were the defense of urban factories or workplaces and the defense of the rural areas where counterrevolutionary bands had already begun to appear. Another responsibility of the militia was to form brigades to carry out the tasks of reconstruction in areas destroyed by the war or to help in emergency situations, like floods, fires, etc. Even at that time, the MPS had already begun to fight alongside the regular army combating the ex N.G. who were launching attacks in the north.
The Border Patrol Troops (TGF), a division of the army, began to operate immediately after the revolution. They were responsible for capturing the ex N.G. who were fleeing to Honduras and stopping cattle rustling and contraband.
During the first year of the revolution, defense was not yet a daily priority. The EPS was structured, organized and trained along with the MPS, and both groups participated in the harvests and other social and economic projects.
The Sandinista Police (PS) was another new organization. Their initial tasks were curbing delinquency, watching out for the public order and trying to prevent alcoholism and prostitution.
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