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Order of Battle - circa 1981

By the end of 1981, armed attacks against Nicaragua had escalated greatly. This escalation was the reason for the State of National Emergency which was declared at that time and is still in effect. Defense structures were also studied more closely and broadened as defense strategies were reevaluated and perfected.

The defense structure was as follows:
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
(Minister: Cmdr. Humberto Ortega, Member of FSLN National Directorate)

SANDINISTA PEOPLE'S ARMY (EPS)
1. Infantry
- Border Patrol Troops (TGF)
- Irregular Fighting Battalions (BLIR)
Tank units
Artillery units
Infantry troops

SANDINISTA PEOPLE'S MILITIA (MPS)
Reserve Infantry Battalions (BIR)
Territorial Battalions

2- Sandinista Air Force (FAS)
Sandinista Anti-Air Defense Force (FASDA)

3- Sandinista Navy

MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
(Minister: Cmdr. Tomas Borge,
member of FSLN National Directorate)

1- State Security
2- Sandinista Police
3- Support Organizations
(Immigration, Firefighters, etc.)

In the battles against the counterrevolutionary forces, the most active troops were the TGF and the BLIR, who were specially trained for this type of warfare. The MPS reserve battalions (BIR) fought alongside the TGF and the BLIR. No distinction was made among these three groups as to types of armament. The militia who served in the city, however, were given inferior weapons.

Members of the reserve battalions (BIR) had a special training course which lasted at least one month, while the territorial militia members had training practice on weekends in the neighborhoods where they live.

Since the situation in Nicaragua was marked daily by a battle in some area of the country, defense became a national priority, and the strategies to make the defense more efficient were readjusted. The regular army was consolidated and strengthened by obligatory military service, and the territorial militia perfected their defensive capacity through the organization of battalions. These changes were evident even in the agricultural cooperatives where the campesinos were organized for self defense. The ever growing possibility of war with the Honduran army, heightened by the US regional policy, forced Nicaragua to speed up the process of strengthening its national defense.