| Cuscatlán Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Batallón Cuscatlán | |
 Cuscatlán Battalion IX soldiers atForward Operating Base Delta on 22 February 2008 | |
| Active | 12 August 2003 – 22 January 2009 |
| Country |  El Salvador |
| Allegiance |  Multi-National Force – Iraq |
| Branch |  Salvadoran Army |
| Type | Ground force |
| Size |
|
| Garrison/HQ | |
| Equipment | See§ organization |
| Engagements | Iraq War |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | See§ commanders |
TheCuscatlán Battalion (Spanish:Batallón Cuscatlán) was a military unit of theArmed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) that participated in theIraq War from 2003 to 2009. The Cuscatlán Battalion served under the Polish-ledMultinational Division Central-South (MN–DCS) throughout its deployment. From 2003 to 2004, it was also a part of the Spanish-ledPlus Ultra Brigade.
During the Cuscatlán Battalion's deployment, it rendered humanitarian aid, assisted in reconstruction projects, conducteddemining operations, and protectedMulti-National Force – Iraq (MNF–I) convoys. The battalion engaged in a few skirmishes against Iraqi militants during its deployment, suffering 5 deaths and 20 injuries. The Cuscatlán Battalion withdrew from Iraq in 2009 after years of debate in El Salvador over involvement in the Iraq War; the right-wingNationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) had supported involvement, while the left-wingFarabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) opposed it.
In May 2003, theUnited Nations Security Council approvedResolution 1483 that allowed the international community to support theUnited States andUnited Kingdom in rebuildingIraq after theU.S.-led invasion of Iraq overthrewSaddam Hussein's government. On 11 June 2003,Salvadoran presidentFrancisco Flores Pérez announced thatEl Salvador would send a contingent of soldiers to assist in rebuilding Iraq.[1]: 1 [2]: 21 The unit was named the Cuscatlán Battalion.[1]: 2
The Cuscatlán Battalion was named afterCuzcatlan, an ancient group ofMaya peoples that once lived in El Salvador. Thebattalion was composed of handpickedSalvadoran Army infantrymen, engineers, combat service support troops, and special forces soldiers.[2]: 1–2 [3] These soldiers helped render humanitarian aid to Iraqis and assisted in reconstruction projects.[4] The Cuscatlán Battalion peaked at 380 soldiers, and a cumulative 5,800 soldiers served in the infantrybattalion. The battalion was garrisoned inNajaf at Base El Salvador from 2003 to 2005, inHillah from 2005 to 2006, and inKut atForward Operating Base Delta from 2006 to 2009.[1]: 4 [5]: 57 [6]
Soldiers of the Cuscatlán Battalion were equipped with firearms that includedM16A2 rifles;M2,M60, andM249 machine guns;M203 grenade launchers; andBeretta M9 pistols. They also operatedHumvees andM35 cargo trucks equipped with M60 machine guns and tools to disarmimprovised explosive devices (IEDs).[1]: 8–10
The main force of the Cuscatlán Battalion consisted of three infantrycompanies that had 80infantrymen each. The three companies consisted of three infantryplatoons and a command group. The battalion also had platoons ofengineers,medics,logistics,security,communications, andcommandos under three other companies.[1]: 7–9
On 12 August 2003, the Cuscatlán Battalion left El Salvador forSpain where the unit received various types of training before its deployment to Iraq.[1]: 2 [6] After completing their training, the battalion deployed to Iraq on 26 August as a part of the Spanish-ledPlus Ultra Brigade along with soldiers from theDominican Republic,Honduras, andNicaragua.[5]: 111 [7] The Cuscatlán Battalion's 360 soldiers were garrisoned in Najaf and assisted the Polish-ledMultinational Division Central-South (MN–DCS) in the Iraqi governorates ofAl-Qādisiyyah,Babil,Najaf, andWasit.[5]: 57 & 99 [6]
In February 2004, Nicaraguan forces withdrew from Iraq due to funding issues, and, by the end of 2004, the remaining members of the Plus Ultra Brigade, except for El Salvador, withdrew from Iraq due to public opposition to involvement in the Iraq War at home. The withdrawal of the Plus Ultra Brigade left the Cuscatlán Battalion as the only remainingLatin American military unit in Iraq.[5]: 17 [4] After the Plus Ultra Brigade withdrew, El Salvador increased the number of soldiers in the Cuscatlán Battalion from 360 to 380.[5]: 57–58
Throughout Cuscatlán Battalion's deployment, it continued to render humanitarian aid through distributing food and clothes and providing medical treatment. It also helped reconstruct homes, roads, schools, hospitals,water-treatment plants, and other infrastructure that had been destroyed by the war. In addition to this, Salvadoran soldiers also provided security toMulti-National Force – Iraq (MNF–I) convoys and conducteddemining operations.[1]: 2 [5]: 58
On 4 April 2004, militants of theMahdi Army ambushed an MNF-I convoy that the Cuscatlán Battalion was protecting at the Al Ándalus Base in Najaf. The ambush killed one soldier,Private Natividad Méndez Ramos,[8] and injured twelve more. When the four remaining soldiers ran out of ammunition,CorporalSamuel González Toloza fended off militants with a knife in hand-to-hand combat until reinforcements arrived.[1]: 5 [5]: 58–59 [9] On 7 May 2004, Flores awarded the Cuscatlán Battalion the Golden Medal to Merit for its service in Najaf.[10] On 12 November 2004,United States Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld awarded six Salvadoran soldiers theBronze Star Medal for their actions in the ambush.[5]: 58–59
Cuscatlán Battalion suffered a number of additional deaths and injuries. On 27 July, Carlos Armando Godoy Castro was killed in a vehicle accident in Hillah.[11] On 19 July 2006, a convoy of six Cuscatlán Battalion Humvees was ambushed by Iraqi militants outside Kut when an IED was detonated under one of the Humvees. The explosion killed one soldier, Sub-Sergeant José Miguel Perdomo Sánchez, and injured another.[1]: 5 [12] On 27 July, another ambush by militants killed one soldier, Sub-Sergeant Donald Alberto Ramírez García, and injured another.[13] On 27 August, Iraqi militants launched a mortar attack on Forward Operating Base Delta (the battalion's garrison at the time) but nobody was killed or injured.[1]: 5–6 On 20 October, militants attacked another Salvadoran convoy with an IED detonation outsideAn Numaniyah. The attacked killed one soldier,Captain José Argelio Soto Ochoa, and injured four more.[1]: 6
Opinion polls in El Salvador found that a majority of Salvadorans opposed involvement in the Iraq War.[14][15] One opinion poll conducted byLa Prensa Gráfica in December 2006 found that 81 percent of Salvadorans opposed sending more soldiers to Iraq while only 12 percent supported sending more soldiers.[1]: 7–8 Some Salvadorans also held protest rallies against involvement.[15][16]
El Salvador's government at the time was controlled by the right-wingNationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and ARENA presidents Flores (1999–2004) andAntonio Saca (2004–2009) had strong relations with U.S. presidentGeorge W. Bush.[16] While ARENA supported involvement in the war, the left-wing oppositionFarabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) opposed involvement. Votes within theLegislative Assembly of El Salvador to extend El Salvador's involvement in the Iraq War were divided along partisan lines with ARENA, theChristian Democratic Party (PDC), andNational Conciliation Party (PCN) voting in favor of extensions and the FMLN voting against extensions.[2]: 1 [15] During the2004 Salvadoran presidential election, FMLN nomineeSchafik Hándal promised to withdraw the Cuscatlán Battalion from Iraq, while Saca warned that doing so would risk the U.S. canceling thetemporary protected status of Salvadorans living in the U.S. in retaliation for withdrawing.[15]
In 2007, the Salvadoran government reduced the number of soldiers in the Cuscatlán Battalion from 380 to 280.[1]: 10 On 18 December 2008, the Iraqi government signed an agreement with the Salvadoran government to allow the Cuscatlán Battalion to remain in Iraq until the end of 2009. This came as theUnited Nations' mandate to intervene in Iraq was set to expire on 31 December 2008.[5]: 27 Regardless, on 23 December, Saca announced that the Cuscatlán Battalion would withdraw from Iraq shortly after the UN mandate expired. In his announcement, Saca told reporters "mission accomplished".[14] Saca had previously justified El Salvador's participation in the Iraq War by stating that the country's participation was to thank the international community for supporting the Salvadoran government during theSalvadoran Civil War of 1979 to 1992.[15] He also stated that El Salvador was sending a message to the Iraqi people that it was "possible to rebuild [their] country even from ashes and to procure a future for [their] children and generations to come".[5]: 59
The battalion withdrew from Iraq on 22 January 2009[5]: 57 and its last soldiers returned to El Salvador on 7 February.[17]Divisional GeneralOtto Romero, theminister of national defense during Saca's presidency, stated in February 2009 that the Cuscatlán Battalion had completed 353 infrastructure projects and 191 humanitarian aid missions that cost around US$30 million.[1]: 11 In total, five Cuscatlán Battalion soldiers were killed in Iraq (four in combat and one in an accident) and twenty more were wounded.[3][5]: 57
| Commander | Rank | Command began | Command ended | Rotation | Refs. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santiago Sabino Monterroza | Lieutenant colonel | 12 August 2003 | February 2004 | I | [7] |
| 2 | Hugo Omar Orellana Calidonio | Colonel | February 2004 | 31 August 2004 | II | [18] |
| 3 | Roberto Artiga Chicas | 31 August 2004 | February 2005 | III | [18][19] | |
| 4 | William Igdalí Moreno Segovia | February 2005 | August 2005 | IV | [20] | |
| 5 | Rubén Oswaldo Rubio Reyes | August 2005 | 16 February 2006 | V | [21] | |
| 6 | Julio Armando García Oliva | 16 February 2006 | August 2006 | VI | [22] | |
| 7 | Joaquín Roberto Gálvez Molina | August 2006 | February 2007 | VII | [23] | |
| 8 | Víctor Manuel Bolaños Carballo | February 2007 | August 2007 | VIII | [24] | |
| 9 | José Atilio Benítez Parada | August 2007 | 22 February 2008 | IX | [25] | |
| 10 | Walter Mauricio Arévalo Gavidia | 22 February 2008 | 26 August 2008 | X | [25] | |
| 11 | César Adonai Acosta Bonilla | 26 August 2008 | 7 February 2009 | XI | [26] | |
