HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

In January 1981, the FMLN (Farabundo
Marti Liberacion Nacional) launched their “final
offensive” to overthrow the El Salvadoran government.
Its failure drove the insurrection into
the countryside. The U.S. SOF roles in countering
the insurrection began with a low-key survey
mission in 1981 to assess the security of U.S.
interests in that country.
The U.S. Army began training El Salvadoran
units, starting with the Atlacatl Immediate
Reaction Battalion (IRB) in 1981, which was
trained by a Mobile Training Team (MTT) from
3rd BN, 7th SFG (A). Another battalion (Ramon
Belloso) was trained by Special Forces personnel
at Fort Bragg the
following year. In
1983, the United
States established
a Regional Military
Training Center
(RMTC) in
Honduras to train
Salvadoran units,
and teams from the
7th SFG (A) rotated
through the
RMTC to conduct
training in marksmanship,
communications,
first aid,
patrolling, small
unit tactics, and a
host of other basic
skills. Next, U.S.
advisers began to
train El Salvadoran forces in their own country.
Because of these efforts, the El Salvadoran
Army expanded from 8,000 men before 1980 to a
hard-hitting force of 54,000 by 1987.
At the same time, NSW worked with the El
Salvadoran Navy to set up SEAL teams, using
El Salvador
1981-1992
advisors, a single officer or NCO was assigned to
some sites, thus making close cooperation with
his El Salvadoran counterparts a matter of life
or death because of frequent guerrilla (known as
“Gs”) attacks. In the most publicized incident,
the “Gs” attacked the headquarters of the 4th
Infantry Brigade in El Paraiso, Chalatenango.
The 31 March 1987, attack killed 64 El
Salvadoran soldiers and wounded 79. A soldier
from the 3rd BN, 7th SFG (A), SFC Gregory A.
Fronius, was killed while attempting to organize
the resistance to the attack. In 1988 during a
similar attack on the 4th Brigade cuartel, El
Salvadoran forces and U.S. advisors—MAJ
James Parker,
SSG Michael
Roth, Captain
G i l b e r t o
Aguiar, SFC
Mario Orozco-
Torres and 1LT
B y r o n
Castleman —
fought back
and secured
the camp by
dawn.
The professional
training
imparted to the
El Salvadoran
military led to
ultimate success
on the battlefield.
On 16
January 1992, the FMLN signed peace accords
with the government. U.S. advisors can take a
large measure of pride in their role in neutralizing
the armed forces of the FMLN and forcing
SFC Gregory A. Fronius, shown here training a Salvadoran
soldier in marksmanship, was later killed in a FMLN raid.
them to join the national political process. In
1996, Congress ordered the Pentagon to give
the “train the trainer” concept. One four-man Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals to all who
MTT also trained garrison troops to act as the served in El Salvador from January 1981 to
guard force.
February 1992. This allowed for other combat
Special Forces advisors also went to each of
the six brigade headquarters where they lived
(generally no more than two to three officers and
NCOs), worked, and trained with brigade soldiers
for six months to a year. With a limit of 55
awards, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star,
Combat Infantry Badge, Army Commendation
Medal for Valor, and the Combat Medical Badge
to be awarded to soldiers who served in El
Salvador.
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