Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

“Looks Suspicious”: The US Marines <strong>Air</strong> Campaign against <strong>the</strong> S<strong>and</strong>ino Insurgents of Nicaragua 1927-1933
of Marines returned to defeat <strong>the</strong> uprising. Under Conservative rule, Nicaragua <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
US signed <strong>the</strong> Bryan-Chamorro Treaty. This treaty gave <strong>the</strong> US <strong>the</strong> exclusive right to build
a Nicaraguan canal, a right <strong>the</strong> US never planned to exercise.
In 1926 <strong>the</strong> Liberals rebelled again. When Olds wrote this memo in 1927, <strong>the</strong> Marines
had just been ordered to return to Nicaragua, once again in support of Conservatives.
As thous<strong>and</strong> of Marines l<strong>and</strong>ed <strong>and</strong> occupied most of Nicaragua, a US-sponsored peace
accord was reached in May 1927. Now most Liberal leaders accepted US dominance. Both
sides agreed to disarm, to divide <strong>the</strong> political offices, to hold new national election, <strong>and</strong> for
<strong>the</strong> construction of a new military force, <strong>the</strong> Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua. All this was
to happen under US oversight <strong>and</strong> supervision.
Augusto S<strong>and</strong>ino, one of <strong>the</strong> minor Liberal generals, decided to reject what he felt was
<strong>the</strong> US domination of his country. Establishing himself in <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn Segovia region,
S<strong>and</strong>ino began to organise a peasant-based force which he called <strong>the</strong> Ejército Defensor
de la Soberanía Nacional de Nicaragua (EDSN: Army in Defence of <strong>the</strong> National
Sovereignty of Nicaragua). S<strong>and</strong>ino declared himself <strong>the</strong> true defender of Nicaragua <strong>and</strong>
vowed to fight both <strong>the</strong> Marines <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nicaraguans who had betrayed <strong>the</strong> country <strong>and</strong>
allied <strong>the</strong>mselves with <strong>the</strong> Americans. Thus, <strong>the</strong> S<strong>and</strong>inista resistance was never criminal
in nature but a nationalist response against what <strong>the</strong>y felt was a foreign occupation of
<strong>the</strong>ir country.
The War <strong>and</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>
On 16 July 1927, S<strong>and</strong>ino attacked Ocotal, <strong>the</strong> capital of Nueva Segovia province. He
had a core force of about 60, augmented by several hundred local peasants armed
with machetes. Facing him were 41 Marines <strong>and</strong> 50 members of <strong>the</strong> Guardia Nacional
(including its two Marine officers). 164 After hours of fighting, S<strong>and</strong>ino controlled most of
<strong>the</strong> town. Two Marine aeroplanes on regular patrol flew over <strong>the</strong> city. Seeing <strong>the</strong> battle
underway, one aeroplane returned to <strong>the</strong> capital Managua for reinforcements while <strong>the</strong>
second began to attack <strong>the</strong> S<strong>and</strong>inistas. Informed of <strong>the</strong> battle a re-enforcement force of
five DeHavil<strong>and</strong> biplanes flew to Ocotal. For forty-five minutes <strong>the</strong>y bombed <strong>and</strong> fired
<strong>the</strong>ir machine guns on <strong>the</strong> S<strong>and</strong>inistas. Historian Neill Macaulay claims this was <strong>the</strong> “first
organized dive-bombing in history”. 165 Marine air power turned <strong>the</strong> tide of <strong>the</strong> battle <strong>and</strong>
S<strong>and</strong>ino fled from <strong>the</strong> city.
As S<strong>and</strong>ino retreated into <strong>the</strong> mountains <strong>and</strong> forests of nor<strong>the</strong>rn Nicaragua, Marine
patrols, both ground <strong>and</strong> air, soon followed. The war had started. From <strong>the</strong> first battle
Marine aviation was an essential component of <strong>the</strong>ir counter-insurgency strategy. This
became <strong>the</strong> first co-ordinated ground/air war in US history. One historian noted that “never
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”