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
both Marine ground <strong>and</strong> air forces concentrated to attack S<strong>and</strong>ino’s headquarters on <strong>the</strong>
top of <strong>the</strong> isolated mountain known as El Chipote. After a vigorous bombing campaign,
S<strong>and</strong>ino ab<strong>and</strong>oned this base before <strong>the</strong> final Marine assault. Later in 1930, Marine
aviation attacked ano<strong>the</strong>r suspected S<strong>and</strong>inista camp on Yuca Puca mountain. One
report described <strong>the</strong> effects of this bombing campaign: “All patches of wooded l<strong>and</strong> was
raked with fire from <strong>the</strong> ship’s guns <strong>and</strong> bombs dropped until <strong>the</strong> mountain top took on
appearance of a field in Fl<strong>and</strong>ers”. 171
<strong>Air</strong> power occasionally supported ground patrols under attack. Even with <strong>the</strong> limited
communication, patrols could signal <strong>the</strong>y were under fire <strong>and</strong> point to <strong>the</strong> position of <strong>the</strong>
enemy. Several times planes rescued <strong>the</strong> ground patrols from perilous situations. Major
Rowell described one of <strong>the</strong>se incidents near <strong>the</strong> beginning of <strong>the</strong> war. He stated that a
ground patrol was surrounded on an isolated jungle hill. The pilot dropped a message
asking where <strong>the</strong> enemy was <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> ground patrol signalled “north, south, east <strong>and</strong>
west”. The pilots <strong>the</strong>n asked “how far” <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> patrol was able to give <strong>the</strong> estimated
range. The aeroplanes <strong>the</strong>n bombed <strong>the</strong> indicated area <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> patrol was able to escape.
After this incidence <strong>the</strong> Marines developed for <strong>the</strong> first time a “prescribed” system of
bombing directed by ground panels. Rowell later called this incidence “a ra<strong>the</strong>r interesting
occurrence,” since it would never “occur to one that such a situation would ever arise.” 172
Ano<strong>the</strong>r example occurred in <strong>the</strong> small town of Quilali. The ground Marines were
surrounded <strong>and</strong> had taken casualties. Under fire, aircraft were able to l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> airlift out
eighteen of <strong>the</strong> most seriously wounded. The aeroplanes <strong>the</strong>n accompanied <strong>the</strong> column
until <strong>the</strong>y were able to reach safety.
We marched <strong>the</strong>m under continuous air escort throughout <strong>the</strong> flying
hours of <strong>the</strong> day, <strong>the</strong>n we halted <strong>the</strong>m for <strong>the</strong> night <strong>and</strong> repeated
<strong>the</strong> process <strong>the</strong> next day. We marched <strong>the</strong>m for two days. As soon as
one patrol had reached <strong>the</strong> limit of its fuel, it would be replaced by
ano<strong>the</strong>r patrol, so <strong>the</strong>re was continuous support. We drove off three
or four ambushed during <strong>the</strong> march. 173
The most common form of combat were <strong>the</strong> attacks made on <strong>the</strong> small villages, isolated
houses <strong>and</strong> individuals which were scattered throughout <strong>the</strong> Segovias. These were not in
support of ground patrols. Using <strong>the</strong> daily “<strong>Air</strong> Service Reports,” which were written after
each patrol, one can see how frequent <strong>the</strong>se were. Ten separate incidents were noted in
<strong>the</strong> month of April 1928 alone. Murra was a typical Segovian town with a population of
about 200 <strong>and</strong> about fifty houses. 174 It was attacked several times during this period. One
example is from 12 April 1928 in which <strong>the</strong> report described <strong>the</strong> regular patrol activities
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”