Central Intelligence Agency

“ Although numerous improvements have been made in each of the three armed services since the advent of the US Military Assistance Program (MAP) in 1953, all are handicapped by shortages in modern equipment and specialist personnel, logistical weaknesses, and insufficient training. The armed forces have no significant offensive capabilities. Without outside military assistance, they could defend Spain and its overseas provinces against a modern aggressor only for a short period. ”

“ The commander -- the Inspector General -- is a career arms brigadier or major general. Some officers are obtained from selected enlisted personnel who graduate from a 9-month officers' training course at the Special Academy of the Armed Police, but most of the officers are on detached service from the army. Enlisted men are recruited from volunteers who have completed their compulsory military service. All personnel -- army officers on special detail and new enlisted men -- must attend a 4-month orientation course at the Special Academy of the Armed Police in Madrid. ”

“ To execute its operational tasks, the air force is organized into four functional commands -- Air Defense, Tactical Air, Air Transport, and Air Materiel -- which are directly subordinate to the Minister of Air. Aircraft and support units are established and maintained as appropriate, and each command has its own staff. Organization of operational aircraft units follows basically that of the US Air Force with wings or groups composed of squadrons, flights, and detachments in descending order. ”

“ A few army officers are assigned to the Civil Guard for special duties, such as communications, supply, weapons specialties, and general staff functions. All enlisted men are volunteers. Except for sons (including orphans) of Civil Guard personnel, all enlisted men must have completed their term of compulsory service. The former, who receive preference when vacancies occur, enter a special preparatory school (Colegio de Guardias Jovenes) as children; their training is rigid. ”

“ Training The air force has a thorough school system for developing basic and professional skills for both officer and enlisted personnel. The system is considered self-sufficient, with graduate quotas adequate to meet most existing military requirements. Although flight training is considered sufficient for military needs, the rapid growth of commercial aviation is luring away young officer pilots in ever increasing numbers. (There is no civil pilot training program in Spain.) ”

“ It has an excellent capability to meet its responsibilities against a minor air power or a combination of minor air powers, such as Algeria and Morocco, and to assist in the maintenance of internal security. Although its capability against a large, modern Air Force has been advanced through the acquisition of modern, high-performance aircraft, the air force is still too small and lacks requisite staying power. Unless it received external reinforcement and logistical support, it could not fulfill its missions against a major, modern air force. ”

“ There is no separate aviation army personnel from any of the combat arms may be assigned to army aviation. The mission of army aviation is to support the army. In support of this mission, it is tasked to enhance the reconnaissance and security capabilities of ground units; engage in offensive, defense, or delaying actions; and provide tactical airlift of combat troops, supplies, and equipment in airmobile operations. Army aviation is dependent on the Spanish Air Force for pilot and technical training and for logistical support of assigned helicopters ”

“ The army has no significant offensive capability, and it could oppose modern forces invading continental Spain in open battle for only a very short period; thereafter its resistance would be limited to guerrilla warfare. Army units in the North African places of sovereignty1, Spanish Sahara, and the Canary Islands have received priority in training and equipment, particularly infantry weapons. They are capable of defending Spanish interests in Africa against incursions by minor powers. ”

“ The strength of the Civil Guard is 62,000 officers and enlisted men. The force consists of 28 regiments deployed throughout the peninsula and the islands. There is a battalion each in Ceuta and Melilla (both of which are components of a regiment stationed in southern Spain) , but no units are in Spanish Sahara.
A regiment has no fixed table of organization and equipment; its strength is determined by geographic and population considerations. Below the regiment is a unit roughly comparable to a battalion, called a comandancia, which is the basic unit that works with the provincial governors. ”

“ Officer candidates for the naval infantry, engineering, and supply corps also take a 5-year course at the Naval Academy but concentrate on subjects dealing with their special fields and undergo less shipboard training. Basic training of enlisted men devotes much time to non-naval subjects and to elementary education. Specialist schools, most of which have courses for both enlisted men and officers, offer training in various technical fields, including gunnery, electronics, communications, engineering, and amphibious warfare. ”

“ Air transport capability is adequate to meet peacetime needs in continental Spain except for the air force's inability to airlift several types of army vehicles and larger equipment. In addition, airlift resources are inadequate to support a large emergency troop deployment to the Canary Islands or Spanish Sahara.
Major deficiencies common to all air force combat and combat support units include shortages of technical and specialist personnel, insufficiency of realistic training, and inadequate logistical support. ”

“ While individual pilot training is generally considered good, unit training is relatively weak. The air force has suffered from the lack of large-scale practical exercises with ground and naval forces, and it has not benefited measurably from joint exercises with the Portuguese Air Force. Although advertised as combined air defense exercises, the joint exercises have resulted in little more than cross-country flights. Spanish pilots and EW/GCI personnel have worked with the French Air Force on an exchange basis in joint air defense exercises in the past. ”

“ Domestic output in direct support of the armed forces is limited to infantry weapons, artillery up to 105-mm tank guns, and ammunition; transport and special purpose vehicles; telecommunication, electronic, engineer, and quartermaster equipment; submarines and guided missile destroyer escorts; and some transport and jet trainer aircraft. The planned French-Spanish AMX-30 tank co-production program is expected to provide Spain with an armored vehicle production capability within the next several years. ”

“ The army's overall effectiveness has increased under the influence of the MAP, but its capability to perform its mission is still limited by obsolescence of weapons; lack of mobility, a weak logistic support system; shortages of communications equipment, air defense weapons, tanks, and heavy artillery; many overage officers unfit for active field campaigning; insufficient numbers of NCOs and technical personnel; and inadequate advanced training of enlisted personnel. ”

“ Organization The Chief of State, who is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, exercises control over the air force through the Minister of Air, an active duty lieutenant general, who is authorized to organize and maintain the air force and civil aviation. ”

“ Training (C) The training system develops effective basic professional skills, but much of the training is theoretical and lacking in practical exercises. The effectiveness of the training program is limited by obsolescence and shortages of material, a serious lack of specialists and technicians, and insufficient unit training.
Conscripts report directly to recruit training centers, where they receive 16 weeks of basic training. Aptitude tests to determine appropriate assignments to an arm or service are given at the end of the first 8 weeks of general basic training. ”

“ The Auxiliary Military Academy also provides an administrative course for noncommissioned officers who desire to become officers on the auxiliary list. When commissioned, these officers are not placed on the regular rolls, they must remain on the auxiliary list for administrative duties only, and they never advance beyond the rank of major. As in the US Army, branch schools provide advanced courses for qualification, familiarization, and specialization for both officers and noncommissioned officers. ”

“ Tactical air capabilities are considerably restricted by the forced reliance on obsolescent and limited-capable piston and jet trainer-type aircraft, the lack of an effective tactical air control system, and currently, by the nonavailability of cameras for the RF-5A Freedom Fighter. The one air force fixed-wing ASW squadron works in conjunction with naval helicopters in providing aerial ASW patrol support to naval surface forces and reportedly flies daily missions. ”

“ The advanced military studies course, roughly comparable to the US National War College is open to selected army and air force general officers, admirals, and high-ranking civilians in government service. The joint staff course, somewhat comparable to the US Armed Forces Staff College, is offered to selected majors and lieutenant colonels of the army and air force and to lieutenant commanders and commanders of the navy, all of whom must be graduates of a service staff school. ”

“ Additional reserve pilots are obtained under a program whereby selected individuals attend flying school and serve as enlisted men. Upon completion of their flying training they must request and complete a 4-year active duty tour as flying sergeants to qualify for advancement. A second 4-year tour must then be requested for which those selected are promoted to second lieutenant. Of this group, a select few are permitted to stay on as regular officers. The remainder return to reserve status and may obtain promotion only by returning to active duty for the prescribed 6-month period. ”

“ The headquarters, or Directorate General, of the Civil Guard in Madrid, includes a staff organized along normal military lines. The Director General of the Civil Guard is always a career lieutenant general of the army. The majority of the officer corps are graduates of the army's General Military Academy and a 2-year course at the Civil Guard Academy; the remainder are former Civil Guard noncommissioned officers who have attended the course at the Civil Guard Academy. ”

“ The educational level of the conscripts is low, and the average conscript lacks a background in technical skills. Officers generally are well educated and well informed in military matters, although they often lack practical experience. Top Spanish military leaders are reluctant to delegate authority; all significant decisions are made at ministerial level. Personnel are well disciplined, however, and there is a high degree of rank consciousness at all levels - officer and enlisted - so that decisions are carried out with forcefulness. ”

“ The navy has a complete school system which provides basic, technical, and advanced instruction, but the system is limited by the low educational level of enlisted men, the short time served by conscripts, and an overemphasis on theory. ”

“ Morale among the enlisted men appears to be good; most of the conscripts are from poor families, and they are accustomed to the menial tasks assigned to them during their military service.
Spanish enlisted men are tough, capable of enduring hardships with a minimum of subsistence, courageous, and patriotic. Although individualistic, they are amenable to military discipline. ”

“ Civil Guard The peacetime mission of the Civil Guard is the maintenance of law and order throughout rural Spain and frontier areas. It performs highway traffic control duties, maintains customs control along the borders, and operates an effective intelligence network in connection with its responsibilities for the prevention of subversive activities and control of smuggling. ”

“ The officer corps is conservative and strongly anti-Communist, and there is no known Communist penetration among the enlisted personnel. The armed forces are loyal to the Franco regime; all military leaders appear willing to accept the successor of General Franco's choice. ”