Ejército Venezolano

The Venezuelan Army, circa 2300

INTRODUCTION

One of South America’s smaller nations, Venezuela currently is involved in a longstanding counterinsurgency against guerillas supported by the Inca Republic.  The nation’s military is an experienced, and skilled, counter-guerilla formation.  A greater threat to the nation is the possibility of Mexican or Inca conventional attack during the continent’s anticipated 4^th Rio Plata War.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Dan Hebditch, David Gillon, and Jason Weiser for input and feedback on various aspects of the 2300-era Venezuelan Army.  Various weapons systems mentioned below are the work of other authors, and are credited at the end of the article.

  

NARRATIVE

 

Mishimishima-boweiteri had been a remote town deep in the Guyana Highlands, along the banks of the Rio Mavaca, prosperous enough to support its own church and the small and quaint Hotel Napoleon, gathering place of expatriate anthropology and sociology students from throughout Europe and the Americas seeking to study the Yanomamö Indians, the recently arrived colonistas from the coast, and the syncretic cultural traditions developing between the two.

 

At least it had been until May, 2293, when the local insurrectos had murdered four Canadian graduate students, declaring them enemies of the indigenous peoples of Venezuela and French spies.

 

International notoriety had been brief, and after that the place had collapsed into a small and struggling village of less than two-hundred, mostly Yanomamö, as the loyalist  colonistas fled back to the coast, and most of those who supported the revolution went over the border into Inca territory. .

 

 Sargento Ayudante Juan Gonzalez stepped out of the jungle and into the daylight that bathed the village, his  patrol of four other Venezuelan special forces soldiers and twenty Yanomamö militiamen following him slowly, eyes alert to threats or anything that seemed simply unusual.

 

There was a time when the villagers would have fled at the knowledge soldiers were coming, but Gonzalez and the rest of Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales 199 had spent the last four years working to dissuade that fearfulness.  Today, his patrol was greeted with smiles from the locals, who knew the patrol brought medical care, mail from the outside world, and would pay in cash for a leisurely midday meal spent sitting with the village mayor and other citizens,conversing in Spanish-Yanomamö Creole and listening to both their complaints concerning the distant central government as well as any news of the insurrectos.  Sargento Ayudante Gonzalez would then do what he could to correct both, working from his meager budget on the one hand, and relying on his patrol’s organic firepower and a waiting quick reaction force of Cazadores Paracaidista for the other.

 

It was far from glamorous, but it had largely driven the insurrectos from this village and the other settlements in Gonzalez’ company’s territory, pushing them back across the border into Inca lands and cutting them off from the local populace.  At least for the time being; the rebels seemed to have been knocked back by the government’s counteroffensive over the last several years but there was no sign that the camps across the border were depopulated, nor any sign that the insurrectos had abandoned the struggle.

 

Gonzalez expected a renewed push from across the border and would spend this afternoon speaking with the villagers and listening carefully for any hint or suggestion of an increase in activity in his sector.  It was a slow and uncertain work, but it was also highly effective.

 

INDEX

Order of Battle
Current Defence Issues and Foreign Relations
Foreign Military Involvement

Organisation of the Ejército Venezolano

Divisions and Separate Brigades

Brigade Organization

Personnel, Recruiting and Training

Uniforms and Equipment

Notes on Equipment Statistics

 

ORDER OF BATTLE

 

   Regíon Militar Norte

 

I División Aero-Blindado

III División de Infantería Motorizado

VI División Aero-Blindada

X Cuerpo de Ingenieros

94^ta Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

97^ma Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales

           

   Regíon Militar Occidental

 

II División Aero-Blindado

V División de Infantería Motorizado

VIII División de Infantería de Selva

93^er Brigada de Cabellería Contraguerillas

99^na Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales

 

   Regíon Militar Oriental

 

IV División de Infantería de Selva

VII División de Infantería Motorizado

91^ra Brigada de Cabellería Contraguerillas

 

INDEX

 

CURRENT DEFENSE ISSUES AND FOREIGN RELATIONS

The most pressing issue currently facing the Ejercito Venezolano and other elements of the Venezuelan armed forces (Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales) is the Inca Republic-sponsored insurgents of the Venezuelan Indigenous Peoples’ Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario de Gente Indígena Venezolano), the Indigenous Liberty Brigade (Brigada de Libertad Indígena) and the several smaller offshoots of those two organizations.  The insurgency began in the southern, economically impoverished estados of Amazonas and Bolívar shortly after the end of the 3^rd Rio Plata War, though it remained at a low (though distressing) level until the absorption of Colombia into the Inca Republic ten years later.  At the time, guerilla activity increased dramatically, primarily owing to the influx of assistance and support from “old” Inca regions (Peru and Ecuador), but also stemming in part from traditional rivalry between Venezuela and Colombia. 

 

The insurgency seems to have reached its high-water mark in 2294, when the guerillas staged a number of highly publicized terrorist actions in Caracas and Maracaibo (the so called “Battle of the Cities”), and were operating in battalion-strength in the two southern estados sympathetic to the insurrectos, as well as in the mountains south of Maracaibo.  The tide began to turn in the government’s favor in the following year, as the Ejército instituted reforms and reorganization to improve its performance against the insurgents.  The deployment of the newly reorganized IV División de Infantería de Selva to Amazonas in 2298, followed by a number of highly successful operations, aided by the 97^ma Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales, did much to reduce the level of insurgent activity in the province, though it has not eliminated it entirely.

 

At this point, the insurgency remains active, however, operating out of bases inside Inca territory and drawing financial and logistical support from the Incas, Argentina, and Mexico (though the latter two are more discrete about their participation).  The Ejército Venezolano has increasingly attempted take the war to these base camps, bringing it into occasional clashes with the Ejército Nacíonal de República Inca and government-affiliated paramilitaries. 

 

Incidents have grown more common in the last five years, bringing to two nations to the brink of war on a number of occasions, most notably in late 2298 after an Incan Navy S-922 class subfighter ran aground in Venezuelan waters near Maracaibo, most likely on a mission to infiltrate insurgents into the region.  Inca attempts to extricate the vessel and/or its crew prompted a clash between in the littoral region that left one Inca frigate sunk and forty to fifty military personnel on each side dead.  The stranded subfighter was recovered by the Venezuelan government, and used extensively in propaganda, though the fate of its crew, and any passengers, remains unknown.

 

A less immediate, though more menacing, threat to Venezuelan security is the possibility of armed incursion by Mexico, either alone or in conjunction with the Incas.  Ostensibly, Venezuela is neutral in the broader South American conflict between Brazil and Argentina.  However, the nation resides in Brazil’s northern flank and a hostile Venezuela would easily threaten the Brazilian Tantalum mining operation in the Pitinga deposit in Amazonia.

 

This threat has been taken quite seriously by Brazil, wary of a further extension of hostile powers along its northern flank.  France, for its part, has been less than enthusiastic about the prospects of a pro-Inca government in Venezuela (or absorption of Venezuela into the Inca Republic) on the border of French Guyana.  As a consequence, the two nations have been supplying substantial military and financial aid and assistance to Venezuela since the start of the insurgency.  The United Kingdom and the United States, both nations with vested interests in opposing a “domino effect” on the northern coast of South America, have also become embroiled in the conflict.  Within the last few years, the Netherlands has also become involved in the war, as guerilla activity and cross-border maritime infiltration has resulted in a number of attacks on Dutch citizens or property in the Netherlands Antilles and on Aruba.

 

The situation in Venezuela is complicated by some degree of ambivalence within the Venezuelan government towards both the Brazilian and French aid keeping the country afloat.  Few, if any, members of the Asamblea Nacional are sympathetic to the insurgency, but a number object to the increasing prominence of Brazilian and French interests in the country, both nations previously having been considered rivals and threats to Venezuelan autonomy.  Many also object to the Ejército’s support for the Ejército Nacional de Colombia Libertad (ENCL) insurgents who are engaged in trying to force Colombia back out of the Inca Republic, feeling that this somehow makes the Venezuelan position no better than that of the Inca Republic.  As a consequence, there have been a number of unfortunate and costly security leaks to the nation’s media from anonymous government officials that have been capitalized on by the insurrectos or the Ejército Nacional de República Inca (ENRI).

 

INDEX

 

FOREIGN MILITARY INVOLVEMENT

 

At any given time, there are a number of foreign military personnel, estimated to number in the low thousands, actively deployed in Venezuela.  These personnel are primarily Brazilian, French, American, and British, though the Portuguese and Dutch militaries have also had occasion to operate in Venezuela.  Most of these personnel are drawn from the special operations communities of their respective nations, and are variously involved in assisting in the training of the Venezuelan military, serving as advisors alongside field units, and engaging in operations alongside, or sometimes independent of, the Venezuelan special forces. 

 

The operations these units involve themselves in can occur anywhere in the country, though unofficially the estado of Bolívar is considered the “French sector,” while Brazil concentrates on neighboring Amazonas.  The American zone is generally defined as the llanos savannah bisecting the country from east to west, and the British and Dutch are primarily active in the coastal provinces and littoral regions of the country.  These sectors are not formally defined, but it has become customary for the “owning” nation or nations to be apprised of any operations in their area. 

 

There are also a number of paramilitary security corporations active in Venezuela, fulfilling various security contracts, primarily for foreign corporations doing business in the nation.  These security corporations typically rely on former special operations and, in some cases, former civilian law enforcement personnel, augmented by carefully screened Venezuelan employees (usually former Venezuelan military personnel).  Though relationships between the French, Brazilian, British, American, and Dutch official contingents operating in Venezuela are usually good, there is significantly more tension between the paramilitary security corporations working in country, with various firms with strong national identification (and often composed of former members of the same military units deployed to Venezuela) competing for finite numbers of contracts and funding.  There have been occasions where military personnel have overly involved themselves in the contracting process, usually to assist one firm or another based on personal friendships with former military personnel.  

 

French involvement in Venezuela is primarily the domain of the Groupement des Troupes Spéciales de la Force d’Action Rapide and Groupement des Troupes Spéciales Terrestres, with the organizations generating temporary detachments and task forces for service in Venezuela.  This involvement tends to primarily consist of direct action missions, as any French training for the Venezuelan military is done across the border in Guyana at the French military’s Jungle Warfare School and other facilities.  The French government takes pains to keep this intervention as covert as possible, and does not maintain any major facilities within Venezuela, instead relying on existing bases in Guyana or off-shore support from the French Navy for its needs in the region, though there are rumors of DGSE affiliated operations being run out of the embassy in Caracas, which also contains a military mission involved in the transfer of equipment to the Venezuelan military.  French activities are something of an open secret, but the French media has not taken any special interest in Venezuela, outside a few in the extreme left who have accused the French government of propping up an oppressive regime (albeit a democratically elected one that enjoys substantial popular support in most parts of the country.ing popular national support) regime opposed to the rights of indigenous peoples.  It is believed that there is a fairly substantial French staging base at Matthews Ridge, a small mining community near the Guyana-Venezuela border. 

 

Brazilian forces in Venezuela are all under the control of the 3o Grupo de Operaciones Especiais (3^rd Special Operations Group), with the Group maintaining an austere forward headquarters and stagin base at the confluence of the Rio Mavaca and Rio Orinoco, deep in the Guyana Highlands, known formally as Local Evora (“Site Echo” using standard English phonetic alphabet) and more informally as Nossa Senhora dos Secretos (“Our Lady of the Secrets”).  A second base, Local Setúbal (Site Sierra), is located outside the settlement of Cabruta on the northern edge of the estado of Bolívar, and is used primarily by the Brazilian Air Force’s special operations aviation units, both to support Brazilian and Venezuelan operations.

 

Forces deployed in-country vary, but typically involve elements of the Group’s 1o or 3o Batalhão de Forças Especiais (special forces battalion) and elements of an attached Batalhão  de Comandos Aníibios (special operations battalion) from the Brazilian Marine Corps.  A company of Caçadores Pára-quedista (airborne rangers) from 3^rd SOG’s 2o Batalhão de Caçadores Pára-quedista and two search and rescue teams from the Brazilian Air Force’s 1o Esquadrão Aeroterrestre de Salvamento are maintained at Cabruta with aviation and hover AFV assets from 3^rd SOG to serve as a quick reaction force.  The Brazilian Air Force usually forward deploys an Esquadrão de Operaciones Especiais

 

Brazilian military forces tend to operate in close cooperation with the Ejército Venezolano’s 99na Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales and VIII División de Infantería de Selva and are concerned primarily with eradicating the insurrectos along Brazil’s northern border.  Brazil is known to support the anti-Inca guerillas of the Ejército Nacional de Colombia Libertad, who operate number of clandestine staging bases in Venezuelan territory, but it is believed that this support is channeled through the civilian Direccao de Seguranca (at least in Venezuela), rather than the military.

American forces in Venezuela all fall under the command of Joint Special Operations Task Force 202 (JSOTF 202), headquartered at Forward Operating Base Guanare, outside the city of the same name in the estado of Portuguesa.  An Intermediate Staging Base (ISB) is maintained outside Willemstad in the Netherlands Antilles, primarily manned by logistics support and signals/intelligence personnel, though small operational teams sometimes operate out of the ISB (though such requires coordination with the Dutch, which sometimes proves problematic).  The USN special warfare units deployed in Venezuela generally operate out of the Armada Venezolano’s base at Maracaibo.

 

SOCOM units deployed in country typically include up to an entire battalion from the 5^th Special Forces Group (sometimes augmented by elements of the 7^th Special Forces Group and or reservists from the 20^th Special Forces Group), a platoon-sized Mobile Training Team (MTT) from SEAL Team 3, and a reinforced company from the 75^th Ranger Regiment serving as a quick-reaction and/or direct action mission force.  An aviation task force drawn from either the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment or the USAF’s 1^st Air Commando Wing, a reinforced troop of hover AFVs from the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), and a small Special Boat Unit from Littoral Special Warfare Squadron 3 provide additional operational and tactical mobility for JSOTF 202.  A team drawn from one of the USAF’s Air Commando Tactical Squadrons provides combat control and CSAR support, as needed.

 

Besides SOCOM assets, America also deploys a reinforced company of infantry from either XVIII Airborne Corps units or the 2^nd Marine Division to provide local security for the joint American-Brazilian signals intelligence station near Mérida.  This unit reports to JSOTF 202 while deployed, but is not subject to any additional taskings.

British forces operating in Venezuela are believed to consist both of operatives from the civilian intelligence services as well as military teams drawn from various UKSF units, including regular and Territorial Army elements of the SAS and SBS.  Like the French military, British operations tend to base out of the Jungle Warfare School in Guyana, though a small presence is maintained at the Dutch naval bases at Oranjestad and Willemstad.  British operations appear to primarily consist of cooperative ventures with the Ejército and Armada Venezolano in the coastal/littoral region and in urban counter-terrorist operations, though, like all other foreign nations active in Venezuela, British special operations units can be encountered anywhere in the country.

 

Dutch involvement in the conflict primarily consists of a cooperative patrol policy between the Dutch and Venezuelan navies in the littoral region between the South American mainland and the Dutch holdings offshore in the Antilles.  In this endeavor, the Koninklijke Marine operates in a “weapons tight” capacity, being restricted to firing only in self-defense or if a vessel subject to boarding has repeatedly ignored warnings.  However, contact and targeting data is freely shared with the Venezuelan Navy and Air Force, and Dutch participation has made surface and subsurface infiltration of insurgents or supplies through the Caribbean much more difficult.  The Dutch Marine’s SBS squadron and the Army’s Regiment Commandotroepen have taken part in a number of more offensive direct action missions against groups or individuals known to operate in support of the insurgency in the Carribean (sometimes alongside UKSF assets in country, sometimes in concert with the Venezuelans), though the Dutch involvement in mainland Venezuela is comparatively limited.

 

INDEX

 

ORGANIZATION OF THE EJÉRCITO VENEZOLANO
 

The Ejército is divided into military regions (Regíon Militar), each controlling a roughly corps-sized force.  Of the three, only one, the Northern Military Region, is set up with the combat support and combat service support assets one normally finds associated with a corps-level formation, however.  The other two Regions are configured more as administrative headquarters, with most combat power, as well as CS and CSS assets, residing in the assigned divisions and brigades. 

 

The Northern Military Region (Regíon Militar Norte) is primarily responsible for the coastal provinces of the country, though the estado of Zulia, along the Inca border, falls under the control of the Western Military Region.  The Northern Military Region is the most conventional-warfare oriented of the three commands, as the region is the likely target of any Mexican intervention.  The region has, in the past, been subject to frequent small-scale, terrorist-type insurgent activities, but this has been reduced to some extent in the last several years.

 

The Eastern Military Region covers the east-central and south-eastern portions of the country, and is a relatively quiet sector except in the southern estado of Bolívar, where the insurrectos remain active.  The region has the smallest garrison of the three regions, and often relies on additional troops from the Northern Military Region when major operations are contemplated.

 

The Western Military Region is subject the most frequent and largest-scale insurgent operations, owing to its proximity to safe havens and training camps in Inca territory, earning the region the nickname of “El Estadio de Juanito Indio,” or “Johnnie Indian’s Stadium” (derived from the Ejército’s common derisive nickname for the insurrectos and the ENRI).  The region has a large garrison force of varied composition and is capable of a range of counter-insurgency operations, going from the distributed local-level operations of its Jungle Infantry Division and Counter-Insurgency Cavalry Brigade to overwhelming conventional hammer blows by its assigned hover-mobile heavy division.

 

INDEX

 

DIVISIONS AND SEPARATE BRIGADES

 

I División Aero-Blindado

Headquartered at La Asuncíon on the Isla de Margerita, with brigades also based outside Maracaibo and on the Isla la Tortuga, this hover-armored division is the Venezuelan Army’s primary combat command facing towards the Caribbean and the potential threat of Mexican intervention from Cuba or the Isthmus of Panama.  A portion of the division is equipped with maritime-specialized M9B3 hovertanks, and the unit trains extensively with the Armada Venezolano for littoral defense operations.  The division’s 11^th Hover-Armor Brigade, based at Punto Fijo, east of Maracaibo, is oriented primarily towards the Inca border and terrestrial defense, though it can also operate in the Golfo de Venezuela and the Lago de Maracaibo as needed.

 

            11 Brigada Aero-Blindada (Lukis-VIII)

            12 Brigada Aero-Blindada (M9)

            17 Brigada Aero-Blindada (M9)

            19 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            191 Grupo de Artillería de Defensa Antiaérea

            101 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Aero-Blindada (AVR-72)

 

II División Aero-Blindado

Designated as a División Aero-Blindado, this division is actually configured as a mechanized-infantry heavy division, with two aero-mechanized brigades and one light armored brigade.  II División Aero-Blindado is assigned to the Western Military Region, and tasked with security operations in the western llanos savannah region of the country, specifically the estados of Apure, Barinas, and Portuguesa.  This region is hotly contested between the insurrectos, coming across the border and north from Amazonas, and pro-government paramilitaries.  As a consequence, the division sees a good deal of action against small units of insurrectos, and often has to reign in the pro-government paramilitaries as well.  

 

22 Brigada de Infantaría Mecanizada (Kangaroo)

            26 Brigada de Infantaría Mecanizada (Kangaroo)

            28 Brigada Aero-Blindada Ligera (Bolivar Light Tank)

            29 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            294 Grupo de Artillería de Defensa Antiaérea

            202 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Aero-Blindada (AVR-72)

 

III División de Infantería Motorizado

Based in and around Caracas, III División de Infantería Motorizado is the capital’s primary garrison force, and is often called on to support the national police and the army’s Fuerzas Especiales in operations against urban terror groups.  The division includes three brigades of light mechanized infantry equipped with the VCIR and ABR-76 wheeled AFVs, as well as a military police brigade equipped with lighter Wellonese FV 834 Tirat-P internal security vehicles.

 

            33 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado (VCIR)

            34 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado (VCIR)

            38 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado (VCIR)

            190 Brigada de Polícia Militar

            39 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            393 Grupo de Artillería de Defensa Antiaérea

            309 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Motorizado (ABR-76)

 

IV División de Infantería de Selva

Responsible for internal security of the estado of Bolívar, IV División de Infantería de Selva is a light infantry formation that has engaged in much of the bitterest fighting against the insurrectos to date, operating first in the neighboring state of Amazonas before shifting its AOR to Bolívar after VIII Divisíon became operational and moved into Amazonas.  The division consists of four light infantry brigades, plus an organic Special Forces battalion and a motorized cavalry regiment for reconnaissance and mounted security missions.  Most of division is deployed in platoon and company-sized garrisons throughout Bolívar at major and minor population centers, with company-sized motorized and battalion-sized airmobile quick reaction forces scattered throughout the province.

 

            41 Brigada de Cazadores

            42 Brigada de Cazadores

            43 Brigada de Cazadores

            47 Brigada de Cazadores

            401 Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales

            402 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Motorizado (Range Truck)

 

V División de Infantería Motorizado

With a headquarters at Maracaibo, V División de Infantería Motorizado is responsible for security in the three northernmost estados on the Inca border (Mérida, Tachira, and Zulia), an area including significant urban areas and mountainous terrain.  Thought not as volatile as the southern estados of Amazonas and Bolívar, the region is still subject to significant guerilla activity, and the division has seen a good deal of action in the last 24 months.

 

            51 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado

            52 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado

            54 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado

            55 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            501 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Motorizado

 

VI División Aero-Blindada

Headquartered at La Guaira, outside Caracas, VI División Aero-Blindada serves as the Ejército Venezolano’s reserve force in dealing with the insurrectos, and is often called on to provide brigade and battalion battle groups to augment forces in embattled provinces.  As part of this tasking, two of the division’s infantry battalions (617 Batallón de Infantaría Mecanizada and 661 Batallón de Infantaría Mecanizada) maintain proficiency at airmobile and light infantry operations as well as their primary mechanized mission.  In a conventional war, the division would be responsible for securing the capital, alongside III División, and, again, serving as part of the army’s counter-attack/offensive force.

 

61 Brigada Blindada Ligera (Bolivar Light Tank)

65 Brigada Blindada (Lukis-VIII)

            66 Brigada de Infantaría Mecanizada (AVCI-3)

            68 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            684 Grupo de Artillería de Defensa Antiaérea

            606 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Aero-Blindado (AVR-72)

 

VII División de Infantería Motorizado

Responsible for the northeastern portion of the country, VII Divisíon has one of the quietest sectors of the country.  However, it is often called on to detach battalions to support IV Division in the contested province of Bolívar, so its subordinate units see frequent action.

 

72 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado (VCIR)

            75 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado (VCIR)

            77 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado (VCIR)

            78 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            704 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Motorizado (ABR-76)

  

VIII División de Infantería de Selva

The VIII División de Infantería de Selva is based in the estado of Amazonas, and faces perhaps the most active and well-equipped echelon of the insurrectos.  The division headquarters is at Puerto Ayacucho, directly on the Inca border, though it maintains a rear detachment at the relative safety of San Fernando in the estado of Apure for units to rest and refit after operations.  Though the division’s area of responsibility is notable for a poor to non-existent road network, it does possess a small motorized infantry brigade, as well as its motorized cavalry regiment, for route security and convoy escort missions.  Like the IV División, VIII Divisón is deployed throughout its area of responsibility in platoon and company sized garrisons, with motorized and airmobile quick reaction forces available to counter any major insurgent

 

            84 Brigada de Cazadores

            86 Brigada de Cazadores

            88 Brigada de Cazadores

            89 Brigada de Cazadores

            87 Brigada de Infantería Motorizado

            801 Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales

            802 Regimiento de Exploración de Caballería Motorizado (Range Truck)

 

X Cuerpo de Ingenieros

A controlling headquarters for the Ejército’s engineering units (combat and otherwise), X Cuerpo de Ingenieros has its headquarters on Caracas, but its subordinate units can be found throughout the country, attached to the three Military Regions or to specific Divisions.  The Corps has three brigade-sized regiments, one per military region, plus a number of independent units, including two Batallón de Zapadores Motorizado (Motorized Sapper Battalions) responsible for route clearances and demining operations, and a Batallón de Zapadores de Selva (Jungle Sapper Battalion) made up of units trained to support the two Jungle Divisions operating in the south of the country. 

 

          101 Regimiento de Ingenieros (Regíon Militar Norte)

            102 Regimiento de Ingenieros (Regíon Militar Oriental)

            103 Regimiento de Ingenieros (Regíon Military Occidental)

            106 Batallón de Zapadores Motorizado

            107 Batallón de Zapadores de Selva

            109 Batallón de Zapadores Motorizado

 

91ra Brigada de Cabellería Contraguerillas

As its name implies, this brigade, and its sister formation, the 93^rd, were organized in 2295 for counter-insurgency operations.  Despite its cavalry lineage, the brigade is an infantry-heavy mechanized formation that is permanently organized into combined arms units as low as the platoon level.  Elements of the brigade are dispersed throughout the Regíon Militar Oriental in company-sized teams operating primarily as quick reaction forces.

 

            911 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (ACV)

            913 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (VCIR)

            915 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (VCIR)

            917 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (ACV)

 

93ra Brigada de Cabellería Contraguerillas

The Ejército Venezolano’s other counter-insurgency cavalry formation, 93ra Brigada de Cabellería Contraguerillas, is subordinate to the Regíon Militar Occidental and is primarily deployed in Apure province along the Inca border, though company sized detachments are deployed throughout the AOR.  The brigade patrols aggressively, and has engaged in a number of cross-border raids in squadron and regimental strength, relying on the massed firepower of II División Aero-Blindado to extricate any units that become engaged by superior enemy forces.

 

            932 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (VCIR)

            934 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (VCIR)

            936 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (ACV)

            938 Regimiento de Cabellería Contraguerillas (ACV)

 

94ta Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

Configured as a Corps artillery formation for the Northern Military Region, 94 Brigada de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado consists of two battalion-sized Grupos of long-range, self-propelled 15cm electromagnetic howitzers and two Grupos of long-range 24cm multiple rocket launchers.  Each Grupo is small (twelve tubes or launchers) and are primarily intended to support conventional operations in the event of an Inca or Mexican incursion.  Subunits are sometimes parceled out to support major counter-insurgency operations.

 

            941 Grupo de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            943 Grupo de Artillería de Campaña Autopropulsado

            944 Grupo de Artillería de Campaña Misilístico

            946 Grupo de Artillería de Campaña Misilístico

 

97ma Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales

Officially subordinate to the Northern Military Region, the 97ma Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales also detaches elements to the Eastern Military Region as needed.  The brigade has made a name for itself in the “Battle of the Cities” opposing the urban guerillas of the Brigada de Libertad Indígena, though the unit’s reputation is mixed, as many of its successes and failures in the last few years have occurred directly under the eyes of the Venezuelan and international media.

 

            Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales 179

            Batallón de Cazadores Paracaidista 197

            Unidad de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas 970

 

99na Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales

In contrast to its sister formation, the 97^th Special Forces Brigade, the 99na Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales has maintained a very low profile, with almost all of their operations occurring in the remote south of the country, especially Amazonas, though also Bolívar and north onto the savannahs of Apure province on occasion.  The one exception to this is the brigade’s Unidad de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas, based in Maracaibo, which has also drawn some attention during the “War of the Cities.”  Much of the brigade’s activities center around pushing the military presence outward from VIII División’s garrisons, and teams from the brigade’s Special Forces battalion are primarily dispersed among the Yanomamö Indians and small immigrant colonista communities that are scattered through the jungle.  The brigade regards itself as the elite of the Ejército, with a rivalry with its sister brigade based on the number of “Gols” (confirmed enemy KIAs) each brigade can “score.”  The 99^th Brigade is regarded as cheating in this competition by some in the 97^th, owing to the brigade’s tendency to engage in cross-border raiding into Inca territory.

 

          Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales 199

          Batallón de Cazadores Paracaidista 299

          Unidad de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas 990

 

INDEX

 

BRIGADE ORGANIZATION

 

Brigada Aero-Blindada, Brigada Aero-Blindada Ligera and Brigada de Infantaría Mecanizada

The Hover-Armored and Light Hover-Armored (Brigada Aero-Blindada and Brigada Aero-Blindada Ligera, respectively) Brigades in service with the Ejército Venezolano are maneuver-oriented forces designed for high-intensity, conventional operations.  Sub-units are sometimes detached to support the counter-insurgency effort, but the primary role of these organizations is to guard against the possibility of armed incursion by Inca or Mexican conventional forces.

 

The combat strength of either type of the brigade is built around two hover-armor regiments, each with four squadrons of eleven hover-tanks (three platoons of three, plus the commander and second-in-command’s tanks).  Tanks in the Hover-Armored formations are either surplus Azanian Luftkissenpanzer-VIIIs or former Turkish American M9s (bought or converted to American M9B3 configuration).  The Light Hover-Armored Brigades use the joint Venezuelan-Indonesian Bolivar light hover battle tank design.

 

Supporting the two armored regiments is a battalion of mechanized infantry and the combat support and combat service support assets of the brigade’s Batallón de Apoyo Logistico.  Typically this is augmented by a mixed-artillery battalion from the divisional artillery brigade in direct support.  The infantry battalion is organized into three Compañia de Infantería Mecanizado and one Compañia Misilístico Antitanque.  The former are equipped with fourteen hover-APCs (Kangaroos in the Hover-Armored Brigades, AVCI-3s in the Light Hover-Armored Brigades), the latter with eleven H-APCs modified to carry Aero-12 anti-vehicle missiles.  Mechanized infantry company organization is fairly typical, with three platoons, each mounted on four vehicles, plus a headquarters section.  Standard squad organization in the mechanized infantry units is a nine-man unit, with a squad leader (armed with an F-7 laser rifle) and two four man fire-teams, each with two vz 68 assault rifles, a vz 68 assault rifle with an add-on AMEDI 30mm grenade launcher, and a M-70 light machinegun.  In units equipped with the Kangaroo APC, there are only two rifle squads per platoon.

 

The Batallón de Apoyo Logistico is primarily a combat service support formation, but includes the brigade’s Mortar Company (Compañia de Morteiro) with eight Kangaroos modified to carry French 105mm auto-mortars, and its reconnaissance squadron (Escuadrón de Exploración de Caballería Aero-Blindada) with two Troops, each with three AVR-72s and three Kangaroos carrying dismounted scouts (organized into two standard infantry squads).

 

The army’s two Brigadas de Infantería Mecanizada are organized similarly to the Brigadas Aero-Blindada, except that the ratio of infantry to armor is reversed, with two mechanized infantry battalions and one armor battalion.  One brigade, the 66^th, is equipped throughout with the AVCI-3 hover APC, while the other, the 26^th, uses the Kangaroo.  Both brigades are equipped with the Lukis-VIII in their armored regiment.

 

Brigada de Cabellería Contraguerillas

The Brigadas de Cabellería Contraguerillas (Counter-Insurgency Cavalry Brigades) are light, mobile formations employed primarily in the llanos plains region of the country for rapid operations against insurgents.  Each of the two brigades is composed of four regiments (Regimientos de Cabellería Contraguerillas), all-arms formations equipped with either a mix of Bolivar light tanks, Kangaroo H-APCs, and Hover Rover 500 WMRs or ABR-76 armored cars, VCIR and Tirat wheeled AFVs, with two regiments of each in each brigade.  Each regiment consists of three company-sized cavalry squadrons, a mechanized infantry company (referred to as a Dragoon Squadron), and a Combat Support Squadron.  Brigade-level support assets include logistics units, a robust signal company, and a platoon-sized psychological operations detachment. 

 

Cavalry squadrons consist of a headquarters platoon and three cavalry platoons.  The former has a pair of armored personnel carriers converted to specialist command post vehicles; a number of soft-skinned transports and ambulances for CSS needs; a Mortar Section with a pair of French ML-80 8cm mortars; and a UAV Section with a pair of Azanian Blouvalk light UAV.  Each of the three Cavalry Platoons consists of three Seccions de Tiradors (organized as standard nine man infantry squads plus vehicle crews), a two vehicle Seccion de Tanques (Tank Section), and a headquarters element, the Seccion de Comando (mounted on an APC and including two-man Texan T-10 60mm mortar team and a two-man M-95 rocket launcher team).  In hover-mobile regiments, each cavalry platoon has one Dragoon Section mounted on a pair of Hover Rover 500 WMRs (usually armed with 30mm automatic grenade launchers), while the other two ride on AVCI-3s, and the tank section is equipped with Bolívar light tanks.  In wheeled regiments, the same format is used, with Tirat FLVs replacing the Hover Rovers, VCIRs replacing the AVCI-3s, and ABR-76s acting in the light tank role.  In either case, the platoon has a total of seven vehicles assigned.

 

The Combat Support Squadron consists of a number of assets, including a Mortar Platoon (four 105mm French auto-mortars on modified APCs), a UAV Platoon (six Blauvalk drones), and a Combat Walker Platoon with twelve BH-21s and three APCs modified as transports.

 

Brigada de Cazadores

Assigned to the Ejercito’s two Divisións de Infantería de Selva, the Brigadas de Cazadores are light infantry formations organized for counter-insurgency duties, especially in rough terrain and urban areas.  They are not suited for high-intensity conventional operations, except in defensive roles.

 

Each brigade consists of three Batallón de Cazadores supported by a mortar company (eight 105mm auto-mortars), MRL battery (eight truck-mounted 160mm MRLs) and a UAV company with ten Blauvalk drones.  Cazadore Battalions are austere formations, consisting of a Headquarters Company (including four ML-80 8cm mortars), a Combat Walker Company with eighteen BH-21s, and three Cazadore Companies.  Each Cazadore Company consists of three forty-six man Rifle Platoons, each made up a headquarters section (six men, including the platoon leader, platoon sergeant, platoon guide, communications specialist, forward observer and medic), three nine-man rifle squads and a thirteen-man weapons squad with two T-10 6cm mortars, two M-95 rocket launchers, and two SR-96 sniper rifles.

 

One Cazadore company in each battalion is equipped with a mix of FV 482 Tirat Forward Liaison Vehicles and unarmored range trucks to provide tactical mobility, while the other two are foot-mobile or dependent on external transport from their parent division or the Venezuelan Air Force.

 

Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales

The Ejercito’s two Brigadas de Fuerzas Especiales (Special Forces Brigades) provide it with a variety of special-mission capabilities.  Each brigade is organized into a Special Forces Battalion (Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales) and a Commando Battalion (Batallón de Cazadores Paracaidista).  Each brigade also commands an eighty-five man Unidad de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas tasked with urban counter-terrorist and other special operations, and a psychological operations company.  All elements of the unit are trained for various special mobility operations (air mobile/air assault, parachute operations, and amphibious operations).

 

The Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales is organized into three line companies plus a small headquarters and support company.  Each of the three line companies is subdivided into four 16-man patrols, led by a captain.  Patrols usually subdivide into two eight-man sections, the second section led by the patrol’s senior NCO, and further breaking down into four-man fire teams, with each member of the fire team having specialist training as a marksman, signaler, medic, or demolitions expert.  Equipment differs somewhat from the standard Venezuelan military issue, with each patrol being issued four German LK-1 laser rifles, eight French FAM-90S special operations assault rifles, two SR-96 sniper rifles, and two British Vickers-Rockwell L95 7.5mm machineguns with short barrel/grenade launcher kits fitted.  Each patrol member is also equipped with an FM P300S suppressed automatic pistol.  The battalion has additional specialist weapons available for issue on an as-needed basis, including small numbers of FTE-10 sniper rifles, French RPS-2292 combat shotguns, and British L92A1 plasma rifles.  Captured weapons on issue with the insurgents or ENRI are also used frequently.  The battalion’s units are primarily used for long-range reconnaissance patrol operations, though they are robust enough to be used for small-scale direct action missions as needed (especially those carried out across the border into Inca territory).

 

The Batallón de Cazadores Paracaidista is organized identically to the Cazadore battalion described above.  It does differ in equipment, however, with the standard assault rifle being the Czech-Polish binary vz 94, the vz 97 laser rifle replacing the F-7, and with L95 light machineguns (again in the short barrel/grenade launcher configuration) replacing the vz 68 LMGs.  Each squad is also provided with two FM P300S pistols for close-combat situations.  The Cazadore battalion is the brigade’s primary direct action force, being well trained in platoon and company sized raiding operations.

 

The Unidads de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas are organized into three sixteen-man teams with similar equipment scales, though each fire team typically carries an RPS-2292 shotgun (primarily for breaching) as well as their other individual weapons.  An additional twelve personnel are organized into a Combat Walker platoon and equipped with BH-21s (somewhat modified to specialize them for urban CT operations).  The unit also has a ten-man sniper section, equipped, as needed, with SR-96s, FTE-10s, or Russian SVB laser sniper rifles.  The remainder of the unit includes its command and control echelon, plus a small logistic and support echelon.

 

Each of the two Divisións de Infantería de Selva have an organic Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales assigned for long range reconnaissance and other special missions.  This battalion consists of a headquarters company plus two Compañia de Fuerzas Especiales and one Compañia de Cazadores Paracaidista, organized as outlined above, except that the Cazadore company adds a platoon of six BH-21s.

 

Brigada de Infantería Motorizado

Equipped with light VCIR armored personnel carriers and ABR-76E armored cars, the Ejército’s several Brigadas de Infantería Motorizado provide it with mobile, infantry-heavy formations suitable for a range of conventional and counter-insurgency tasks.  The primary combat elements of each brigade are three Batallóns de Infantería Motorizado augmented by a brigade Compañia Morteros with eight self-propelled 105mm auto-mortars, and an indepedent Compañia de Cazadores Blindada with twenty-four BH-21 combat walkers.

 

The Batallóns de Infantería Motorizado consist of a headquarters company, three infantry companies, and a tank company.  The headquarters includes a mortar section (Seccíon Morteros) with another pair of 105mm automortars on VCIR chassis plus assorted combat service support assets.  Each infantry company is composed of seventeen VCIRs, organized into a two-vehicle headquarters section, plus three five vehicle rifle platoons.  Each rifle platoon consists of a headquarters squad, three nine-man rifle squads (armed with two vz 68 light machineguns, two vz 68 assault rifles with 30mm grenade launchers, four standard vz 38 assault rifles, and an F-7 laser rifle), and a weapons squad consisting of two two-man T-10 6cm mortar teams, two two-man M-95 rocket launcher teams, and two two-man sniper teams, each armed with a pair of SR-96 sniper rifles.  The tank company consists of eleven ABR-76E armored cars, divided into three platoons of three, plus two vehicles with the company headquarters.

 

The 87ma Brigada de Infantería Motorizado, part of VIII Divisíon, is organized somewhat differently for its mission of operating in the country’s southern uplands.  The brigade has only two Batallóns de Infantería Motorizado and they are equipped with a mixture of Tirat FLVs and unarmored, locally manufactured range trucks.  Each battalion has four infantry companies, with no tank company assigned, and is equipped with five Tirats and five range trucks per platoon.  One Tirat per platoon mounts a CLP-1 plasma gun in lieu of the standard turret, while the remainder use the B2 turret with 30mm AGL and 7.5mm machinegun.  The brigade retains its mortar company and combat walker companies.

 

INDEX

 

PERSONNEL, RECRUITING AND TRAINING
 

The Ejército Venezolano is a conscript force, made up of recruits serving a 2.5-year service obligation, selected by a random lottery system based on age cohorts, and focusing on 20 year old males.  Conscripts are not recruited by geographic locality, but on induction most are formed into companies that will remain together for the duration of their military service (the primary exceptions being certain technical fields that require low rates of recruitment to meet their personnel needs).  Initial entry training takes roughly six months, including a good deal of small-unit infantry tactics and other counter-insurgency specific training for all military specialties and units.  Major recruit training depots are located at Los Teques, outside Caracas, and Cabimas, south of Maracaibo.  Some specialist training is conducted at these depots as well, though most is conducted at the division level when recruit companies are posted forward to their eventual units.     

 

The army’s officer and NCO corps are both composed of professionals.  The former have, traditionally, been the products of the National Military Academy outside Caracas, and drawn from the middle class and rural upper class, but since the start of the insurgency an increasing number of proven leaders have been commissioned up from the ranks, greatly reducing the traditional social separation between the officer and enlisted ranks.  At present approximately 30% of the Ejército’s officers are former enlisted conscripts or NCOs.

 

The NCO corps is made up of former conscripts who have volunteered to extend their service contracts on two or four year service agreements.  Those who do so are first sent to an eight-week qualifying course that combines small unit leadership training with fairly grueling physical demands.  As the Venezuelan economy has suffered as a result of the insurgency, further employment with the military has appealed to many, and retention in service as a junior NCO is competitive.

 

Rank structure of the Ejército is fairly standard for South America, as outlined below.  Conscripts cannot rise above the rank of Soldado Distinguido without signing on for an additional service contract as an NCO or attending officer candidate school.  Also note that Venezuelan special forces units are all professional units, so the lowest ranking personnel in such a unit are Cabo Segundos, who may function in responsibilities normally doled out to a Soldado in other units.