Elite Forces of the Caribbean
Dominican Republic's Commandos
by Rob Krott

Mural on barracks wall.

    I was standing on the flight line at the Base Aero San Isidro, Republica Dominicana home of the only non-communist airborne commando force in the Caribbean and desperately trying to find somebody with a helmet which I could borrow. I needed the helmet to make a static-line jump from an ancient C-47 parked on the tarmac. The last (and first) time I'd jumped a C-47 was only about three months previous in El Salvador on their Soldier's Day. Some one took my picture which promptly appeared the next day on the front page of El Diario del Hoy, the El Salvadoran daily, thus assuring my position on the Farabundo Marti Liberacion Nacional's "Top 40 Hit List".

    It was Independence Day in the Dominican Republic and I was a guest of the Special Forces Commandos (Fuerzas Especiales Comandos). Myself and two more plane loads of guest jumpers made a static line jump from 1,250 feet while some of our compatriots freefalled 7,500 feet from a UH-1H Huey. They and the Dominican Republic's National Free Fall Team provided a demonstration of their skills for some general officers, (the Dominican Republic has over 40 generals but only 18,000 troops).

Commando Private with an M-16A2 in
front of representation of the units parachute insignia.

    The SF/Commando units of the Dominican Republic are not organized as part of the Army. They belong to the Dom. Rep. Air Force, much like the German Fallschirmajaeger were organized from Lufwaffe formations during World War II. This is the primary reason why so many of their sport parachute jumpers, even members of the national team, are actually pilots rather than commandos or paratroopers. The commandos of the Dominican Republic are easily recognized by their distinctive camouflage or purple berets and the Parachute insignia worn on the arm of their woodland BDUs. The gold parachute wing is also worn. US Parachute and Air Assault Badges adorn the uniforms of several company grade officers who received training at FT Benning's School of the Americas and other US Army schools.

"Death is the greatest reward of the courageous and the best punishment for the coward."
This motto is on the mess hall wall at the commando base.

There was quite a crowd out to witness this historic jump. It was an historic occasion as there hadn't been this many American paratroopers here since the 82d Airborne division "intervened" in 1965. The commanding officer of the base Col. Louis Santiago remarked on the less than warm welcome many of the 82d troopers had received twenty-five years ago.

Colonel Santiago gave an informal information brief on problems the Army was encountering with haitian refugees and drug runners on the border. This was August 1989 shortly after the Duvalier regime fell and the Commandos were anticipating further operations on the border.

Tensions continue today as the Dominican Republic strives to keep poverty stricken Haitians out of their country. Haitian can-cutters are banned. The Dominican Republic suffers from severe unemployment and economic problems due mostly to the backlash suffered by falling sugar prices in 1976 after a five-year boom. The strategic location of Hispaniola for drug traffickers contributes to the recent increase in drug abuse and drug related crime. The Commandos have been involved in some actions against Haitain drug runners and border bandits and will continue to man the front lines of the Dominican Republic.

Parachute rigger shed.

The Cristobal

    The Cristobal is a strange hybrid weapon, a sub-machine carbine unusually chambered for the .30 cal M1 carbine cartridge. The Pistola Ametralladora Cristobal Model 2/Pistola Ametralladora Model 62 (the Model 1962 has a ventilated metal barrel jacket and has a folding stock (paratroop version) or fixed wooden stock) is so named because it is manufactured by America Fabrica de Armas at San Cristobal. The Cristobal plant and weapon were both designed with the help of arms designers previously employed by Beretta and in Hungary. In fact the Cristobal's exterior design is reminiscent of the early Beretta sub-guns. In the interior workings however is a delay blowback utilizing a simple lever system attributed to Kiraly, the Hungarian 39M and 43M designer.

The bolt of the Cristobal is engaged with the receiver by a pendant lever. When the bolt is blown back by the force of the exploding cartridge it revolves the lever and disconnects before recoiling freely. This causes the necessary delay for bullet travel before extraction. This sub-machine gun's design incorporates double-set triggers, one for single shot and one for automatic. The Dominican Republic also manufactures their own Berdan primed .30 caliber cartridges. The standard issue weapon for commandos, however, is the M16. Many commandos also carry Walther MP-K or Sterling Sub-machine guns, especially when "accompanying" gringo paratroopers to the beach.

SAR