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collar of the coat or jacket. These insignia are also worn by brigadier generals. Different corps within the naval forces are identified in various colors serving as backgrounds for the sleeve stripes. Specialist insignia of naval enlisted personnel are displayed on sleeves. Air force officers wear diamond-shaped gold and silver insignia on distinctive color fields which are displayed on the coat collar, and enlisted men wear rectangular cloth patches, indicating specialty, on the left sleeve between the shoulder and the elbow. Flying personnel display a winged emblem above the right pocket of the coat or jacket.
C. Army
The primary mission of the Spanish Army is to defend Spain, including the Balearic and Canary Islands, the overseas places of sovereignty, and the province of Africa. Units of the army are strategically deployed for the purpose and also to assist the paramilitary forces in maintaining internal security if needed. (C)
Five divisions and a small number of combat support units have received some end-item assistance under the US Military Assistance Program. 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. 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 sovereignty[1], 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. (S)
1. Organization (C)
Control over the army is exercised by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces through the Minister of Army, who is an active duty army Lieutenant General as well as a political figure. The minister has direct control over the troops through the captains general of the military regions and the island commands. The minister's directives to these captains general are passed through the Chief of the Central General Staff of the Army. Various administrative and service functions, such as personnel, recruitment, conscription and mobilization, and supervision of the logistical services are handled by inspectorates, directorates, and special agencies directly under the Chief of the Central General Staff or the Under Secretary of the Army.
The Central General Staff of the Army is responsible for organization, training, operational planning, army intelligence, and coordination of staff functions pertaining to the logistical services. The Chief of the Central General Staff has direct control over the Secretariat General, an administrative office which provides the administrative support for development of projects, studies, and coordination of the various agencies subordinate to the Chief of the Central General Staff: the Planning Office, which studies organizational developments and plans new force structures and coordinates studies involving two or more sections of the Central General Staff; the 2d Section, Intelligence; CEMAG (Comision de enlace con el Grupo de Ayuda Militar del Ejercito de los Estados Unidos), which is the liaison office with the US Military Assistance Advisory Group in Madrid; four boards - the Superior Board of Tactics, the Central Armament Board, the Central Clothing Board, and the Central Education and Sports Board - which convene only sporadically to consider matters of military doctrines, problems relating to weapons and equipment and matters of uniforms, military education, and athletic activities; the chiefs of artillery, engineers, signal, and transportation, who control the technical activities relating to units and depots for material of these branches; the chiefs of the geographic, historic, statistical, and standardization services; the directors of the various schools and academies, particularly in training matters to be coordinated with the chiefs of arms and services; the Subinspector of Independent Infantry Units, who coordinates the administration of the infantry regiments in the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, and Africa; the Subinspector of the Legion and Paratroops,
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- ↑ Ceuta and Melilla, the most significant of the five Spanish places of sovereignty, or presidios, are coastal enclaves. The three remaining presidios are small islands groups off the coast of northern Morocco. No troops are permanently stationed in the island presidios.
