The Air War in El Salvador,
Abstract
The Civil War in El Salvador, which lasted from 1980 to 1992, was one of the largest and bloodiest insurgencies that the Western Hemisphere has seen. During the 12-year war, an estimated one hundred thousand people died-fairly horrendous losses for a country of only five million people. The war in El Salvador saw significant involve involvement by the United States in the form of military and economic aid, advisors, and training. During the course of the war, the United States poured $4.5 billion of economic aid into the country and over $1 billion in military aid. Almost a quarter of the US military aid was provided to the Salvadoran Air Force. Some aspects of the war in El Salvador and the US involvement have been told in numerous books and publications. Yet, all though air power played a major role in the conflict, its story has not been dealt with in any detail. In deed, there are no books or major journal articles specifically on the history of the Salvadoran Air Force during the war. Considering that the Salvadoran war provides us with one of the most recent examples of the use of airpower in a counterinsurgency campaign, this is a significant gap in the literature about the use of airpower in modern warfare.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA356597
Entities
People
- James S. Corum
Organizations
- Air University