DTIC ADA519630: Searching for Stability: The U.S. Development of Constabulary Forces in Latin America and the Philippines

1.4 MB·English

by  Defense Technical Information Center

Searching for Stability:
The U.S. Development of Constabulary
Forces in Latin America and the Philippines
Dr. Richard L. Millett
Occasional Paper 30
Combat Studies Institute Press
US Army Combined Arms Center
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Report Documentation Page Form Approved
OMB No. 0704-0188
Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington
VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it

does not display a currently valid OMB control number.
1. REPORT DATE 3. DATES COVERED
2010 2. REPORT TYPE 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Searching for Stability: The U.S. Development of Constabulary Forces in
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Latin America and the Philippines
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
5e. TASK NUMBER
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center,Combat Studies Institute,Fort REPORT NUMBER
Leavenworth,KS,66027
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S)
11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT
NUMBER(S)
12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution unlimited
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT

15. SUBJECT TERMS
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF
ABSTRACT OF PAGES RESPONSIBLE PERSON
a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE Same as 154
unclassified unclassified unclassified Report (SAR)
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18
The cover photograph is of the First Company of the Filipino Constabulary, Province of
Pampanga, Island of Luzon, Philippines, circa 30 December 1909, Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division, Washington, DC, lot 12607-2.
Searching for Stability:
The U.S. Development of Constabulary
Forces in Latin America and the
Philippines
Dr. Richard L. Millett
Occasional Paper 30
Combat Studies Institute Press
US Army Combined Arms Center
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Millett, Richard, 1938-
Searching for stability : the U.S. development of constabulary forces in
Latin America and the Philippines / Richard L. Millett.
p. cm. -- (Occasional paper / Combat Studies Institute ; 30)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Police training--Caribbean Area--History--20th century. 2. Police
training--Philippines--History--20th century. 3. Police--Philippines--
History--20th century. 4. Police--Caribbean Area--History--20th century.
5. Military assistance, American--Caribbean Area--History--20th
century. 6. Military assistance, American--Philippines--History--20th
century. 7. United States. Armed Forces--Stability operations--History--
20th century. I. Title. II. Series.
HV8170.A2M557 2010
363.209729--dc22
2010007718
First printing: 2010
CSI Press publications cover a variety of military history topics.
The views expressed in this CSI Press publication are those of
the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Department of the
Army, or the Department of Defense. A full list of CSI Press
publications, many of them available for downloading, can be
found at: http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CSI/RandPTeam.asp
The seal of the Combat Studies Institute authenticates this
document as an official publication of the CSI. It is prohibited to use CSI’s
official seal on any republication of this material without the expressed written
permission of the Director of CSI.
Foreword
The Combat Studies Institute is pleased to present Occasional Paper 30,
Searching for Stability: The US Development of Constabulary Forces in
Latin America and the Philippines, by Dr. Richard L. Millett. In this study,
Dr. Millett offers a survey of U.S. military involvement in the training of
indigenous security forces in the Philippines and the Caribbean Basin in
the 20th century. Given the dramatic increase of these types of efforts in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries, this study provides relevant insights
for current military professionals facing the daunting challenges that are
inherent to the training and advising of foreign police and military forces.
Dr. Millett’s succinct analysis highlights several critical themes com-
mon to the American experience in these types of missions. First and fore-
most, despite all the best attempts to involve other departments of the fed-
eral government, the U.S. military has historically served as the lead, and
often the sole, U.S. agency in these efforts. This fact often translated into
constabulary training programs that suffered from a lack of both guidance
and resources. Put simply, the relatively few Soldiers and Marines work-
ing on these efforts - many of whom were relatively junior in rank - were
forced to make important military and political decisions that had critical
effects on the host nation as well as on U.S. foreign policy. Additionally,
this study emphasizes the traditional strains between U.S. goals and host
nation desires, tensions that were often exacerbated by U.S. personnel who
knew little or nothing about the culture in which they were working and
had no ability to speak the language of those they were training. Dr. Mil-
lett suggests that these problems contributed to the important but flawed
assumption among both U.S. policymakers and American military officers
that indigenous forces trained by the U.S. military would behave like the
U.S. military. Unfortunately, rather than becoming the professional secu-
rity forces that served stable representative governments, these constabu-
laries often became tools of unsteady repressive regimes.
Given the geopolitical challenges facing the United States in the early
21st Century and the Department of Defense’s focus on creating a military
that can conduct stability operations in a variety of countries, the mission
to train and advise foreign security forces is unlikely to disappear any time
soon. This study offers an important set of insights from the past that can
iii
contribute to a sharper understanding about the challenges of building and
advising these forces in the future. CSI – The Past Is Prologue!
Dr. William G. Robertson
Director, Combat Studies Institute
iv
N
Luzon
Philippine
Sea
Manila
South
China
Sea
Legaspi
Mindoro
Marinduque
Masbate Samar
Panay
Cebu
Iloilo
Leyte
Cebu
Palawan
Bohol
Sulu
Negros
Sea
Mindanao
Zamboanga
Jolo
Island
Scale
Celebes
0 50 100 Sea
miles
Map 1. The Philippine Archipelago.
v
a
s n
o a
d y
a u
Barb G azil
Br
c n
ti a
n
e
a a
l c el
At O Rico nezu
o e
ert V
u y.
anc P ur
DominicRepubli an Sea Maracaibo 0th Cent
be Ɣ e 2
b h
Bahamas Haiti maica Cari ƔCartagena Colombia ean Basin in t
Ja bb
ari
C
ba Ɣa he
u m T
a C Pana p 2.
d a
ori M
Fl a
u
g
a
o as car
c ur Ni
Gulf of Mexi Bay ofampecheMexico alametauHondG PacificOcean 0 100 200 300 miles
C
vi
Contents
Foreword …..………................................................................................iii
Maps ..........................................................................................................v
Chapter 1. Introduction ……………………………..................................1
Chapter 2. The Philippines: Becoming a colonial Power ..........................7
Chapter 3. Cuba: Large Problems, Limited Influence .............................17
Chapter 4. Panama: More Issues than Running a Canal ..........................31
Chapter 5. Haiti: Prejudice and Poverty ..................................................47
Chapter 6. Dominican Republic:
An Unintended Foundation for Tyranny ………......................................77
Chapter 7. Nicaragua: Limited Success and costly Failures ……………97
Chapter 8. Conclusion ...........................................................................123
Bibliography ..........................................................................................133
About the Author ...................................................................................143
vii