"Vivala Muerte"TheSpanish Leuion Special Forcesby Martin Arostegui

The Spanish Legion is usuallyovershadowed by its morefamous counterpart across thePyrenees. However, it hasalways enjoyed a reputation asa hard-fighting unit, and hasincluded an airborne elementsince 1988.

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:1: r'?H H:lGilberto Marquina Lopez, CommandingOfficer of the 7.500 men withir-r theSpanish Legion, which he describes asthe elite fbrr;e of the Spanish annv. Ther,t,ord 'foreign' has now been dropped,since a lar,r, passed in 1983 forbicls non-Spaniards joining the Legion. Marquinaexplains that this is one of the man\r'changes' the Legion is going through a.s

it converts from a colonial arrnv into thespearl-read of Spain's Rapid InterventionForce.

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tercios, o1' nli:ch;:niscri infani,'., i'{:itliiiiistationerl in liriaiit s lroi'tit Aii'ri;an eit-claves of (letrta atrcl lv{eiiiia, rvhile its tw'obattalions ol' iiii'home lir:ht ir-rfantnilf6r r-i---}- --- t I :Daseo lr) ulo Iiori(l;: ntoUillaln rit Ilq(),which rises al:*vr: ihr: southern r oast oi'Spain. 'l'1lt.sr: inclurlc the Ilanclera dt:Operaciones lisl:er;iales de la Legion(BOEL), the rnost prr;fessional speciaiforces unit in tiie lipanisir rnilitarv.

"Spain lrus fr.ti-) fi"onts," explains Bri-gadier Marquinir. "(irrc r,ve share with therest of NATCI. anri tlio otl-ier is in northAfri;a rvltere rr,'c slirnrl alone ."

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Waf in MoroccoThe Legion iast saw cornbai in 1958,

when'it fought off incursions by irregularMoroccan forces on Spain's vast desertterritory of the Western Sahara. Morethan 40 rrren were lost in one irnportantengagement, the Battle of Edichera.Another armed r;onflict almost eruptedin 1975 when Spain r;eded the Sahara tothe lr4oroccans, who have since beenfighting local guerrillas known as the Pol-isario F'ront. The current rise of Islamicfundamentalism in northern Africa andthe continued claims by Morocco onCeuta, Melilla and the Canary Islandscould once again bring the Legion intoaction. Spanish Legionnaires have re-cently participated in internationaipeacekeeping operations in Central

The uniform has not changed a great dealduring this century, and only the CETMEassault rifle distinguishes this Legionnairefrom his predecessor5 in the CivilWar.

Bugle calls signal the start of arl*f/,,":,: i,i,;;*t; inffie .Spa ni-s h Le g i o n. U n l i ke ifs FJ"*;-i,',',namesak*, the Spanish l-eg i*n,,-'t,',..,,;,'s;'acc* gtts f * re i g n vo I u ntee rs.

r\rt1t:rir:ir, lianriiria and Iraq, ariij ii;svIllal\' g(l itl Yttgcislayia. :'I'he nrer;iranised tercios in r rci'thAf'rilra arc tlre 'aritentir;us' or rnore tratii-tiorral Lrnits in tire Legion, rnrhere disci-pline is l,,rutiiil),, if rrot sadisticallt,, en-forc:etl. Iniiiatiori riies fbr neu, recrtritsmav consist of leaping through flan:ingrings of fire or juinpi-ng ovei standin[rit-les rn,ith fixed havonets. Beatings areconlrn.Ji-rplace, and solne T,,egionnairesreport that they, have been buried up totl-reir heacls in the desert sand as apunishment. It is, therefbre, hardlt, sur-prising that manV Spanish Legionnairesin nortir Africa seek relief from their peiinand hardship with the plentiftrl andcheapl.v avajlable local hashish.

The Legion is made up excltisivelv ofvolunteer professionals who, despitetheir harsir treatment, are better paid andfed than other soldiers in the

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army. Despite the nrilitarv prestige oftheir unit, Spain's 'Cabaileros Legion-naires' irave a notorious reputation, butthe morale at the barracks appears tobe high.

Frorn his headquarters in Malaga, Bri-gadier Marquina reports directly toSpain's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Legionoperates independently of Spain's nineregionai commands, fonning part of thearmy's 'reserva estrategica'. The spirit ofcourage, sacrifice and suffering instilledby the Legior-r's founder in L920, Colonel

Above: Legionnaires on exercise know theyhave more chance of seeing action thanmost Spanish troops. Part of the army's'strategic reserve', they are independent ofthe peacetime divisional structure.

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Millan Astray, is thought to be suitedto its der,,eioping role ai a go-anywhere,do-anything quickly mobile

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!org_e. The amputatedleft arm and eye ofMillan Astray, who survived muliiplewar wounds, are on permanent displayat the Legion's museum in Ceuta.- Analmost obsessive courtship of danger isaiso epitomised in the Legion's song:'El Novio de la Muerte'- The Lover ofDeath.

^At the rugged mountain headquartersoj the Legion's airborne light infantry,'Tercio Alejandro Farnesio- fall of theLegion's regiments are named after 16thcentury Spanish war heroes), the com-mander of BOEL, Lieutenant CoionelZacarias Hernandez, told me about thetraditional doctrine. An athletic, in-formal, no-nonsense type, Zacarias cites'The Spirit of the Legionnaire'as definedby Millan Astray. " . . . Always close thedistance with the enemy uriil reachinghim rn ith the bayon et." Zacarias expiainlthat close coniact with the enemy isexactly what they need to avoid in BOEL

reconnaissance missions, and their pre-sent special operations training is thbre-fore contrary to tradition.

A number of foreign units have trainedwith BOEL, including the Pathfinders ofthe British Paras, the Belgian SAS and 2REP of the French Foreign Legion. As wetalked, two US Marine Coips officerswho were co-ordinating a d-esert heii-borne assault exercise with BOEL arrivedto discuss plans. "We are among thebest," said the paratrooping lieutenant

Left and below: Spanish military exercisesconducted by the Legion are noted for theirvery realistic approach. The profligate useof explosives and live ammunitioi is a farcry from US practice, which sometimesemphasises safety at the expense ofrealism.

colonel, who was originaliy commis-sioned as a lieutenant in the SaharanCamel Corps.

In 1989, BOEL participated in its firstcompetitive ioint exercise with NATO onthe border of former East Germany. FiftySpanish Legionnaires parachutedbehind 'unfriendly'lines to mount deepinfiltration reconnaissance. Patrols offour to six men took up observation pos-itions in camouflaged foxholes near roadintersections, railway bridges and towns,

and sent continuous coded messages on'enemy' troop movements back to basefor two weeks without any aerial resup-ply. They all remained undetected, andafter the exercise they were successfullyextracted.

BOEL recruits come from outside theLegion. Groups of about three dozen areselected tn,ice a year fbr the 400-man bat-talior-r. Bv the time a LegioniihffiffiiiiG$ated into his unitl he is airborne-qualified in HALO and HAHO tech-nique_s, proficient in sniper-level marks-manship, field cornmunications, demo-litions, special boat insertion tactics andscuba diving, and he is trained inurountain and desert warfare survivaltechniques.

During the, initiai six-month trainingperiod, BOEL recruits sleep in a badl!ventilated basement and ilternate be-tween outdoor exercises to stretch theirendurance and classroom instructionon various techniques, including\^reaponry. explosives, map-reading,land navigation, ciphering and fieldmedicine. Once prepared, t[ey test theirrrewly acquired combat skills"and stam-ina on

-a gruelling three-day, B0-krn hike

throtrgh treacherous mouniain terrain toearn the beret, or ptueba de lo boino.

Realistic trainingOn the first day, after completing a 12-

mile overnight march from the bairackscarrl,ing a 25-kg bergen and wearing fullconrbat_ gear, the Legionnaires areplunged into reaiistic conlbat conditions,crawling beneath barbed wire with livemachine-gun fire overhead and explod-ing underground mines. The charges arebr.rried deep enough so that they "do notcause serious injury. but by the time a re-cruit reaches the safety of the sand-bagged positions his whole body aches

Above: The 6lite element of the Legion is the B2EL - Banderade .la Legion (Speciat Operations b1iatioil,- iniii ,pZiiutir*behind enemy lines.

The Spanish Legion Special Forces

Above: A comms check while on exercise.The Legion adopted British-made AN/PRC-77s after the Falklands war,. Note the'designer' camouflage.

from-the impact of the explosions.All the Legionnaires agree that the

worst part is lLr" 'capture'. They arerounded up, blindfolded and irans-ported to an abandoned farmhouse in anisolated location during the night. Oncethere, the blindfolded Legionnaires arespreadeagled against a courtyard walland are jostled, kicked and fushed bysupervising NCOs, who disorient themfurther by running them around inc-ircles. If any of them complains loudly,they must do a press-up on one fist andremain fixed in that position.

Then one by one they are taken in forinterrogation. Threats are shouted atthem, sticks are banged on the table andpersonal grudges and insults are hurledat them by their interrogators. But no onein the group I observed broke down.None of them even revealed their name.

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Above: ALegionnaire poseswith the CETME5.56-mm rifle that isnow standardissue. ManyLegionnaires wereunimpressed withthe new weaponand preferred theirold 7.62-mm rifles.They said that their7.62-mm rifles wereharder-hitting andthe new ones wereless reliable andprone to damage inthe field. Does thissound familiar toanyone?

Left: The Spanisharmy still uses a9-mm sub-machinegun in the shape ofthe Star 270. lt is atypical wrap-around bolt,soldier-proof SMG.

rank or serial nunrber. I was allorn,ed toquestion one solclier, who renrainorlsilent turtil I asked him n,hat l-re desiredn-rost at that montent. His tortured or-re-word reply was "seeing".

The blindfblds are then griidtrailv re-moveci and the Legionnaires are allou,ec'lsome sleep and are given their first iletilir't 24 hours - blar;k cofl'ee and boiledbread. Thev must then 'escape'. Havinglearr-red r;elestial navigation thev use thestars to gtricle thern to a point a feu, milesfrom tl-re cietention centre, where thevc;ollect their kit and maps befbre nrarcl'r-ing to the next renclezr,r-ms with theirinstructors,

As I i,r,,aited in a r,alle),for the group tlretclllor,ving afternoon, I was allow.ecl toshoot the Spanish armv's new NATO-compatible 5.56-n'rm CETN,IE assaultrifle. It is the rnost essential weapon inthe Legion's light infantrv, where onlve!'ery tenth ntan carries a machine-gun.The rifle is verv lightweight and highlyaccurate, but the Legionnaires cornplainthat it is delicate and difficult to maintainir-r the field, and they prefer the earlier7.62-rnm model that is now usecl as atraining weapon.

As the BOEL platoon arrive, thev dis-card their 7 .62s and load a 10-round clipinto a 5.56, taking a prone position to hit

At-. Left: Thedemolitions phaseof the BOELexercise involvedplacing 30-gramcharges of TNT.The Legion prefersTNT over thestandard Spanisharmy issue plasticexplosive.

Below: The exercise concluded with somehairy free-climbing, a 200-ft abseil andcrossing a ravine by means of a suspendedcable. Once half way across, theLegionaires had to leap into the icy waterand swim ashore.

The Spanish Legion Special Forces

adrenalin - but only three of its men haddropped out. Without the use of climbingequipment, cracks and tiny ledges on therocks were the onlv grip available toreach the top. Each Legionnaire thenabseils about 200 ft down to a small estu-arv, w,hich he crosses by puiling hirnselfalong on a suspended cable. When hereaches the mid-point over the lagoon,I-re drops into the water. It was earlvspring 'utrhen I ',vas there, and eventhough the water \ /as icy-cold, thesenren were lur,kv. The nren that have to dothis three nion-ths later, when the snowcaps harre urelted, ,,vill have to fightagainst a gr,rshing current as t}-rev swint toshore in their unifonns and boots.

After pir;kirrg up their equipment, thesoaking Legior-rnaires then jog the re-nraining few n-riles to their base. In what

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a head-sized target at a distance of SOinetres. Then each of them has to stripdown and reassernble a Star Z7O sub-rnachine gun, which is also standard inthe Spanish arn-red forces, before beir-rgtested on their cornmunications skills.This involves assembling a British-nradePlessev AN/PRC-77 field radio (adoptedbv the Spanish armv after its sur;r:essfultuse in the F'alklands r,t,ar) and cornrluni-cating with their base.

Demolitions testTIie derlolitions test consists of r;on-

r-iecting up a 130-gram charge of TNT to ar;vlindrical detonator on a short fuse.fhey have less than 10 seconds to clearthe area before the explosiorr, The denro-lition's experts erplained to rne thatrvhile the Gorna-2 plastic rnanufacturedin Spain loses potencv in exposed fieldconditions, TNT remains stable and ispreferred by the Legion. In a realisticsabotage operation, however, theyivould be combined: the plastic isrvrapped around the block of TNT tostick it on to a hard surface and facilitatethe insertion of the detonating fuses.

The follor,r,ing dav I r;limbed a steepravine rnrith the exhausted BOEL pla-toon, who rnrere bv then running on pure

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The Spanish Legion Special Forces

seorrls iike no tinre, thev are short,ert:cl.t;hangecl anci stanrling at uttention out-sicle their ltarrar;ks reaclv to r-ct;r,'ive tl-reirrt,ell-earned paratrr)oll's beret f'ronr Lieu-tenant Colonel Zar;arias. After a sirnplc,solernn corenrol]\, helcl insiclc. food issen,etl uncl a triust is proltosccl n,itli'Sangre c'le Pantera' - the l,ergioir's rlrinkrntrtle flonr girr arrrl rrrilk.

13ut rlespite the totrgh anrl trpuracleilprofessional training of Spain's t,ir[ion, ithas a long rt,a\, to go ltefore berr;oniing the;true self-suffir;ient fighting fox:c rvl-rir;hBligariier Marqtrina clesr;riltes. [,ieuten-runt Color-rel Zar;arias aclnrits r;andic'l]r,that his trnit rvoulcl not sLll-\,ive nt,tr.i,tl'rein l-ralf a dozen ltattalion-sized opor.-ations in a real r,r,ar. The Legion cloes nothave its ou,r-t fielcl artillert,. Its ulnrortr islin'ritecl to ',r,heelecl BlvlRs anrieil rt,ith12.7-nrnr ntar;hine-gults. u.hir;]t arel onlvsuffir;iet'rt to stop 7.62-ntnt artrntunitiori.IJtrt ther, are fhst ancl fuel-effir;ient. u,ith aspeecl of too km anrl a rang€l of 700 knr.'l'he Lr:gion has stripped ti-re roof.s off asqtruclror-r of'BlvlRs und has nrclurrterl120-nrni rnortars on theni to providt:some nrobile hear,1, suppolt.

0ompany organisationAn ar.erage rifle colnpan\/ rt'itl-rin the

Legion has onll, fotrr 60-rrirr-r anrl B1-rnntrtrortars ancl a srnall supplr, of tl-g0 anti-tank lor;kets rvith clispo.saltler r;ardboarcllautrr;hers. Onll, rer;ently have the rnoresophisticated Mtf-nX hancl-irelcl rnis-siles been inr;orporated by the Legion,rvhir;h has no integratecl ar-rti-airlr;rafl

Real buglers still souncl leveille in theSpanish l,egion, rvhir;l-r is detenninecl toproser\.6) its r;harar;ter as a nrggetrl fightingfbx;er. 'I-]reir closert greon rinilonns are\vorn ollen to the chest, rrlilll\/ Legion-ttitires spolt lletrrrls irrrd tlrc trrrit r.errririrrsrt,rapped in tl-re nrl,stique of the 'Lover oflJeath'. During liaster's [1o11, Weelk, ilconlpar-ly of the l-egior-r paracles in lVlala-ga's rerligiuus pror;ession. r;arrving theirr;nrr;ifiecl patron saint 'Fll Cristo--de laBuena Mtrelte' (litertrllrr translatecl as'Tlre (llrrist of tlrrr Coclrl Dcirtlr').

Dtrring nt1, tirtre in Roncla I nrarle a betrvil|', n l-ieutenant rvho hacl spent his life

The names and insignia of the Legion harkback to the zenith of Spanish mililary powetin the 16th century. The tercios are namedafter commanders who fought against theDutch revolt.

in lhe Legion, rising up through theranks. lle prontiselcl me; that if,l rnernor-ised the r,vords to the Legior-r's song Ir,votrld be gir,en tl-re lerrtrous cap u'ith thelrecl tassle. FIe har-rded it to rne or,er r;of}'et:in tl're r;anteen on mv last dat,therre as I re-r:itecl, "l aln a rrian n,hom fnte I'rasrt,ounclecl rt,ith the r;lar,t, of a lteast. I arnthe lover of death who seeks to tie t]-reknot w'ith sur;h a loval mistress as she."E

History of the Spanish

ln .1920, Spain was losing its last colony in north

Africa to a native rebellion which was routing apoorly-trained army of conscrrpted peasants.Colonel Millan Astray, a highly decorated war herowho had served in the French Foreign Legion,convinced the Spanrsh hrgh command to iollow theFrench example and create an elite force ofvolunteer mercenaries. By royal decree of KingAlfonso Xlll, eiqht battalions were formed into theSpanish Foreign Legion, which by 1g27, followrng900 combat operations, had successfully crushedthe local rebels, capturing and krllrng their leaderAbdel Krim.

^ The Sp_anish Legion was in battle again durrng theSpanish Civil War when General Francisco Franio,who had succeeded Millan Astray as its CO, lecl itacross the Straits of Gibraltar rnto the Spanrshmainland to reinforce army garrisons that had rrsenagainst the Repub[c. The Legion was thespearhead of the natronalist forces as they movedup to encircle Madrid, and it grew to 1B battalionsdurrng the three-year conflict and suffered nearly8,000 casualties. Once installed in power as diciatorof Sparn, where he remained untrl he dled of oldaS910 years later, Franco reduced the Legron downto 13 battalions and returned it to Africa.

Griminat hideoutSpain's Legion became a hideout for all types of

exrles, criminals and misfits, takinq in volunteerswhich the French Foreign Legron had refused, andfollowing World War ll the Legion accepted formermembers of the German SS into its ranks.Elements of the French pied norrOrganisationAlgerie Secrete (OAS), who conspired in a coupagainst President de Gaulle when he decolonised

French north Africa, also joined the Spanish Legion.With Franco's death and the returrr of democracy

in 1975, Spain pulled out of the Sahara as KingHassan of Morocco led hrs 'Green March' to claimthe terrrtory. The Legion had made a tradrtionallygood account of itself in a previous war withMorocco during the 1950s, but this time Moroccoused unarmed civilians to march on the land

Communist enemiesOld enemres of the Leglon such as the Spanish

communist party called for rts disbarrdment but theSpanish army insisted on retaining it, and whenSparn loined NATO the General Staff decided toassimilate the Legion with other elite units in theWestern alliance by turning rt rnto a raprddeployment force similar to the French ForeignLegion's 2 BEP. The first fully airb,orne-qualifiedbattalion of the Legron was formed in lgBB as theBandera de Operacrones Fspeciales de la Legion(BOEL)

Despite irs relalively recent origins, the Legion isweaned on ancrent Spanish mrlitary traditrons. AII ofits regiments are named after Spanish Generals ofthe 16th century (for example, Tercio AlelandroFarnesio, Tercio Don Juan de Austna, Tercio GranCapitan and Tercio Duque de Alba), when Spain'sarmy was the mightiest in Europe. The termstercios and banderas, which are used to designatethe Legion's regiments and battalions, are alsotaken f rom medieval Spanish rnrlitary vocabulary.The Legion's insignia of the crossed pike, arquebusand crossbow symbolise the weapons of the oldtercios, and BOEL's badge superimposes a specialforces' dagger upon the traditional insignia.

The Legion's badge is ffte crossed pike,arquebus and crossbow: the weapons of thel6th century Spanish soldiers, who werethen regarded as the finest in Europe. TheLegion's unit pride would do the Duke afParma proud.

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