Mexican Armed Forces

The Mexican Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de Mexico) are composed of two independent entities:
 * The Mexican Army, which includes the Mexican Air Force (FAM). The Presidential Guard, Military Police, and Special Forces are part of the Army, but have their own chains of command.
 * The Mexican Navy, which includes the Naval Infantry Force and the Naval Aviation (FAN).

The Army and Navy have two separate government departments, the National Defense Secretariat and the Naval Secretariat, and maintain two independent chains of command, with no joint command except the President of Mexico.

The Armed Forces are made up of professionals. Although National Military Service does exist, conscripts are not integrated into army or navy units.

The Army


There are three main components of the Army: a national headquarters, territorial commands, and independent units. The Minister of Defense commands the Army by means of a very centralized system and a large number of general officers. The Army uses a modified continental staff system in its headquarters. The Army is the largest branch of Mexico's armed services.

Presently, there are 12 "Military Regions", which are further broken down into 44 subordinate "Military Zones." In both cases, a numbering system is used for designation. There is no set number of zones within a region, and these can therefore be tailored to meet operational needs, with a corresponding increase or decrease in troop strength. Today the army consists of 192,000 combat-ready immediately deployable ground troops or 559,770 including active reserve forces.

The Air Force
The Air Force national headquarters is embedded in the Army headquarters in Mexico City. It also follows the continental staff system, with the usual A1, A2, A3, and A4 sections. The tactical forces form what is loosely called an Air Division, but it is dispersed in four regions—Northeast, Northwest, Central, and Southern. The Air Force maintains a total of 18 air bases, and has the additional capability of opening temporary forward operating bases in austere conditions for some of the rotary wing and light fixed-wing assets

The Navy
The Ministry of the Navy, the Navy's national headquarters, is located in Mexico City, and is smaller than the Army's headquarters. The "Junta (or Council) of Admirals" plays a unique consultative and advisory role within the headquarters, an indication of the institutional importance placed on seniority and "year groups" that go back to the admirals’ days as cadets in the naval college. They are a very tightly knit group, and great importance is placed on consultation among the factions within these year groups. The Navy's operational forces are organized as two independent groups: the Gulf Force and the Pacific (West) Force. Each group has its own headquarters, a destroyer group, an auxiliary vessel group, a Marine Infantry Group, and a Special Forces group. The Gulf and Pacific Forces are not mirror images of each other, as independence of organization is permitted. Both are subdivided into regions, with Regions 1, 3, and 5 on the Gulf, and 2, 4, and 6 on the Pacific. Each region is further divided into sectors and zones, so a proliferation of headquarters and senior officers exists. The Navy also has an air arm with troop transport, reconnaissance, and surveillance aircraft.

The Navy maintains significant infrastructure, including naval dockyards that have the capability of building ships, such as the Holzinger class offshore patrol vessel. These dockyards have a significant employment and economic impact in the country.

The Marines
The Naval Infantry are the marine corps and amphibious infantry force of the Mexican Navy. The main task of the Infantería de Marina is to guarantee the maritime security of the country's ports and external and internal defense of the country, to accomplish these responsibilities the corps is trained and equipped to take on any type of operations from Sea, Air and Land.

The Naval Infantry Corps was reorganized in 2007–2009 into 30 Naval Infantry Battalions, a paratroop battalion, a battalion attached to the Presidential Guard Brigade, two Fast Reaction Forces with six battalions each, and three Special Forces groups. The Naval Infantry are responsible for port security, protection of the ten-kilometer coastal fringe, and patrolling major waterways.

The Coast guard
The Mexican Maritime Search and Rescue is the Mexican Navy's SAR Unit, it is responsible for improving the quality and effectiveness of the Navy's response to Mexico's maritime emergencies. The Mexican Navy historically has been responsible for the search and rescue operations using its available resources. However, aware of the importance of safeguarding human life at sea and the growing demand of sea rescue, The High Command of the Navy, established one of its most challenging priorities, the establishment of Maritime Search and Rescue Operations.

Independent forces
Several other military organizations exist that are independent of the Army and Navy command structures.

Chief among the independent troops is an Army Corps consisting of two mechanized infantry brigades located in Mexico City, with a full complement of combat and support troops. In addition, there are two brigades of the Corps of Military Police, Special Forces units, Presidential Guards (another motorized brigade), and a parachute brigade.

All these independent troops are located in Mexico City where they act as a ready reserve and as centers of excellence.

At one time, a special "Rural Defense Corps" (or "Rurales") played a role similar to a traditional popular militia, but the role of the "Rurales" has been greatly diminished in recent years.

Leadership


Officially, as there is no Minister of Defense, the Mexican military's two components are not under command of a single, unified forces commander at any level below the President, who has a military role under the national constitution: Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Comandante Supremo De Las Fuerzas Armadas). According to the Constitution of Mexico the President is the Army's only five-star general. (This is comparable to most other countries with a presidential system of government, such as the United States.) Instead, a Minister, who is a serving officer—an Army four-star general or a Navy admiral—heads each component. Each minister serves in a dual capacity: as a full cabinet member reporting to the President, and as the operational commander of his branch, but because of politics and rank, the navy is subordinate to the army.

Moreover, the Air Force commander and his staff are embedded to Army headquarters; an Air Force officer never has risen to the hierarchy's most trusted, senior positions. This subordination has allowed the Army to identify its organization as the "Secretariat of National Defense" (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional—SEDENA), resultantly, (to the Navy's annoyance) the current army chief, General Guillermo Galván Galván (and his predecessors) holds the nominal title of "Minister of Defense".

The President picks the ministers who do not necessarily have to serve as such for his entire presidential term (sexenio, sexenium, six-year term). During the PRI's single-party rule, ministerial selection was a strict, pro-forma exercise by seniority. However, both Presidents Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000) and Vicente Fox (2000–2006) strayed from precedent and reached down to the junior levels to select "more progressive" officers to lead the forces.

The Army and the Navy are regionally organized, with central, national headquarters in Mexico City and subordinate, regional headquarters. Historically, this has proven to be effective, as the military's main deployments have been domestic. Troops are stationed throughout the country to serve as continuing presence of authority and to allow for immediate critical response. Dispersion by regional military zones has facilitated local recruitment of non-commissioned officers (army sergeants, navy petty officers) and enlisted men and women, allowing them to be stationed near family during their military service, an important cultural consideration. On the other hand, mobility is expected of commissioned officers, moving from assignment to assignment and to the military center, in Mexico City, giving them much experience, and, historically, preventing any senior officer from remaining too long in one place and developing a personal power base through local allegiances, and so becoming too powerful as a warlord.

Personnel and budget
Per a defense ministry report by General Guillermo Galván Galván, the army has 259,770 active duty soldiers, about 0.16 per cent of the population. Its 1989 budget was 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP). In 1999, Mexico's military budget increased to 0.9 per cent of the GDP, to US$4.0 billion. Since the year 2000, however, with the economic boost that the country has experienced, the defense budget was decreased to 0.5 per cent of the GDP, and in 2007 had an annual expenditure of US$4 billion. Since President Calderón assumed office (December 2006), he has submitted legislation increasing the budget, in order to fight the drug war against the narcotics cartels, and narcotic drug trafficking in general, that have extended their violent business to each corner of the country.

As of 2014 Mexico has the second largest defense budget in Latin America, behind Brazil with annual military expenditures of USD $11.6 billion or about 0.6%.

According to the CIA World Fact book, Mexico's available military manpower is 72,000,000 (males and females age 18–49, 2009 est.), with 58,000,000 fit for military service, and 2,638,214 annually reaching military service age. Since 2000, women have been allowed to volunteer for military service. Currently, Mexico's active combat ready armed forces number some 259,770 or to 559,770 troops including active duty reserves. Mexico's military is in two branches, the National Defense Secretariat (Army and Air Force) and the Navy Secretariat (Navy, Naval Air Force, Marines).

Although military service is mandatory for all 18 year-old males, recruitment for active-duty can only happen from ages 18 through 21 if secondary education was completed, and 22 if high school was completed.

Mission
The Mexican Army works around three preparedness missions, or plans:

DN1: Preparation of the military forces to repel external aggressions. No military armed force can leave Mexican territory without a declaration of war, and approval of the Congress. The last time this was invoked was in 1942, to send an expeditionary force to the Philippines, after war was declared against Germany and Japan, following the sinking of two Mexican ships by U-boats. In 1990 President Carlos Salinas de Gortari asked the permission of the Congress to send troops to the Gulf War, but it was refused, since there was no declaration of war against Iraq.

DN2: Preparation of the military forces to protect the internal security of the country. This would include police actions against guerrilla forces, counter-drug operations, and, originally, political control. Up to 1970, the Mexican Army had been used as a repressive force to maintain the virtual ruling party PRI government. The most controversial use of the military had been called "The dirty war" in the 1960s, which included the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre of students and unsuspecting bystanders. After 1980 these types of operations had nearly completely ceased (see EZLN).

DN3: (Defense against natural disasters) The Army should always be ready to help the civil population in case of disaster. This includes preventive measures. For example, between August and November, military forces are sent to Mexican coastal areas to aid the public in the event of hurricanes or floods. For the Mexican people, the DN3 plan is the most important peacetime operation of the Army. The Army provides food, shelter, medicine, and medical services to the people who need them. This also includes reconstruction of roads and communication services. Because calling the implementation DN3 plan is an acceptance of severe problems, the DN3 plan was not invoked in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake that left large areas of Mexico City in ruins, since the authorities did not want to recognize there was an emergency in the capital, while the army was called to the city, it was just a peacekeeping force. This later became a severe questioning on the government. The Mexican Army provided aid to the US when hurricanes Katrina (see main article: Mexican response to Hurricane Katrina). More recently, the DN3 plan was invoked in 2009 when an epidemia of swine flu threatened the population and in 2010 after the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Nuevo León, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero were severely affected by floods caused by a number of hurricanes and tropical storms.

Conscript Soldiers
Legally, every Mexican man is obligated to a year of servicio militar nacional—SMN (national military service—NMS), but only a few hours of drill or social services on weekends, not true military training. Most conscripts will have received at most only one marksmanship session at a rifle range by the time they have completed their NMS obligation and are not integrated nor operate with regular Army units, and as such despite a national military service the Army is actually a fully professional career force.

The Cartilla
The drafted men attend and participate in weekend sessions that really are a social service in nature, with emphasizes on education, history, physical fitness, and military discipline for one complete year. Afterward, the precartilla (pre-military identity card) is returned to the conscript with an added page certifying his status as having fulfilled his national military service and identifies the military branch, the unit, rank, etc. The document then acquires full status as the Cartilla del Servicio Militar Nacional (Military National Service Identity Card), informally Cartilla; this status is recorded to the National Defense Secretariat files.

This document (Military National Service Identity Card) is an important form of Mexican national identification, and its existence was formerly always requested by private and public employers, however, this identity document has ceased being required for obtaining a passport for international travel.

Officers
Officer candidates for the three services are trained in military colleges; Mexico City for the Army, Guadalajara, Jalisco, for the Air Force, and Veracruz, for the Navy. Generally, officer candidates are from society's lower and middle classes, therefore a military commission is a means of upward social mobility for the poor, yet society respects military officers.

The military colleges are not universities, yet provide significant technical training applicable to civil employment after military service. They emphasise military ethics (honour, duty, country), history, discipline, physical fitness, and the perpetuation of the military as a societal institution. The armed forces provide university-level education through the War College (Colegio de Guerra) in Mexico City, to which officers must attend and earn a Diplomado del Estado Mayor (DEM) degree to qualify for promotion to general officer or admiral rank.

Career soldiers
Mexican citizens who have chosen to be career soldiers are signed for an initial three-year contract and, at the end of it, are encouraged to sign for another two-year contract. If they choose to do so, this second term would become final, unless they apply mandatory exams and tests to become corporals, or apply in order to study in any of the available Military Specialist Technical Schools or for sergeant in the E.M.C.A. (Escuela Militar de Classes de las Armas).

Limitations upon the military
Article 129 of the 1917 Political Constitution of the Mexican United States establishes that: No military authority may, in time of peace, perform any functions other than those that are directly connected with military affairs, but the Army's temporary replacement of civil police forces, in specific cases, before the creation of the Federal Preventative Police has been much debated in the Congress and in the mass communications media; (cf. U.S. Posse Comitatus Act)

Like-wise, per Article 16: ''No member of the army shall, in time of peace, be quartered in private dwellings without the consent of the owner, nor may he impose any obligation whatsoever. In time of war the military may demand lodging, equipment, provisions, and other assistance, in the manner laid down in the respective martial law''; (cf. Third Amendment to the United States Constitution)

Military Law
Article 13 of the Mexican Constitution specifically provides for military jurisdiction over all military crime and indiscipline; military tribunals execute jurisdiction over military personnel, per the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

Regarding military personnel labour conditions, discipline, and the chain of command as fundamental to the military, Article 123-B establishes: Military and naval personnel and members of the public security corps, and personnel of the foreign service, shall be governed by their own laws.

Public knowledge of the military's activities


As the President of Mexico is Commander in Chief of the armed forces, the chain of command and military discipline are subordinated to him. The military obey him and maintain low public profiles in politico-military debate; they serve, they do not rule.

In recent decades, the mass communication media (television and print) were restricted in their coverage of the military's ranks and their activities. Only in the 1990s have Mexicans become publicly aware of the activities of its army, navy, air force, and marines. Since 1995, they are under much domestic and international public scrutiny, given the challenges inherent to greater national political openness, transparent public fiscal accountability, and results from missions pursued.

The former defense ministers during President Fox term, General Gerardo Clemente Vega and Admiral Peyrot, were considered progressive and academic in nature and background, though they remained in the monolithic image of the Mexican military man. The Mexican public have little insight to internal debate and dialogue with national military institutions; in public relations terms, both the Army and the Navy continue being reactive rather than proactive.

United Nations peacekeeping


As of 2005, intervention in UN peacekeeping operations is being discussed, but with the current political composition of the Congress, it is unlikely to be approved, as according to the Mexican Constitution, no military armed force can leave Mexican territory without a declaration of war.

Natural disaster relief


The Mexican Military has traveled mainly to Central American countries to aid in disaster relief, and, most recently, to Indonesia after the tsunami disaster; only military support personnel, not combat forces. This includes the relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. This was the first time the Mexican Army officially entered United States territory since the Mexican-American war and the first time the United States had allowed a foreign military force on its soil since the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade landed in the Aleutian islands in 1943. Mexican relief efforts were concentrated in Texas and New Orleans.