41st Anniversary Act of the Air Force of the Nicaraguan Army
July 31, 2020
Daniel's words
Good afternoon, Nicaraguan Sisters and Brothers, Nicaraguan Families. Today we are in the Year of the commemoration of the 41st Anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution in Nicaragua and, therefore, it is also the 41st Anniversary of the Nicaraguan Army, and this time, acknowledging that the Army's Anniversary is commemorated during the first days of September, on September 2, we are commemorating the 41st Anniversary... on July 31, 1979, the Nicaraguan Air Force was born there, and we are going to listen to the words of Commander in Chief of the Army, Army General Julio César Avilés Castillo.
Accompanying us are Compañera Rosario, Vice President of the Republic; Major General Bayardo Rodríguez, Chief of the Army General Staff; Major General Marvin Corrales Rodríguez, Inspector General of the Army. And our greetings to the Chief of the Air Force, Brigadier General Spiro Bassi Aguilar.
Words of Army General
Julio César Avilés Castillo
Commander in Chief
of the Nicaraguan Army
Comandante Daniel Ortega, President of the Republic and Supreme Chief of the Nicaraguan Army; Vice President of the Republic, Compañera Rosario Murillo; Major General Bayardo Rodríguez, Chief of General Staff of the Nicaraguan Army; Major General Marvin Corrales, Inspector General; Sisters and Brothers in Arms, Sisters and Brothers All, today July 31 we commemorate the 41st Anniversary of Foundation of our Heroic Air Force, an Air Force integrated by Men and Women whom with a high patriotic sense are always ready to serve our People.
On this Special Day, we wish, on behalf of the General Command, the Body of Generals and all of us who integrate the Nicaraguan Army, to convey our Greetings and Recognition to the Chiefs, Officers, Pilots, Engineers, Technicians, Mechanics, NCOs, Classes, Soldiers and Auxiliary Personnel of our Air Force, for commemorating the 41st Anniversary of its Foundation. It has been 41 Years of dedication and discipline, where thousands of Men and Women have given their best efforts for the Foundation, Development and Modernization of the Air Force.
Sisters and Brothers of the Air Force, in commemorating the 41st Anniversary of Foundation, we wish to highlight the high patriotic sense shown in the fulfillment of Missions and Tasks; to recognize the Love for the Homeland of our Crews, who completed 2,336 Missions, accumulating 750 flight hours, transporting almost 800 People and more than 72,000 pounds of cargo. Also, to highlight the dedication of our Pilots, the Staff of the Radiotechnical Unit and the Anti-Air Defense, in the fulfillment of Missions for the Defense of Sovereignty, protecting our airspace.
We highlight from our Sisters and Brothers in the Air Force, the valuable support they provide to the Land-based Troops and Naval Force for the fulfillment of the Operations Plans, Contingent Security in the Field and in the Fight against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime.
Your strict surveillance of our airspace have contributed to prevent clandestine drug trafficking and organized crime tracks from existing in our territory. Your effort has not allowed the existence of clandestine routes.
You all, along 432 with the Airport Protection and Security Detachment, have made significant efforts to guarantee the protection and security of all the Airports and runways of our Country, contributing to the International Certification of Safe Airports.
To recognize the work provided by the Members of the “Coronel Mario Jirón” Air Reparations Base, who carried out 2,300 intermediate repair assignments and prolonging resources, ensuring the exploitation and lifetime of the Air Technique, maintaining optimum levels of combat readiness.
The professional preparation of our Personnel has continued to be strengthened, through the use of the “Coronel Manuel López” Flight and Skydiving Simulator Complex, which has allowed us to save resources and improve skills and abilities.
Today we have the Training Center for Aviation Crews and Technicians "Comandante Raúl Venerio", and the Area for the Repair and Maintenance of Fixed Wing Air Resources, the fuel supply points and items parking for the Anti-Aircraft Artillery group "Lieutenant Colonel Aldo Herrera”. And we continue progressing, of course, by improving the living and working conditions of all of you.
The Members of the Nicaraguan Army are proud of all the Members of our Air Force. You are characterized by loving the Homeland, by being brave, firm, and we are highly united to carry out the Missions and Tasks for the benefit of all Nicaraguans. The successes achieved are only possible due to the effort of everyone and the firm determination to fulfill the Homeland.
To the Chief of the Air Force, Brigadier General Spiro Bassi, our recognition and congratulations for the achievements made. Our appreciation and recognition for their commitment and dedication to all the Sisters and Brothers in Arms of the Air Force, to the Major State, to the Helicopter and Transport Squadrons, as well as the Air Repair Base, the Radiotechnical Unit, the Air Traffic Controllers and the Flight Information Service, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery group and the Simulator Complex.
I want to express our Recognition to those who received the Air Military Merit Honor Medal, and to those who received their Pilot, Engineers and Technicians Wings, for their Merits and outstanding work in the fulfillment of their Military Duties.
Our appreciation, President, for the support you have given us for the Air Force. Thank you, President. And to you, Vice President, we thank you for your support with your arraignments.
Today we express our infinite Respect to the Air Force Sisters and Brothers in Arms whom have fallen in the performance of their Duty. They are, and always will be, examples in the fulfillment of our Missions and Tasks; to the Relatives of our fallen Sisters and Brothers, our Embrace of Solidarity always.
Sisters and Brothers of the Air Force, convey our greetings and appreciation to your relatives, who are an important pillar for you to serve the Homeland. Let us always remain firm and united in the defense of our Sovereignty, always firm and united to guarantee the Stability, Tranquility, Security, and Peace of our Beloved Homeland.
Honor and Glory to the fallen Comrades of the Air Force in the fulfillment of Duty ... Honor and Glory!
Honor and Glory to our National Heroes ... Honor and Glory!
Long live the 41st Anniversary of the Foundation of the Air Force of the Nicaraguan Army! Long live, long live, long live!
In compliance with our Missions and Tasks,
All for the Homeland!
In defense of the Homeland and the Institution...
Firmness and Cohesion!
Long live the Nicaraguan Army!
Homeland and Freedom!
Daniel's words
Dear Sisters and Brothers of the Nicaraguan Air Force; Officers, Soldiers, Technicians, Specialists, Pilots, all that conglomerate of Men and Women who work in an Institution that is the Nicaraguan Army, attending to a highly sensitive area such as the one that has to do with the Air Force.
It demands great rigor, great discipline, because our Security is at stake ... Security of those who then travel the Heavens in surveillance tasks, from the planes, coordinating with the Naval Force and with the Land Forces to protect our National Territory, logically including everything that is the maritime space, in the Caribbean Sea and in the Pacific. Tasks that are critical in this moments for our country.
Facing the Natural Phenomena that affect Nicaragua, since 1979, since the Air Force was founded, in the face of the onslaught of Hurricanes, of Cyclones that caused floods that destroyed the roads in those years, I remember well, there was the Air Force moving through the different Zones where the Families, the population was isolated and had to be rescued.
Faced with powerful Hurricanes that commit the entire Country to abide by Emergency Plans to protect ourselves. That Hurricane that moved with an impressive force of more than 250 kilometers, 250 or 280 kilometers per hour, the strength of that Hurricane, Hurricane Joan, and it corresponded to this Air Force, combined with the other Army Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, the Population, etc., all of them, it was up to them to assume the task of relocating the Population that moved from one side to another, especially in the Central Zone of the Country and towards the Caribbean. Because it seemed that the Hurricane was coming in a certain direction, it was moving in a certain direction, and then the towns in that area had to be evacuated; and then it changed direction, the Hurricane changed course and moved further north or moved further south, and then the population had to be displaced again.
It was a titanic task to save Lives, starting with the population that lived on the seashore of the Caribbean, all the villages, from Bluefields to the Communities that are along the Coast, Corn Island, Big Corn Island and Little Corn Island.
How did we get there? Because there was resistance from the population to vacate the area, as is natural, they did not imagine a Hurricane with such a great force. I remember that on that occasion we moved in an Air Force plane, an AN-26 was moved to the area, the winds were already beginning, and we went there thanks to the will and the means that we had available to move, to move in conditions like these, with this plane, the AN-26.
This allowed us to go and talk to the people who were in their homes, who did not want to evacuate, they said that they were going to lose their property, that people were going to steal from them, and that nothing was going to happen. We went to make them see that they had to leave their homes and that they had to take what they could take with them; they had to go to the shelters, because shelters had been built in Corn Island, in the big one and in the small one, and also in the riverside cities, in Pearl Lagoon, in Tasbapounie, in all the Communities that were in that area.
Then, the hurricane entered with that force that we all knew, which seemed to be coming with all that force on Managua and the Hurricane what it did was, well, it destroyed homes, it flooded everything. And the most impressive thing, I remember, when, after the Hurricane had passed, we also moved in an Air Force helicopter back to the Bluefields Area, to the area that had been affected by the Hurricane, the most impressive thing was seeing the trees, thousands of trees totally leafless and strewn, totally, totally bare. The force of the winds was impressive as it collided with those mountain ranges, in those areas, in those plains and that allowed the force of the winds to be dampened. It caused enormous damage in all that Natural Forest Reserve.
And the Air Force, defending us during all that period, from 1979 to 1990 defending the Sovereignty of the Country, defending the Life of Nicaraguans, the Right to Peace of Nicaraguans, and fighting battles, fighting wars. Defending the Homeland, defending the Sovereignty of the Country, defending the Dignity of the Country. How many Sisters and Brothers fell during that period!
Then, the Air Force continued its work to defend Peace, the Stability of the Country, Sovereignty, our Territory, and also continue to carry out its rescue efforts. I even remember how the Air Force came to the aid of the Costa Rican Families when that earthquake that caused a lot of damage back in Costa Rica. The Northern Zone of Costa Rica, bordering Nicaragua, was the most affected area, and helicopters from the Air Force arrived to shake hands with Costa Rican families.
Likewise, rescuing the population from floods, hurricanes, and Tropical Storms, and the Air Force had to get there because they were places where it was not possible to get there by land, because the Roads were cut off, the area was flooded, and the Families were looking for places to protect themselves. The people always look for places to protect themselves, we know it well.
There in El Rama, when it is already beginning to rain heavily, people started moving toward the hills and taking refuge in the hills, and the only way they could get there was by helicopter. Families were looking for the areas where the water would not reach, to protect themselves and to be sure that they would not be lost there, sure that the hand of the Air Force would appear there rescuing the Families, where there are Elders, where there are Adults, where there are boys, where there are girls, where there are women. That is the experience of our People, with the accompaniment of the Nicaraguan Air Force.
General Avilés reminded us that during the last year, the Air Force fulfilled 2,336 missions, accumulating 750 flight hours, and transporting 800 people and more than 72,000 pounds of cargo, including the cargo related to Literacy that moved to places where it could not be reached by road, it was moved by the Air Force.
The Great National Literacy Crusade was achieved with the means of the Air Force. The 1984 Elections were celebrated with the means of the Air Force, in places where other vehicles of ground transportation could not reach, ensuring such an important task as the elections. And so, year after year, the Air Force, participating in rescue efforts, a humanistic work and with a high degree of performance, because flying 750 hours strains everything, the security apparatus required for transportation through the Heavens, demands much greater conditions than any other form of land transport.
Thank God there have been few accidents that the Air Force has had, and of course it hurts us to have lost the Comrades who have died in those accidents, also the Sisters and Brothers who fell in combat, and the Heroes who stood out in the Service to Our People, to Peace, to the Defense of Sovereignty.
The General reminded us that the Comrades, Lieutenant Colonel Allan Morán Granera, was awarded the Medal for Military Air Merit... Congratulations, Dear Brother, for you, for your Family, for the Comrades of the Air Force who share with you all the missions entrusted to them. To Lieutenant Colonel José Teodoro González Díaz ... Likewise, congratulations, Comrade, to you, your Family and the Sisters and Brothers who accompany you in the different Missions during your work. And to Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Danilo Torres Cardoza... Likewise, our congratulations, our greetings, for you, for the Family and for the Comrades who are with you making Merits also in favor of the Nicaraguan Families, in favor of the People of Nicaragua, in favor of the Peace of our Country.
Our congratulations to the Air Force Command, to General Spiro Bassi, and logically our congratulations to the Commander in Chief of the Army, to General Julio César Avilés Castillo; to the Superior Command with Major General Bayardo Rodríguez, with Major General Marvin Corrales, with the Army's Driving Corps, the Military Council and the entire General Staff, which carry out the Command, Direction, and Coordination, both of the Air Force and of the other Branches of our Army.
In other words, the ability of the Directorate is fundamental, the follow-up to the work of the Air Force is fundamental, the management to strengthen the Air Force is fundamental and it is a task that corresponds to the Command and in particular to the Army General, Julio César Avilés Castillo. Thank you, General, to you!
And our Tribute, yes, Honor and Glory to the Sisters and Brothers who have died in different circumstances during all these years, and who are still here with us, alive, accompanying the work of the Nicaraguan Air Force. For them, for their Families, for their Friends, for their Comrades, for all, our Accompaniment, our Fraternal Embrace, our Greetings. They are Heroes of the Work for Peace in our Country.
And for the Nicaraguan Air Force, congratulations, Dear Sisters and Brothers, on this 41st Anniversary. Congratulations, and go ahead, in the Struggle for Peace, in the Struggle for the Safety of the Nicaraguan Families, in the Struggle against Drug Activity, and in the Struggle to safeguard the Full Sovereignty of our Country. Congratulations, and Go Forward ...!