I'm wondering what the members sentiments are in regards to the sort of impunity that takes place in the Dominican Republic. Given that when a person joins the armed forces they take an oath to protect the nation and its people from enemies both foreign and domestic. Using ones military issued weapon against one of the citizens they uphold to protect should be considered treason and dealt within the military in infrastructure.

Recently we've seen military officers and elisted personnel found guilty of committing crimes around the island. The institution of "military intelligence" hides the embarrassment by saying they are no longer part of the military and depositing them in the hands of a system incapable of rendering justice based on broken military laws. These transposition of responsibility lead to what they call "60 day murders" So named because they get preventive detention for 60 days in a civilian jail. If enough evidence isn't found on their case they are released to freely roam the streets once again.

In my opinion the armed forces should be revamped and in their doctrine the formation of military tribunals established to deal directly and harshly with those who use force against those they sworn to protect.

I know there must be plenty of members with military backgrounds and I welcome them to share their thoughts and philosophies on the matter.

Iron thinker I agree with you. DR should revamped their entire Armed forces with new law and justice in line with how the US justice system deal with their Armed Forces. A soldier accused of a crime a court martial should handle the case. One of the problem is that we have our armed forces acting as police officer in and around the country. They should all be grouped in training facility all along the frontier for the most part. Take away their supreme power against the populace.

I have a better idea: do away with the armed forces in DR altogether. All DR needs is a border guard, a police force, and a coast/air guard, that's it. We don't need all those overpayed clowns who fancy themselves Generals and Colonels.

And I would professionalize it..LOL...
Does anyone know what are currently the MINIMUM requirements to be a Dominican police officer? Perhaps a better question would be are there such a thing as minimum requirements?

Agreed, but also add a military division, of say 2,000 men, with special forces training... You never know if our colombian friends, because of our perceived weakness, might pull a stunt like they did in Ecuador....

Or Chavez for that matter!

Hey, Costa Rica is in a MUCH more unstable area of LA then we are and they've done just fine without an army for over half a century now. We don't need it. We won't be fighting wars any time soon. Besides, ALL of the forces that gained independence on our behalf (and it happened several times) were impromtu. In the Dominican Republic no historical case can be made for the standing army save as an arm for tyrants to keep the population in a state of acquiescence.

I hear you.... But times are changing and we need to have a military force in place for when shit happens... Something small, mobile, and well armed!

I agree with most of what you guys have said but here is my opinion.

1. We can't mobilize all our troops tot he border without having Haiti see it as an act of aggression, what we need to do is take a piece from each of the branches and create a border patrol similar to how Politur
patrols tourist areas.

2. Maybe dismantling al the branches and forming one entity could work better. I know that is ow it is done in Japan one national entity the serves as military and police force. We have to eliminate the 725 Generals that the country has, I mean in terms of numbers its like 1 General per every 10000 soldiers and well if that were true in DR we should have just as many soldiers as the US, which is not true.

3. I think service in the armed forces should be mandatory for Dominican citizens ( with exclusions) but in order to receive full citizenship and some of the social welfare programs the least you could do is serve for 2 years. It will probably give you a new respect for authority and who knows most of these guys might like it.

4. The special forces idea is a good one, we do need to gather intelligence and re-con on organized crime and other nations. Actually if there was a special forces in DR I would prob. be a part of it.

5. The requirements to be a police officer are very loose. You have to be over 18, not have a criminal record, and pass a drug and psychological test, and then you get to carry a gun and shoot people.