The abuse of power and authority within the military is not uncommon. Actually, you find the same things taking place within various large corporations as well. However, when it takes place within the military, it usually makes for good press coverage, or at least that is what the news media thinks. Stories about generals using soldiers to serve drinks at their cocktail parties or mowing their lawns, etc., make good new. The public reaction is usually very unfavorable. How dare that general or whatever, use soldiers as his servants!
There is definitely abuse of power and authority within our military. However, it is not widespread, and it is most certainly not institutionalized. But in some countries, particularly in developing countries, the abuse of power and authority by high ranking officers in the military is quite common, and in some cases, has been institutionalized! Such was the case in many of the developing countries where I had been assigned. Senior officers routinely used common soldiers as their personal servants, and no one seemed to pay any attention, most certainly not the local media!
During my time in Ecuador, my good friend Lorenzo and I spent a lot of time afield, shooting. We also spent considerable amount of time scouting for new places to shoot. After all, you can't just go to the same place over and over. The game will soon change their location if there is shooting pressure.
One day in 1990 we were scouting for new shooting grounds when we spotted large flights of Santa Cruz pigeons heading in one direction. We got under the flight path and followed the birds as best as we could and ended up at a place where they all seemed to be landing. This was by a small river on the outskirts of the town of Naranjal. The place was called Rio Bonito (pretty river). There was only one problem. The place where all the Santa Cruz were congregating was closed off to the public. There was a barbed-wire fence and a gate guarded by an Ecuadorian Army soldier armed with an assault rifle. There were also large signs posted, "Zona Prohibida" (forbidden area) and "Zona Militar" (military area) on the gate.
Normally, when confronted with such situation, we would avoid the area all together. In countries such as Ecuador, one does not question or face soldiers or police intentionally! The amount of authority exercised by the military in developing countries is not at all like it is here in America. Here, the military essentially have no authority over civilians outside of military bases. But in developing countries, the military has always possessed much more power and authority!
Most of the time, when we came across armed soldiers, we simply headed the other way. However, this time it was different. The number of Santa Cruz that kept flying into the area was staggering, and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. So, Lorenzo approached the armed soldier and asked if it was possible to enter the area that he was guarding. The soldier waved his assault rifle menacingly at us and told us that we were in a zona prohibida, and that we should get the hell out of there. But, as I said, the place looked just too good to pass up, so Lorenzo pressed on, and asked the soldier to speak to his superior. To our surprise, the soldier agreed and marched off to look for his boss. More than likely he was bored standing guard and this gave him some relief!
Shortly the soldier reappeared accompanied by his "sargento" (sergeant) who seemed a bit puzzled by our presence. Lorenzo repeated his request to the "sargento," asking him for permission to enter the area to shoot Santa Cruz. Lorenzo explained that we were just interested in shooting the birds and that we would give them birds to eat if they wanted. He also added that we would gladly pay a "fee" to enter the compound. The sergeant seemed to be surprised by the request but responded favorably, saying that this was "his colonel's" banana farm and that we were welcome to shoot. He added that they would appreciate it if we gave them the birds that we shot. He said that the steady diet of arroz (rice), verde (plantains) and choclo (corn) was kind of boring and that the birds would make for a welcome change. He ordered the guard to open the gate, and as we pulled through, he asked if we needed any soldiers to help retrieve the birds!
Lorenzo and I shot that afternoon and had soldiers retrieve birds for us. We paid the soldiers about $10 each for their help. That was equivalent to half a month's pay for the Ecuadorian private soldier at that time! After a great shoot, we paid the soldiers who helped us, gave most of the birds to them, then stopped by and thanked the sargento at their barracks/headquarters shack. We gave the good sergeant some money as well. He told us that "his colonel" owned this bananera (banana farm) and that he and a squad of soldiers worked the farm! The colonel did not pay them anything extra, they just collected their usual army pay. Their diet was poor because the money that they received for their food was not enough to buy meat! In Ecuadorian Army, like most other developing country armies (Afghanistan and Iraq a good example!), the unit commander receives money for his troops food. Naturally, the commander pockets most of the money and gives barely enough to his troops to eat!
We returned to Rio Bonito two weeks later with our friend Bill Fitzgerald who promptly christened the place as the "Dove Factory" because there were so many Santa Cruz pigeons at that place. We shot there a couple of more times, each time giving the place about a two weeks rest. But the final time when we went there, the area where the Santa Cruz used to congregate was all cut down. According to our friend the sargento, the colonel wanted to expand his banana planting and ordered that all the trees and brush be cut down. It was too bad for the Santa Cruz, they had to look for another place. Despite our shooting, we hardly put a dent in the population, there were so many Santa Cruz at the "Dove Factory" before it was cut down! It was also too bad for the sargento and his soldiers. They lost the chance to earn some money and also improve their diet!
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