Mexicans With Machine Guns

"VIVA MEXICO!"

The Mexican Armed Forces is composed of the Mexican Army and Air Force, and the Mexican Navy which is run by a separate Navy Secretariat the other two services are under the National Defense Secretariat. Their aim is like any other government's military, protect Mexico from both internal (drug cartels, the Zapatista uprising, and preventing illegal emigration, either inbound or outbound) and external threats (including Yanquis Con Tanques, not that their military would do any good should a war break out) and to aid the civilian population in natural disasters or outbreaks, just as in the 1985 earthquake, the 1996 Hurricane season, and the recent Swine Flu outbreak.

Mexico uses both conscripts and volunteer. The conscription process consists on a yearly lottery done each September, where those who are 18 years old must present themselves to see if they will get the "Bola Negra (Black ball, exempts the service)" or the "Bola Blanca (White ball, must do the service)", and in the case of those living where there's a Mexican Navy base can Take a Third Option and serve in the Navy with a "Bola Azul"; However, it is possible to join before or after that age: Those who are older than the norm (called "Remisos") are forced to do service, and must pay a fine, and those who are of 16 to a day before the 18th birthday can volunteer for service with the authorization of his parents.

The issued ID, called "Cartilla Militar" entitles its bearer that he's in the Military (or has finished it), and until recently it was one of the official identifications that prove the bearer is 18 or more years old (along with a driver's license, the birth certificate, or the voting carnet). The Mexican military is popular with the poor and middle class as it provides them with free or cheap food and housing and the means to climb the social ladder.

Aside from that, one can join any of the Military Colleges (Army, Navy, Air Force, Medical, and Engineering), provided they get past the selection process, which is Harder Than Hard (it involves psychological, theorical, medical and physical exams), compared even to those of public schools (which is already considered hard in Mexico; take in account, however, that the process is so because public colleges in Mexico provide excellent professional preparation and are really cheap too, thus, they are always in high demand), and the curriculum is the closest thing it can get to The Spartan Way due to it being obscenely hard, and because only a handful are picked for graduation, regardless of grades.

The Mexican military used to be a primary force in Mexican politics, but years after the Mexican Revolution of 1917 limited its power. It is starting to have a limited and back-door comeback in politics in the 1990s due to the Zapatista revolt and the war against the drug cartels.

Due to widespread police corruption and drug cartel military power, the Mexican Army has recently been assigned to patrol duties in dangerous areas, mainly the cities bordering the USA in anti-drug actions but some big towns like Monterrey and Guadalajara are nowadays getting acostumed to soldiers patroling the area on a daily basis. Reactions to this are very divisive, as some people are downright thankful for having the military helping (it is important to say that unlike the police the soldiers maintain a lot of credibility) while others feel they just cause more conflicts.

The cartels are known to recruit young people from the lower classes, so recent years have seen a resurge un publicity efforts to make the military look attractive to new generations. Only time will tell if it's working.

Mexican Army
From The Other Wiki:

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 deployable ground troops.

Mexican 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. Recently the Navy has ceded most of its river responsibilities (formally handled by the Marines) to the Army, and has reduced the size of the Marine force, putting them back aboard ships where they play a vital role in drug interdiction and boarding of suspect vessels in territorial waters. 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.

Mexican Air Force
As mentioned earlier, 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.

Mexican Military History:

 * The frequent conflicts between the US and Mexico, particularly when General Santa Anna was involved.
 * The war with the French Empire when Napoleon III (no, not that one) tried to exercise control over Mexico through puppet emperor Maximilian I. The Mexican Republicans eventually defeated both Imperial French forces (they didn't expelled them, as they were requested back into Europe due to the war against Prussia) and the Mexican Empire supporters, and then captured and shot Maximilian.
 * Unintentionally providing the Foreign Legion with a Crowning Moment of Awesome when 62 Legionnaires and 3 officers under Captain Danjoy faced off against at least 2000 Mexicans at Camarone de Tejada. When the Mexican Army passes today; it stops to salute those men who fought like Devils.
 * A Mexican Air Squadron (Escuadrón 201) fought with some distinction in the Pacific theater during World War II. It was originally trained to fight in Europe, but due to the fact the war was near its end in that theater, they were sent to the Pacific.
 * It has also seen action in relief efforts around the world:
 * Relief to the victims in the 1985 earthquake.
 * A Mexican battleship with medical supplies and doctors was sent to Indonesia after the tsunami in 2004
 * And in 2005 to Louisiana to help in the Hurricane Katrina's relief efforts.
 * Currently engaged against the multiple Drug Cartels and its paramilitary wings in most of the country's territory.

The Mexican military in Fiction:

 * They appear in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, as allies; the Ghost team is sent in to help them put down a rebellion, and at times you can fight alongside loyalist troops.
 * In The Omega Code 2: Megiddo, the President of Mexico (in a typical military uniform worthy of a Banana Republic dictator) leads Mexican troops alongside the Americans and Chinese to fight Stone Alexander's World Union Army. They had Abrams tanks, something Mexico doesn't have in Real Life but are contemplating to buy.
 * Like all of the countries in the world, Mexico can be used (and with enough skill, can be turned into a superpower) in Hearts of Iron, provided you play it right with them.
 * A Fistful of Dollars.
 * Once Upon a Time In Mexico
 * The middle section of Red Dead Redemption, which is set during the Mexican Revolution.
 * Ravenous
 * One of the missions in Age of Empires 3 is set during the Mexican-American War. The player holds back waves of Mexican forces before a brigade of US forces led by Major Cooper curbstomp them and destroy their base.