ABSTRACT
This chapter documents the building of the SPLA’s guerrilla forces and the Red Army, beginning from 1983, and the training of divisions within southwestern Ethiopia. The naming, composition, and command of individual divisions and battalions are examined, revealing the ethnically based composition of most military units. The chapter also chronicles the forced recruitment of thousands of children by commanders of the SPLA following the 1987 order of the SPLA leader, Col. John Garang de Mabior. The chapter examines social processes used to fulfil military prerogatives among the predominantly Nilotic-speaking senior members of the SPLA, and the transformation of social networks over the period discussed. The chapter also examines the high death toll among Cuban-trained SPLA, accounts of ‘suicide by fighting,’ and notes the high level of trauma among survivors.
