(Soldiers of the reconstituted Haitian army with WWII M1 Garands during 2026.)
M1 Garands to Haiti
No Garands were provided to Haiti during WWII itself. The United States considered Haiti a nearly-worthless ally during WWII and it was lumped into the OLAR (Other Latin American Republics) basket, the lowest rung of Lend-Lease. Other rifles were provided, but no M1 Garands.
(During 1963, M1903 Springfields from WWII Lend-Lease were still in Haitian use. The building in the background is the National Palace which was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake.)
Dumarsais Estime became Haiti’s leader in 1946, following the overthrow of the WWII strongman Elie Lescot. Beginning in 1948, Estime went on a buying spree for the military. This was financed partly by a special tax forcing Haitians to “invest” 10% of their wages in war bonds, and partly through a national lottery. A small number of surplus Garands were obtained at that time, the first being one single M1 Garand in 1946 for $25 via the FLC program. During 1954, several hundred more were obtained in a private transaction from the arms dealer Sam Cummings. Between 1955 – 1961 (when President Kennedy put an arms embargo on Haiti) 799 Garands came via the MAP aid program. Another 2,000 came via the FMS program during a 1970s lull in the embargo. Still more were obtained “here & there” on the world arms market. In all, probably around 3,100 – 3,600 came to Haiti between 1946 – 1993. For reference the whole 1980s Haitian army was 7,000 men.
(During 1985 the West German company A. Eickhorn-Solingen produced clones of the American M5A1 bayonet for Haiti’s M1 Garands, the real thing being unattainable due to nearly-constant arms embargoes by the USA. These differ in having an all-plastic scabbard. Most or all were sold commercially after the Haitian government changed.)
The M1 Garand was still the Haitian army’s main battle rifle in 1994, now serving alongside postwar M14s, FALs, and Galils; none of which could not be afforded in sufficient quantity to fully replace the WWII Garands.
(Haitian soldier with M1 Garand during 1994.) (Associated Press photo)
Still others were in the Tonton Macoute (more formally the National Security Volunteers), a paramilitary militia.
(Militiaman in Port-au-Prince during 1994 with M1 Garand.) (Associated Press photo)
abolishing the Haitian army
On 7 February 1991 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as president, having fairly won the first free election in many decades. Seven months later Aristide was ousted in an army coup by Col. Raoul Cedras. When Bill Clinton was sworn in as the USA’s president in January 1993, Haiti was of interest to him. Haitian “boat people” refugees had been an issue in the politically-important state of Florida during the 1992 election, and Clinton was further enraged that Col. Cedras (who had meanwhile promoted himself to general) had been named a trusted electoral observer for the 1991 Haitian election, but then turned around and nullified it by his coup.
Throughout 1993 and 1994 President Clinton pressured Gen. Cedras to step down and return Aristide to power, to no avail. During September 1994 President Clinton authorized military force to oust Cedras, operation “Uphold Democracy”. At the last moment (literally, hours before the invasion landed) Cedras agreed to relinquish power and thus the 19 September 1994 invasion was unopposed.
President Clinton decided to totally abolish the FAdH (Forces Armees d’Haiti). His viewpoint was that in the then-five decades since WWII, Haiti’s meager military had contributed nothing to hemispheric defense, but had caused constant hardship for the Haitian people and squandered American aid. Haiti’s only land border is with the Dominican Republic, an ally of the USA, and Haiti faced no external threat of invasion. President Clinton’s opinion (which was shared by the Pentagon) was that in the future, the weak poorly-run army would be no help; but a likely source of further coups. Therefore it was completely disbanded.
(American M2 Bradleys outside the Defense Ministry in 1994. Today in 2026 this building is still that function in the reconstituted army, albeit with a huge crack in one wall from the 2010 earthquake.) (Associated Press photo)
To maintain law and order in Haiti, a reformed National Police was issued some gear of the defunct army, including M1 Garands.
(An officer of the National Police with M1 Garand during a 2012 gunbattle with gangs. A gym bag’s strap is being used as a sling.)
For the next 22 years, the National Police would be the sole legal armed organization in Haiti.
Not all of the Garands went to the new National Police. A significant number ended up on the streets. Just prior to stepping down and the Americans landing, Gen. Cedras had postured that he would fight the Americans, and a show was made of a new supposed “People’s Volunteer Army” which would fight alongside the regular army and militia. To that end, M1 Garands were distributed around the nation to equip this planned force, which then never actually formed due to Cedras stepping down. During the third and fourth weeks of September 1994 many of these poorly-guarded Garands “vanished” before American troops had a chance to collect them all.
(A street mob during 2004, armed with M1 Garands of the defunct pre-1994 military.)
In some ways these WWII rifles would be the “seed” of the current gang situation in 2026.
Finally there was a “grey area” after the turn of the millennium. As functions of government began to falter and then fail; the nation’s rapidly-shrinking wealthy elite along with foreign business interests made use of armed private security companies which technically are of unclear legality but tolerated as a necessity.
(Employee of a parastatal security firm with M1 Garand during 2018.)
“remobilisation officielle“: restarting the Haitian army
There were two prior attempts to restart a Haitian military. During 2012, a group of pre-1994 veterans and their hangers-on gathered at the abandoned Camp Lamentin 54 base southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince. Wearing mismatched fatigues they managed to scrounge up, they declared that it was a national disgrace that Haiti did not have an army, and that they were restarting it on their own accord.
(The would-be first new soldiers at Camp Lamentin 54 during 2012.)
This group never had any firearms or other equipment and the government told them that it did not support them. After a short while, they dispersed.
During 2015, there was a second attempt to restart the army, this time being by Haiti’s then-president Michel Martelly. The community of international aid donors (which by then Haiti was already totally dependent upon) was against the idea and it was dropped – at least in public.
formal reactivation
That same year, 2015, a group of volunteers was trained in Ecuador as combat engineers by the Ecuadorian army.
(The Haitian volunteers completing their training in Ecuador.) (image via Euronews)
Then-President Jovenel Moise announced on 18 November 2017 that the FAdH had been reinstituted, or “remobilisation officielle”.
(President Jovenel Moise with honor guard bearing M1 Garands. He would be assassinated on 7 July 2021.)
The “remobilisation officielle” was obviously not a spur-of-the-moment decision as the announcement was accompanied by a small squad of infantrymen already wearing the restarted army’s new dress uniform, carrying M1 Garands.
(Reuters photo)
Later that day, additional soldiers were issued M1 Garands – unceremoniously drawn out of an old ocean shipping container.
structure and uniforms
When the army was reactivated in 2017 the goal was 7,000 members; same as the 1994 force. This was impossible and lowered to 1,700. Even that was difficult, by 2024 it was only up to 1,211. As of November 2026 manpower was around 1,650 and the goal was to reach 3,000 combat-ready troops during 2027.
The first cadre was trained in Mexico by Mexican army drill sergeants. The second was trained in Haiti by Mexican drill sergeants; at the same time a small Haitian group went back to Mexico to be trained as drill sergeants themselves. The third and thereafter were trained in Haiti by Haitians, with the Mexican army providing ongoing assistance as needed.
The whole reconstituted army is one single battalion, split into genie (combat engineers), infantry, and medical. The annual military budget is 11.9 billion Gourdes (a nearly worthless currency) which equates to $90,500,000 at the 2026 exchange rate. Haiti has very little ability to self-generate revenue and the bulk is foreign aid.
The initial 2017 uniforms were MARPAT digicams from the US Marine Corps. During 2023 a significant buy was made of US Army M81 BDUs (the 1980s – 1990s Woodland One scheme).
(The MARPAT uniforms, here with genies (combat engineers) armed with M1 Garands. The combat boots are the style worn by the US Army during the Iraq War.)
(Infantrymen in 2025 in the Woodland One uniforms, also with the new helmets, armed with WWII M1 Garands.)
The WWII Lend-Leased M1 pot helmets of the old FAdH did not survive the post-1994 era. The first helmets in 2017 were PASGT-type kevlar; a combination of donated milspec helmets and commercially-bought clones. These were later joined by ex-US Army ACHs as seen in the photo above.
(ACH helmet and commercial plate carrier, here with the 1980s-era Woodland One uniform and WWII M1 Garand during January 2026.)
There are two other uniforms, nearly identical, these being simple basic fatigues in OD green but with two different shades being seen. Their origin is unknown. In the mid-2020s a third color (beige) of this same cut entered use.
(This 2026 photo at the Vertiéres boot camp, in a southern suburb of Port-au-Prince, shows both shades of this inexpensive uniform.)
(A combat engineer in MARPATs being issued a M1 Garand during 2017.)
Especially in the beginning, there was a shortage of everything and during the late 2010s it was not uncommon to see mismatched articles of clothing.
(Recruit training during 2018. There are two different styles of US Marine Corps field hats being worn plus what looks to be surplus US Army black berets, along with mismatched combat boots.)
Other than the Grand Quartier (GHQ office in the capital Port-au-Prince) none of the pre-1994 bases remain in use. Camp d’Application; the main base of the old army, was emptied of all weapons and ammunition by the Americans in 1994 and then looted by civilians. It was later transformed into the National Police Academy and a law college. Chancerelles Airbase (formerly USMC Bowen Field during WWII) was the pre-1994 Haitian air force’s base. It was already semi-abandoned in 1994. After the 2010 earthquake it was made into a temporary tent city and by 2025 the runway was totally overgrown with vegetation and surrounding buildings decrepit or demolished.
For the new army, Camp Anacaona is at Léogâne on the southwest “panhandle” of the island. This was previously a camp built by South Korean peacekeepers and aid workers. Base Vertiéres is adjacent to the USA’s embassy in Port-au-Prince. Reopened in 2024, it was formerly a 2½ acres Brazilian peacekeeper camp and has a helipad built by the Argentine air force. During 2026 work started on a small new barracks at Jacmel, on the southern coast. There is also a a small detachment based at Toussaint Louverture Int’l Airport, which as of October 2026 was basically closed to air traffic anyways.
During the 2017 restart it was announced that all three armed forces, not just the army, were being reconstituted. During 2024 the Mexican air force offered to train Haitian pilots and groundcrew, and during 2026 a request was placed with Taiwan for any surplus aircraft that might be donated. However the current Haitian air force exists only as one (non-flying) colonel and several junior soldiers. The Haitian navy was restarted with twelve sailors (all officers or warrant officers) however it never received any ships or bases. There is a tiny police maritime wing with a handful of small motorboats at the decaying former Amiral Killick base of the pre-1994 navy, however as of October 2026 the Naval CinC post was listed as “currently vacant” so the navy idea may be abandoned.
M1 Garands
All of the Garands in the new army came from the old.
During the six months of the “Uphold Democracy” operation the American military took all of the pre-1994 FAdH’s combat vehicles, artillery, and heavy weapons along with stockpiled ammunition. President Clinton’s plan was that Haitian governance be reestablished by the end of October 1994 and the last American troops depart in March 1995. There would not be time nor resources to collect all the rifles in Haiti. The outlook in 1994 was that beyond reissuing Garands and other firearms to the new National Police, gun policy in Haiti was a Haitian matter to determine.
Following the 1995 American departure the National Police absorbed as many remaining M1 Garands as could be collected, along with M14s and Galils, of the pre-1994 FAdH. The Garands were gradually withdrawn to storage during the late 2000s as already by then, they were totally mismatched by the firepower the gangs had.
(Haitian policeman with the relatively uncommon M14E2/A1, a select-fire version of the M14 with pistol grip and bipod.)
During the 2017 reactivation, the new army’s first allotment was pre-1994 army M1 Garands which had been placed into storage by the National Police.
(Haitian combat engineers in Cap-Haïten with M1 Garands during 2017. Combat engineers are over-represented proportionally as along with gang suppression, disaster relief is the reconstituted army’s total focus. While “defense of the nation” is in the serviceman’s oath, Haiti has been upfront that the new army has no ability to fight a conventional war.)
The initial plan in 2017 was that any use of the WWII rifles would be very limited (training and drill use) and short-term only, with rapid introduction of current-era firearms. However funding shortfalls were so severe that the M1 Garand became the overall main service rifle.
(Haitian soldiers with M1 Garands during 2018.)
During the late 2010s the reconstituted army attempted to rearm itself in the form of Taurus T4s, a Brazilian-made 5.56 NATO assault rifle. These were bought incrementally on an “installment payment plan” and took a while to be fully delivered.
(Haitian soldier with Taurus T4 during 2025.)
The T4s serve alongside smaller numbers of donated Taiwanese T-91s and German G3s, plus small numbers of Smith & Wesson M&P 15s bought commercially in the USA, and a handful of FN FALs and Galils leftover from the pre-1994 army via National Police storage. Together, by the end of 2025, there were enough select-fire rifles available that all of the frontline combat units of the army could dispense with WWII weapons.
By no means was this the end of the M1 Garand’s Haitian service. As of late 2026 they are still the standard issue rifle for certain non-infantry units. The Garand will remain the reserve and training rifle for the foreseeable future and is the permanent ceremonial & drill rifle.
(M1 Garand in the honor guard for the March 2025 funeral of Gen. Fritz Romulus, a senior officer of the pre-1994 army.) (image via RTV Caraibes)
(Recruits marching with M1 Garands during 2024.)
(Honor guard during May 2026.)
condition of rifles
Ammunition is not a problem as .30-06 Springfield is still an in-production caliber within the western hemisphere, including the United States. Paying for ammunition is another problem. To turn a scratch recruit into a rifleman takes practice and adequate ammunition reserves are a constant worry. This is compounded by the need to simultaneously support 7.62 NATO and 5.56 NATO for the more modern assault rifles in use.
(Marksmanship training at the Vertiéres boot camp during 2026.)
No bayonets have been seen since the 2017 reconstitution and are probably all lost. Likewise slings are very rarely seen, almost never. Otherwise given the age of these rifles, most appear to be in surprisingly great shape, considering their life story; with a few exceptions here and there.
(In this April 2026 photo, the M1 Garand at far left is missing its forward wood furniture.)
There is one thing about Haiti’s Garands which might be irrelevant nitpicking, or, maybe not.
During WWII and the Korean War, American soldiers carried unloaded Garands with the bolt closed to prevent dirt incursion into the action. In several photos current Haitian soldiers are carrying Garands with the bolt held back.
(Soldiers marching in 2017; three have bolts open and two have them closed.)
(Combat engineers during the late 2010s; same thing.)
If this is just an attention-to-detail issue, it is meaningless. However if the bolts are open because they cant close back into battery, then it might mean that a number of the Garands are no longer functional, and would be a notable operations problem. It is not a doctrinal decision as soldiers in the same unit in the same photo have mixed results as seen above.
At least some of the M1 Garands are battleworthy and have been used in active combat.
(Haitian soldier using M1 Garand during a 2022 gun battle against gangs in Port-au-Prince.) (Reuters photo)
the gang war
This is not a comprehensive overview of the current conflict, just a look at what the reconstituted army is up against.
(A top hat-wearing member of the Gran Grif gang during 2026, with a FN FAL of the pre-1994 army. This is one of the oldest gangs still operating in 2026. It originally started during 2016 as a private militia of the Haitian politician Prophane Victor.)
The most infamous gangster is Jimmy “Barbeque” Chérizier, a former National Police officer who was fired from the force in 2018.
(Jimmy “Barbeque” Chérizier with a customized PTR-91 during 2022.) (Associated Press photo)
Chérizier’s nom de guerre, depending on who is asked, comes either from his parent’s restaurant business or his propensity to immolate opponents. He started the Delmas 95 gang during 2020 with its main rival being the G-Pep gang. During February 2024 he made peace with G-Pep and combined the two gangs into Fos G9 An Fanme (G9 Force & Family). Fos G9 later added additional gangs under the umbrella Viv Ansanm (“Live Together”) to fight, instead of each other, Haiti’s National Police and the reconstituted Haitian army.
(Viv Ansanm gangsters during 2024 armed with Palmetto State PSAK-47s and PA-15s, and a Radical FP-10. One is wearing commercial body armor.)
Viv Ansanm is the strongest gang, massively armed. During 2025 President Trump designated it a foreign terrorist organization. That same year, Viv Ansanm burned the national university to the ground.
(Joseph “Lanmou San Jou” Wilson, mocking the National Police by wearing one of their hats.) (official FBI photo)
Joseph Wilson’s 400 Mawozo is another big gang. This was formerly G9’s main rival and was disproportionally strong due to links with Haitian illegal immigrants and the legal Haitian diaspora inside the USA; they feeding the gang US Dollar remittances and access to the American firearms market. 400 Mawozo produces online rap music videos ridiculing the Haitian army and police.
The gangs obtain much funding through basic gangsterism: kidnappings-for-ransom, “protection money” rackets in neighborhoods they control, and extortion. Beyond that a lucrative thing is extorting freight companies. During the mid-2020s it was estimated that combined, the gangs take in $60 – $75 million per year by “taxing” ocean shipping containers leaving Port-au-Prince’s commercial harbor or through highway “checkpoints” where cash is demanded from chassis-trailer trucks moving the containers.
The gangs are well-armed; so much that by 2021 they had essentially achieved full saturation, that is to say, they had all the guns they wanted and were actually starting to export some. Jamaican police have complained during the 2020s about Haiti’s gangs bartering excess guns for Jamaican marijuana. The gangs have now also spread beyond Haiti. Viv Ansanm has active branches in the Dominican Republic, a key source of ammunition which is smuggled over the border. Meanwhile in July 2025, there was a massive gun battle between rival Haitian gangsters in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos with the transgressors being Haitians admitted to that nation as refugees.
On the 10 – 11 October 2026 overnight, gangsters in speedboats attacked the merchant ship M/V National Glory anchored offshore of Haiti. They were unsuccessful in figuring out a way to scale the sides of the hull and departed. None the less it illustrates that the gangs have armed watercraft now. The US Coast Guard ordered additional American arrival protocols for merchant ships recently in Haitian waters as it was concerned about third-party terrorists exploiting Haiti’s maritime anarchy.
As seen in some of the photos above, the gangs are equipped with modern firearms and have long since left WWII rifles behind. Still, some occasionally pop up.
(A M1 Garand among various guns seized from gangsters during November 2025.)
(A pair of M1 Garands along with a Cold War-era FN FAL seized during October 2026. All three once belonged to the pre-1994 army.) (photo via Scorpion Intel)
other WWII guns
(photo via Scorpion Intel)
The October 2026 photo above shows a pair of seized WWII American M8 signal flare pistols, no doubt originally of long-ago Lend-Lease. How these might be useful in urban gang battles 81 years after the war is unclear.
(photo via War Noir)
During October 2026 a remarkable video emerged, showing a 400 Mawozo member with (at first glance anyways) a Colt Monitor. This was a commercial version of the M1918 BAR made between the world wars. Only 125 of these were made and of those, 90 went to the FBI and 20 to other American law enforcement – the most famous being today preserved in Waco, TX; it being used by the Texas Rangers against Bonnie & Clyde.
Needless to say a genuine Monitor is outrageously rare in 2026. Rock Island Auction took $115,000 for one in 2018. It is therefore extremely unlikely that a functional, excellent-condition Monitor is possessed by a Haitian street gang. A more likely alternative is that the gun in the video is a modern semi-auto repro of the WWII BAR from Ohio Ordnance Works (the “1918A3-SLR”). There exists an aftermarket gunsmith’s hobby kit (including a Lyman compensator) to visually alter this repro as a cosmetic Monitor.
(In the video, a gang leader anointed the firearm with rum in a bizarre ritual.) (photo via War Noir)
Even so, this repro firearm costs between $7,500 – $7,900 before the cosmetic alteration kit, so it is still an expensive surprise to see in Haiti.
course of the conflict and M1 Garands in action
By autumn 2026 gangs controlled 90% of the capital Port-au-Prince and probably a fifth to a quarter of the whole nation of Haiti. None of the pre-1994 army’s machine guns have been seen so the Americans were apparently successful in 1994 in collecting them all. Neither the gangs nor government forces possess any artillery. As of November 2026 the biggest fear – gangs obtaining black-market ATGMs or shoulder-fired SAMs – has not materialized. The gangs have thusfar shown no ability to craft IEDs however they have destroyed several lightly-armored MRAPs anyways, simply through a fusillade of rifle fire and molotov cocktails. Viv Ansanm and 400 Mawozo both have small civilian drones, some body armor, and civilian tactical radios. During May 2025 Viv Ansanm shot down the National Police’s helicopter. The heaviest caliber firearm thusfar recovered by the Haitian army was a modern .50BMG M82A1 anti-materiel rifle; its origin unknown.
For the reconstituted army, protection of remaining government-held infrastructure is a key mission. There are no longer any “front lines” to speak of, and at various times institutions of nationhood have come under direct attack.
(A Haitian soldier with M1 Garand defending the residence of then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry during July 2022. That same summer Haiti’s National Bank building came under direct assault and the Varreux national fuel terminal was blockaded by “Barbeque” Chérizier’s gang.) (Reuters photo)
Toussaint Louverture International Airport is in a precarious position. During February 2024 the army and National Police fought a sustained defense of the airport.
(During 2026 these derelict WWII C-46 Commandos were still abandoned at the airport. They had been bought from American surplus by Air Haiti, the national airline which went bankrupt in 1991.) (image via CNN)
Neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince surrounding the airport are largely controlled by gangs, in the case of one Viv Ansanm-controlled neighborhood, now almost right up to the security fence. The Haitian army and National Police have bulldozed buildings around the northern fence to eliminate some possible sniper positions. None the less, during November 2024 a Spirit Airlines flight was hit by heavy gunfire while on final approach, injuring a flight attendant. The pilot did an emergency pullup and diverted to an airport in the Dominican Republic. Shortly thereafter a JetBlue flight was hit during takeoff and an American Airlines flight while landing. During 2025 the FAA banned USA-origin commercial flights from landing or even flying lower than 10,000′ in Haitian airspace, with the exception of a smaller airport at Cap-Haïten in the far north. During 2026 the FAA announced that USA-origin passenger service is barred from Toussaint Louverture until 2 March 2027 at the soonest – so while the government still holds the airport (as of November 2026) it is of limited utility.
postscript
(Soldiers with M1 Garands during 2022.) (photo by Odelyn Joseph)
During 2025 Haiti signed a 10-year contract with Vectus Global, a PMC headed by Erik Prince, formerly of the PMC Blackwater (of Iraq War fame). Why this matters is that hiring a PMC is obviously very expensive, and when the reconstituted army reaches 3,000 members in 2027 (assuming it does), the government might plateau it at that level to preserve funds for paying Vectus. Vectus has at least one radar-equipped helicopter in battle in Haiti as of November 2026 and has made liberal use of tiny quadcopter-type “kamikaze-drones” against gang hideouts and cars.
Haiti’s parliament has not functioned since January 2023. From April 2024 onwards, the office of the presidency was covered by a rotating council which ceased functioning during February 2026. Thereafter both the head-of-state and head-of-government roles are filled by the unelected Acting Prime Minister, as of November 2026 the businessman Alex Didier Fims-Aimé who accepted the job in early 2026. It is unclear how elections could possibly be held to reestablish a government given the current situation.
(Haitian soldiers with WWII M1 Garands at Base Vertiéres during 2026.)
During the 1990s Somalia was described as a “failed state” in the present tense, as in that while a flag and borders still existed, it no longer possessed any of the qualities of a functional polity. During the mid-2020s Haiti was also being described as a failed state, but now sometimes in the past tense, in that it might already be beyond the point of no return.
(LtGen. Derby Guerrier is the current commander. He served from 1976 – 1994 in the old army and since 2017 in the new one.)
During 2026 President Trump authorized $5,000,000 in aid for Haiti. Current highest-priority items are armored vehicles and small drones, so the M1 Garands are likely to remain in use for some time.
(Haitian soldiers with M1 Garands during 2026. The vehicles in the background belong to the GSF (Gang Suppression Force), an internationally-funded effort which draws manpower from both the police and military.)