Salvadoran soldiers from the Atlacatl Battalion on the move during a military operation in pursuit of guerrillas in San Miguel department, El Salvador, August 1, 1983. Rapid reaction battalions were trained in counterinsurgency tactics to combat guerrilla warfare and were designed and funded by the United States military. Over the course of the civil war from 1980-1992, the United States sent more than $6 billion to the Salvadoran government in economic and military aid.