The Guardia also fielded a small armoured corps, organized since 1978 into a single mechanized company while platoon-sized units where attached to General Somoza Combat Battalion, the Presidential Guard, the engineer battalion, and the EEBI Infantry School. The inventory consisted mostly of World War II-vintage American vehicles acquired in the 1950s – ten ex-Philippine Army M4A3 E8 (76) and M4A3E8 (105) Sherman tanks, three to four M3A1 Stuart light tanks, and eighteen T17E1 M6 Staghound armoured cars of Israeli origin (some had their turrets removed and replaced by a 30. or 50. cal Browning HMG mount instead). In addition, two obsolete L3/33 tankettes acquired from Italy in the mid-1930s were reportedly held in reserve, but only one (nicknamed "La Mascota" by the Nicaraguans) was still kept in running conditions by 1979.