In Pinar del Río, the province most vulnerable, the government deploys large brigades to prepare for disaster.
"Large brigades in Idlib, Aleppo, Derra, Qalamoun and south Damascus have pledged loyalty to Isis in secret.
Split off into small groups or large brigades, they tour the country and perform songs in mass patterns somewhat resembling cheerleading formations, but with disconcerting expressions of longing.
It said that "the brigades that signed the statement do not represent the most important Free Syrian Army brigades on the ground; there are large brigades that did not sign the statement".
While some of them are trained to work with only a few other chefs around them, others usually work within large brigades of up to 15 persons.
They have managed to restore power to thousands of homes through large brigades.
The rebel movement is fragmented partly because pervasive army roadblocks and other nationwide controls have made it hard to form large brigades under a unified command.
Enveloping the left flank of the 19th Indiana, Pettigrew's North Carolinians, the largest brigade in the army, drove back the Iron Brigade in some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
During his time in Syria throughout much of 2012, videographer Robert KIng followed Aleppo's Al-Tawhid Brigade as he dodged bullets and rocket fire to learn more about the largest brigade of the Free Syrian Army.
When the roughly 3,000 soldiers from the Third Brigade, First Cavalry Division, go home by January, officials said, a larger brigade based closer to Baghdad will assume control of the area, in addition to its current responsibilities.
