| Chilean Army | |
|---|---|
 Always Victorious and Undefeated |
|
| Strength | 45,000 (of which 12,700 conscripted) |
| Military expenditures | |
| Dollar figure | $9.7 billion (2008 est.) |
| Percent of GDP | 4% (2008 est.) |
| See also | Military of Chile |
The Chilean Army (Spanish: Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army (12,700 of which are conscripts)[1] is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade.
In recent years and after several major reequipment programs, the Chilean Army has become one of the most technologically advanced and professional armies of the Americas.[2][3]
The Chilean Army is mostly supported by equipment from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States, Israel, France and Spain.
Contents |
Creation and role in Chilean independence movement
The Army of the Kingdom of Chile was created on December, 2 of 1810 by order of the First National Meeting of Government of Chile.[4] The army participated actively in the independence war, which, was fought against royalist troops in battles such as Yerbas Buenas, San Carlos, Quechereguas, Rancagua, Chacabuco and Maipú. During this period national figueres such as José Miguel Carrera, Bernardo O'Higgins and Argentinian General. José de San Martín commanded the army toward definitive victory over the Spanish forces ultimately achieving independence for the country. The Army’s first commander-in-Chief was José Miguel Carrera.
After obtaining independence from Spain, the newly formed Republic tried to reorganize its military structure by inaugurating the War Military academy of Chile, which was founded by General O'Higgins in 1817.
Peacekeeping
- UNIFIL withdrew in the early 90's
- MINUSTAH United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Haiti.
- UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, embedded in the Argentine Battalion [1]
Structure
Order Of Battle
Army Ground Operations Command, headquartered in Concepcion, the base garrison of the Chacabuco Regiment
- I Army Division. Regions II and III, with headquarters in Antofagasta. It is composed of 3 regiments and 1 logistics battalion.
- II Army Division. Regions IV, V, VI, VII and Santiago Metropolitan Region with headquarters in Santiago de Chile. This is the largest of the six Army Divisions, serving five regions and is where the Army Headquarters is located alongside some of the military academies that the Army operates in the Santiago Metropolitan Region and nearby Valparaiso Province. In addition, 6 regiments are assigned here, together with the Army Gen. Garrison Command in Santiago, composed of 3 regiments each.
- III Army Division. Serving Regions VIII, IX, XIV, and X with headquarters in Valdivia, composed of 9 regiments, 1 logistics battalion and 3 independent companies.
- IV Army Division. Region XI with headquarters in Coyhaique. This division consists of 3 regiments, a Logistics company, independent squad and an air platoon.
- V Army Division. Serving Region XII with headquarters in Punta Arenas, the division assigned to protect the Chilean Antarctic and the world's southernmost city consists of 5 regiments, a logistics battalion, special forces company and an air platoon.
- VI Army Division. Serving Regions I and XV, with headquarters in Iquique. Three regiments make up this division, as well as 2 armored brigades (formerly the 24th Reinforced Regt."Lautaro" from 2002-2006), and a logistics battalion.
- Army Aviation Brigade. with headquarters in Rancagua. (Brigada de Aviación del Ejército) It is the Army's aviation forces, composed of 4 battalions and a logistics company.
- Special Operations Brigade "Lautaro". with headquarters in Peldehue (Brigada de Operaciones Especiales "Lautaro")It is the Army's special forces brigade, named after one of Chile's national heroes.
Army Institution and Doctrine Command (Commando Instituto y Doctrina)
- Army Schools Division (Division Escuelas)
- Army Education Division (Division de Educacion)
- Army Doctrine Division
Army Force Services Command (Commando Apoyo de la Fuerza)
- Army Logistics Division. with headquarters in Santiago (División Logística del Ejército)
- Army Engineering Command
- Army Communications Command
- Army Infrastructure Command
- Army Military Engineering and Industry Command
Army Independent Commands
- Army General Garrison Command in Santiago, serving the Santiago Metropolitan Region, reports directly to Army Headquarters
- Army Medical Command in Santiago
- Army Administration Command
Army General Staff Office (Estado Mayor General del Ejercito)
- Chilean Military Mission to Washington
- Directorate of Intelligence
- Directorate of Operations
- Finance Directorate
- Logistics Directorate
Military Equipment
The Chilean Army has acquired in the last few years Leopard 1V tanks,'s from the Netherlands Army (via RDM), M113 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from USA and Italy, M-109´s SPH from Switzerland and AIFV-B APCs from the Belgian Army (via SABIEX). The Army have new Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks (MBTs) from the German Army to boost defence capabilities. Also 200 Humvees. Their goal is to have a completely modernized (and mostly mechanized) army by 2015. They are also modifiying the operational structure, creating Armoured (and 1 Special Operations) Brigades throughout the entire territory, while conserving the current divisional scheme. Further acquisitions of more M-109's self propelled howitzers. In all, the Chilean army has about 202 Leopard 1's, 427 M113's, 139 AIFV's and 140 Leopard 2's and 139 from Germany. They also have around 270 of Cardoen and FAMAE Piranhas (Mowag Piranha) LAV's. Their main assault rifles are currently the SIG SG 510-4, SIG-FAMAE 542-1 all in .308 caliber and still in service. A small number of licenced built SG-540 and the SG-543 in caliber .223 are in use.
Statistics
| Chilean army Statistics | |
| Personnel (Regular Army) | 45,000 |
| Main Battle Tanks | 140 Leopard 2A4, 202 Leopard 1 |
| Reconnaissance vehicles | 200+ HMMWV |
| Infantry Fighting vehicle | 139 YPR-765, 200 Marder1A3 (on order), 169 AIFV |
| Armoured Personnel Carriers | 427M-113A2 + several other configurations, 230 MOWAG-CARDOEN Piranha 6x6 and 25 MOWAG-FAMAE Piranha 8x8 |
| Artillery pieces and mortar | 48 M109 howitzer KAWEST/A3/05, 12 AMX-13 MK F-3, Soltam M-68, M101 howitzer, 8 LAR-160. |
Small Arms PISTOLS
- CZ-75 Semi-automatic pistol (Main Pistol of the army)
RIFLES
- SIG SG 510-4 manufactured by SIG and Beretta - Reserve, training and designated marksman rifle
- SIG SG 542-1 manufactured in Chile by FAMAE - main assault rifle
- SIG-FAMAE SG 540 and 543 manufactured in Chile by FAMAE
- M82 Barrett rifle (A1 version) - high-powered sniper rifle
- SIG-Sauer SSG 3000 - sniper rifle
- FAMAE FD-200 - sniper rifle
- Heckler & Koch G3 - Mountain troops, artillery crews, being replaced.
- IMI Galil used by the Special Forces.
- M-16 Rifle used by the Special Forces.
- M4 Carbine - Special Forces.
- Steyr AUG- Limited Use Only - Special forces.
OTHER GUNS
- HK21 - machinegun issued to mountain troops
- Rheinmetall MG3 and Mg42/58 (MG1) - standard machine gun
- M2 Browning machine gun
- FN Minimi - standard light machine gun
- FAMAE SAF - standard submachine gun
GRENADE LAUNCHERS
- Mk 19 grenade launcher
- Milkor MGL grenade launcher
- M203 grenade launcher
Air defense
- Mistral missile launchers
- Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon
- 30 Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard (being delivered)
Anti tanks systems
- M40 recoilless rifle 106 mm Recoilless Gun mounted on IMI Storm jeeps. (Reserve)
- IMI MAPATS (replaced by the Spike ATGM)
- Rafael Spike ATGM
Man portable systems:
- AT4 Anti-tank weapon (Infantry Squad AT weapon)
- Carl Gustav recoilless rifle M-3 Anti-tank weapon
- Armbrust (Infantry Squad AT weapon In Reserve )
- M72 LAW (Infantry Squad AT weapon In Reserve)
Transport
Land transport assets:
- 160/180 4x4 Land Rover Defender
- 200+ HMMWV (Some will replace the "AT role" Storm Jeeps. The rest for Recon units).
- 150 IMI Storm.
- 120 MB-1017A truck (ex-Bundeswehr).
- 120 4x4 Unimog truck.
Aircraft inventory
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[5] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aérospatiale Lama |  France |
search and rescue | SA 315B | 1 | Last remaining example, many sold to civilian market. |
| Aérospatiale Puma | France |
transport helicopter | SA 330L | 4 | 3 were sent to Haiti under UN peacekeeping mission; already returned to Chile. Originally 15 units in total, 4 have been retired, some put up for sale. |
| CASA C-212 Aviocar |  Spain |
tactical transport | C-212-100 C-212-300 |
4 2 |
Some additional units were lost in accidents. |
| CASA CN-235 | Spain |
tactical transport | 3+1 | One unit crashed in one chilean base in the Antartica and was replaced | |
| Cessna 172 |  United States |
utility | 3 | ||
| Cessna 208 | United States |
utility | 8 | ||
| Cessna Citation | United States |
VIP transport | Citation II Citation III |
1 1 |
|
| Eurocopter Super Puma | France |
transport helicopter | AS 332B AS 332M2 |
1 1 |
8 new Cougar AS532 machines purchased to Eurocopter, to arrive between 2009 and 2010. |
| Eurocopter Ecureuil | France |
utility helicopter | AS 350 AS 355 |
3 1 |
Slated to replace Lama and then MD 530, probably a total of 18-24 machines, to be equipped with anti-tank missiles (Spiker-ER) |
| MD Helicopters MD 530 | United States |
utility helicopter | MD 530F | 13 | 19 put in service. 2 lost in accidents, the rest sold in civilian market. |
Future Procurements
Nov 12/09: The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces Chile’s official request to buy:
36 Avenger systems An unspecified number of S250 Shelters that mount on High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) 36 AN/VRC-92E Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS) 378 FIM-92 Stinger Reprogrammable Micro-Processor (RMP) Block 1 Anti-Aircraft missiles 42 Captive Flight Trainers (CFTs) with seekers but no motors 12 STINGER Block 1 “Buy-to-Fly” missiles for testing and training purposes Plus the required spare and repair parts, tool and test equipment, support equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, and other related elements of support. The estimated cost is $455 million.
Commanders-in-chief
| Picture | Rank | Name | Entered Office | Exited Office | Position |
 |
Brigadier | José Miguel Carrera Verdugo | March 31, 1813 | November 23, 1813 | Army Commander-in-chief |
| Colonel | Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme | November 27, 1813 | September 2, 1814 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
|
Brigadier | José Miguel Carrera Verdugo | August 28, 1814 | October 2, 1814 | Army Commander-in-chief |
| Captain General | Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme | April 17, 1819 | January 28, 1823 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Captain General | Ramón Freire Serrano | February 21, 1823 | April 2, 1830 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | José Joaquín Prieto Vial | April 2, 1830 | September 18, 1841 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Manuel Bulnes Prieto | September 18, 1841 | October 18, 1866 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Marcos Maturana del Campo | October 18, 1866 | December 21, 1870 | Senior General Officer | |
| Divisional General | Juan Manuel Jarpa Caamaño | August 8, 1871 | December 31, 1875 | Senior General Officer | |
| Divisional General | Basilio Urrutia Vásquez | August 8, 1871 | April 7, 1879 | Senior General Officer | |
| Divisional General | Justo Arteaga Cuevas | April 8, 1879 | July 18, 1879 | Field Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Erasmo Escala Arriagada | July 18, 1879 | March 28, 1880 | Field Commander-in-chief | |
 |
Divisional General | Manuel Baquedano González | April 3, 1880 | May 3, 1881 | Field Commander-in-chief |
 |
Divisional General | Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez | May 3, 1881 | December 19, 1883 | Inspector General |
| Divisional General | Emilio Sotomayor Baeza | January 4, 1884 | August 22, 1888 | Inspector General | |
| Divisional General | José Francisco Gana Castro | August 22, 1888 | September 4, 1891 | Field Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Marco Aurelio Arriagada | September 14, 1891 | August 28, 1894 | Inspector General | |
 |
Divisional General | Adolfo Holley Urzúa | August 28, 1894 | October 13, 1900 | Inspector General |
| Divisional General | Emilio Körner Henze | October 13, 1900 | April 19, 1910 | Inspector General | |
 |
Division General | Jorge Boonen Rivera | April 19, 1910 | April 26, 1921 | Inspector General |
 |
Divisional General | Arístides Pinto Concha | April 26, 1921 | February 13, 1922 | Inspector General |
 |
Divisional General | Luis Altamirano Talavera | February 13, 1922 | November 28, 1924 | Inspector General |
| Divisional General | Pedro Pablo Dartnell Encina | November 28, 1924 | January 23, 1925 | Inspector General | |
| Divisional General | Mariano Navarrete Ciris | January 31, 1925 | November 10, 1925 | Inspector General | |
| Divisional General | Juan Emilio Ortiz Vega | November 11, 1925 | January 7, 1927 | Inspector General | |
| Divisional General | Francisco Javier Diaz Valderrama | February 18, 1927 | March 20, 1930 | Inspector General | |
 |
Divisional General | Pedro Charpin Rival | March 21, 1930 | November 7, 1930 | Inspector General |
| Divisional General | Bartolomé Blanche Espejo | November 7, 1930 | August 4, 1931 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
|
Divisional General | Pedro Charpin Rival | August 5, 1931 | August 22, 1931 | Army Commander-in-chief |
| Divisional General | Indalicio Téllez Cárcamo | August 25, 1931 | June 11, 1932 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Agustín Moreno Ladrón de Guevara | June 15, 1932 | August 2, 1932 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Luis Otero Mujica | August 3, 1932 | December 26, 1932 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Pedro Vignola Cortés | December 26, 1932 | December 21, 1933 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Marcial Urrutia Urrutia | December 23, 1933 | March 27, 1934 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Oscar Novoa Fuentes | March 27, 1934 | December 20, 1938 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Carlos Fuentes Rabe | December 26, 1938 | August 23, 1940 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
 |
Division General | Oscar Escudero Otárola | August 23, 1940 | March 8, 1943 | Army Commander-in-chief |
| Division General | Arturo Espinoza Mujica | August 12, 1943 | October 11, 1944 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Alfredo Portales Mourgues | November 8, 1943 | November 12, 1945 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Oscar Fuentes Pantoja | November 12, 1945 | November 29, 1946 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Guillermo Barrios Tirado | November 29, 1946 | August 2, 1947 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Ramón Cañas Montalva | August 2, 1947 | October 8, 1949 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
 |
Division General | Guillermo Barrios Tirado | October 8, 1949 | January 9, 1950 | Army Commander-in-chief |
| Division General | Rafael Fernández Reyes | January 9, 1950 | October 28, 1952 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Santiago Danús Peña | November 3, 1952 | March 11, 1953 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Carlos Mezzano Camino | March 11, 1953 | June 10, 1954 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Division General | Enrique Franco Hidalgo | June 11, 1954 | March 17, 1955 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Raúl Araya Stiglich | March 17, 1955 | May 8, 1956 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Luis Vidal Vargas | May 8, 1956 | November 3, 1958 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | René Vidal Merino | November 3, 1958 | November 13, 1958 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Oscar Izurieta Molina | November 14, 1958 | November 3, 1964 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Bernardino Parada Moreno | November 4, 1964 | July 4, 1967 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Luis Miqueles Caridi | July 5, 1967 | May 3, 1968 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | Sergio Castillo Aránguiz | May 3, 1968 | October 24, 1969 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Divisional General | René Schneider Chereau | October 27, 1969 | October 22, 1970 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
 |
Division General | Carlos Prats González | October 26, 1970 | August 23, 1973 | Army Commander-in-chief |
| Captain General | Augusto Pinochet Ugarte | August 23, 1973 | March 10, 1998 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Lieutenant General | Ricardo Izurieta Caffarena | March 11, 1998 | March 10, 2002 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Lieutenant General | Juan Emilio Cheyre Espinosa | March 11, 2002 | March 10, 2006 | Army Commander-in-chief | |
| Army General | Oscar Izurieta Ferrer | March 11, 2006 | Present | Army Commander-in-chief |
References
External links
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Ejército de Chile (Army)  Armada de Chile (Navy)  Fuerza Aérea de Chile (Air Force) |
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