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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
Figure 16. Administrative and Operational Structure of the
Air Force, 1993
Source: Based on information from Daniel Prieto Vial,
Defensa Chile, 2000, Santiago, 1990, 249.
The world's fourth oldest independent military air arm
in
existence, the Chilean Air Force (Fuerza Aérea de
Chile--FACh)
predated its United States counterpart by seventeen years
and
became the most United States-oriented of the three
Chilean Armed
Forces. With a total strength of 12,800 personnel and 120
combat
aircraft, the FACh is organized into the Combat Command,
the
Personnel Command, and the Logistical Command. FACh
aircraft are
deployed among four air brigades with a total of five
wings
(alas) and twelve groups (grupos de
aviación) or
squadrons. The Combat Command controls all combat units
(see
fig. 16). In early 1994, the FACh began studying the
replacement of its
fleet of thirty-two Hawker Hunter aircraft, of which only
ten were
operational (see
table 45, Appendix).
The Air Brigade (Brigada Aérea) is the main operational
formation. Each wing, an administrative unit generally
concentrated
at a single base wing (ala base), includes an
Antiaircraft
Artillery Group (Grupo de Artillería Antiaérea--GAA). An
antiaircraft artillery regiment in La Colina serves
primarily as an
administrative headquarters and training school for the
five
dispersed antiaircraft artillery groups. The First Wing
(Ala 1) and
Fourth Wing (Ala 4) each also include an Electronics
Communications
Group (Grupo de Comunicaciones Electrónicas--GCE).
The First Air Brigade, headquartered at the Los
Cóndores Air
Base, Iquique, covers northern Chile from the Peruvian
border to
the Río Huasco in southern Atacama Region. It controls
both the
First Wing--based in Cerro Moreno, Antofagasta, and
comprising the
Seventh Group (Grupo 7) and Eighth Group (Grupo 8)--and
the Fourth
Wing, in Los Cóndores, which consists solely of the First
Group
(Grupo 1). The First Wing includes the Cerro Moreno
Liaison
Squadron (Escuadrilla de Enlace Cerro Moreno) and GCE 31.
The
Seventh Group and the Eighth Group are located at Cerro
Moreno. The
Eighth Group includes inventory that formerly equipped the
nowdefunct Ninth Group (Grupo 9). The Fourth Wing includes
the Los
Cóndores Liaison Squadron (Escuadrilla de Enlace Los
Cóndores), GAA
24, and GCE 34. The First Group in Los Cóndores serves as
a
combined light-strike and combat-training unit. In early
1992, the
First Group began replacing its Cessna A-37B Dragonflies
with a mix
of Enaer/CASA T-36 Halcón trainers, locally built in a
joint
venture between Spain's Aeronautic Constructions, S.A.
(Construciones Aeronáuticas, S.A.--CASA) and Chile's
National
Aeronautical Enterprise (Empresa Nacional de
Aeronáutica--Enaer),
and A-36 light-strike aircraft.
The Second Air Brigade, based in Los Cerrillos,
Santiago,
covers the region southward from the Río Huasco to the Río
Bío-Bío
and consists of the Second Wing (Ala 2), which combines
the Second
Group (Grupo 2) with the existing Tenth Group (Grupo 10)
and
Eleventh Group (Grupo 11). The Second Wing includes GAA 31
and GCE
32. The Second Group in Los Cerrillos is a special unit
operating
Canberra PR-9s in the Reconnaissance Squadron (Escuadrilla
de
Reconocimiento) and Beech 99As in the Electronic War
Squadron
(Escuadrilla de Guerra Electrónica). The Tenth Group,
based at
Pudahuel Airport, Santiago, is the FACh's main transport
unit. The
Eleventh Group, in Los Cerrillos, is primarily a refresher
training
unit for flying personnel previously assigned to nonflying
duties.
The Second Group's inventory includes the two Gates
Learjet 35As of
the Aerial Photogrammetric Service (Servicio Aéreo de
Fotogrametría--SAF) that are based at Los Cerrillos. The
Eleventh
Group controls both the Piper PA-28-326 Dakotas of the
FACh
Specialists' School and the Extra-300s of the "Los
Halcones" (The
Falcons) aerobatics team.
The Third Air Brigade, headquartered at El Tepual
Military Air
Base, Puerto Montt, covers the region between the Río
Bío-Bío and
Cerro San Valentín in southern Aisén Province. It consists
of the
Fifth Wing (Ala 5) at Puerto Montt, which in turn consists
of the
recently reactivated Third Group (Grupo 3), a light-strike
unit
based at Temuco, and the Fifth Group (Grupo 5), a
light-transport
unit based in Puerto Montt. The Fifth Wing also includes
GAA 25 and
GCE 35.
The Fourth Air Brigade, based at the Carlos Ibáñez
Military Air
Base, Punta Arenas, covers the region southward from Cerro
San
Valentín to Cape Horn. It consists of the Third Wing (Ala
3), which
is made up of the Fourth Group, the Sixth Group, and the
Twelfth
Group, all based at Punta Arenas. The Sixth Group (Grupo
6) is a
special operations unit. This brigade also controls the
Nineteenth
Antarctic Exploration Group, based at Lieutenant Marsh
Military Air
Base on King George Island in the Chilean Antarctic
Territory. The
Third Wing, at Chabunco, includes GAA 23 and GCE 33.
Data as of March 1994
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