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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
Figure 14. Administrative and Operational Structure of the
Army, 1993
Source: Based on information from Daniel Prieto Vial,
Defensa Chile, 2000, Santiago, 1990, 114.
The Chilean Army has long enjoyed a reputation as a
creditable
military force. Although it had not fought a war against a
foreign
enemy since the War of the Pacific, the army is still well
regarded
by armed forces throughout Latin America. However, it has
been the
most backward of the three services, having fallen behind
the navy
and FACh in the modernization process. Nevertheless, in
1993-94 the
army was undertaking modernization measures, including the
replacement of its old armored vehicles with French AMX-30
or
German Leopard-1 tanks.
The army divides the country into seven military areas
(AMs)
headquartered in Antofagasta, Santiago, Concepción,
Valdivia, Punta
Arenas, Iquique, and Coihaique. AM 1 (Antofagasta)
embraces the
province of Antofagasta and Atacama Region. AM 2
(Santiago)
includes the capital and the provinces of San Felipe de
Aconcagua,
Colchagua, and Valparaíso, as well as Libertador General
Bernardo
O'Higgins Region and Coquimbo Region. AM 3 (Concepción)
encompasses
the provinces of Bío-Bío, Concepción, Curicó, Linares,
Malleco,
Ñuble, and Talca, as well as Maule Region. AM 4 (Valdivia)
contains
the provinces of Cautín, Llanquihue, and Valdivia. AM 5
(Punta
Arenas) shares its borders with Magallanes Province. AM 6
(Iquique)
consists of Tarapacá Region. AM 7 (Coihaique) encompasses
the
provinces of Aisén and Chiloé.
In 1993 the army totaled about 54,000 personnel,
including
27,000 conscripts. It is organized into seven
divisions--one for
each of the seven AMs
(see
fig. 14). Five of the divisions
are
grouped under two army corps headquarters. The First
Corps, based
in Iquique, comprises the First Division and the Sixth
Division.
The Second Corps, headquartered in Punta Arenas, controls
the
Fourth Division, the Fifth Division and the Seventh
Division. In
the early 1990s, it appeared that the Second Division and
the Third
Division might ultimately be grouped under a third corps
headquarters in keeping with the strategic doctrine
developed
during the 1970s, which envisaged the formation of the
army into
three divisions of varying sizes in time of war.
The composition of the divisions has varied
considerably. The
Second Division and the Third Division have between two
and three
times the strength of the other five. Each division
essentially
incorporates an artillery regiment and a regiment or
battalion each
of engineers, signals, and logistic troops, plus a
variable number
of infantry and mechanized cavalry units.
The First Division, headquartered in Antofagasta,
includes a
commando battalion and adds three motorized infantry
regiments and
one armored cavalry regiment, plus an antitank
guided-weapon (ATGW)
company to the basic elements. The Second Division, based
in
Santiago, adds three motorized regiments and five mountain
infantry
regiments, an armored cavalry regiment, and a motorcycle
reconnaissance group to its basic support units. The Third
Division, headquartered in Concepción, includes two
infantry
regiments, three mountain regiments, and two armored
cavalry
regiments. The Fourth Division, based in Valdivia,
includes a
commando battalion and adds two infantry regiments, one
mountain
regiment, and two armored cavalry regiments, plus a tank
battalion
to its basic support units. The Fifth Division,
headquartered in
Punta Arenas, also includes a commando battalion, plus two
infantry
regiments, two armored cavalry regiments, and an antitank
battalion. The Sixth Division, based in Iquique, has a
full
commando regiment, plus two infantry regiments, one
mountain
regiment, and two armored cavalry regiments. The Seventh
Division,
based in Coihaique, was raised from brigade status in 1990
and
comprises an infantry regiment, a reinforced mountain
infantry
regiment, a commando company, a horsed cavalry group, a
motorcycle
reconnaissance squadron, an artillery regiment, an
aviation
section, an engineer company, and a logistics battalion.
It was
scheduled to acquire a tank battalion from the Fourth
Division.
Army troops include an army headquarters battalion, an
aviation
regiment, engineer and signals regiments, and a transport
battalion. Each infantry regiment contains one to four
battalions.
Eight of the battalions are designated as reinforced
(reforzado) because they have additional attached
combat and
logistic support elements to enable them to function as
semiindependent combat teams.
The difficulty in acquiring matériel during the period
of
international ostracism that followed the 1973 coup
resulted in an
extremely varied equipment inventory likely to cause
considerable
logistics problems (see
table 43, Appendix). In 1993 the
army's
aviation regiment, created in 1970, operated 111 aircraft.
Each
major army unit had a close defense antiaircraft artillery
section.
Data as of March 1994
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