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The Argentine Army (''Ejército Argentino'', EA) is the Land Armed Force branch of the Argentine Military and the senior military service of the country. HISTORY The Army's official foundation date is May 29th, 1810 (celebrated in Argentina as the ''Army Day''), four days after the Spanish colonial administration in Buenos Aires was overthrown. The new national army was formed out of several pre-existent colonial militia units and locally-manned regiments (most notoriously the Patricios Regiment, which to this date is still an active Army unit). These units had previously fought the British Invasions Of The Río De La Plata in 1806 and 1807. Independence and civil wars Several armed expeditions were sent to the Upper Peru (now Bolivia ), Paraguay , Uruguay and Chile to fight Spanish forces and secure Argentina's newly-gained Independence . The most famous of these expeditions was the one led by General José De San Martín , who led a 5000-man army across the Andes Mountains to expel the Spaniards from Chile and later from Perú. While the other expeditions failed in their goal of bringing all the dependencies of the former Viceroyalty Of The Río De La Plata under the new government in Buenos Aires, they prevented the Spaniards from crushing the rebellion. During the civil wars of the first half of the 19th Century the Argentine Army became fractionalized under the leadership of the so-called '' Caudillos '' ("leaders" or "warlords"), provincial leaders who waged a war against the centralist Buenos Aires administration. However, the Army was briefly re-unified during the war with the Brazilian Empire . (1824-1827). It was only with the establishment of a Constitution (which explicitly forbade the provinces from maintaining military forces of their own) and a national government recognized by all the provinces that the Army became a single force, absorbing the older provincial militias. The Army went on to fight the and root out the natives, who conducted looting raids throughout the country. 1880-1960s Between 1880 and 1930 the Army sought to become a professional force without active involvement in politics, even though many a political figure -President Julio Argentino Roca , for example- benefitted from a past military career. The Army prevented the fall of the government in a number of Radical -led uprisings. Meanwhile, the military in general and the Army in particular contributed to develop Argentina's unsettled southern frontier and its incipient industrial complex. ]] In 1930, a small group of Army forces (not more than 600 troops) deposed President . Even though Perón had the support of the military during his two consecutive terms of office (1946-1952 and 1952-1955), his increasingly repressive government alienated many officers, which finally led to a military uprising which overthrew him in September of 1955. Between 1955 and 1973 the Army and the rest of the military became vigilant over the possible re-emergence of Peronism in the political arena, which led to two new coups against elected Presidents in 1962 (deposing Arturo Frondizi ) and 1966 (ousting Arturo Illia ). It should be noted that political infighting eroded discipline and cohesion within the army, to the extent that there was armed fighting between contending military units during the early 1960s. 1960s and the military junta The military government which ruled Argentina between 1966 and 1973 saw the growing activities of groups such as Montoneros and the ERP , and also a very important Social Movement . During Héctor Cámpora 's first months of government, a rather moderate and left-wing Peronist, approximatively 600 social conflicts, strikes and Factory Occupations had taken place. Hugo Moreno, ''Le désastre argentin. Péronisme, politique et violence sociale (1930-2001)'', Editions Syllepses , Paris, 2005, p.109 . Following the June 20, 1973 Ezeiza Massacre , left and right-wing Peronism broke apart, while the Triple A death squad, organized by José Lopez Rega , closest advisor to María Estela Martínez De Perón , started a campaign of assassinations against left-wing opponents. But Isabel Perón herself was ousted during the March 1976 Coup by a military ''junta''. The new military government, self-named Proceso De Reorganización Nacional , put a stop to the guerrilla's campaigns, but soon it became known that extremely violent methods and severe violations of human rights had taken place, in what the dictatorship called a " Dirty War " — a term refused by jurists during the 1985 Trial Of The Juntas . '' Batallón De Inteligencia 601 '' became infamous during this period. This special unit also participated in the training of Nicaraguan Contras with US assistance, among whom John Negroponte This, coupled with the defeat in the Falklands War ( Spanish : ''Guerra de las Malvinas'' ), led the military to relinquish power to a civilian government in 1983. French cooperation French journalist 's ''Escadrons de la mort, l'école française'' . Green deputies When Minister of Foreign Affairs '', February 5, 2003 Modern times Since the return to civilian rule in 1983 , the Argentine military have been reduced both in number and budget and, by law, cannot intervene anymore in internal civil conflicts. They became more professional, especially after Conscription was abolished. In 1998 Argentina was granted Major Non-NATO Ally status by the United States. The modern Argentine Army is fully committed to international Peacekeeping under United Nations mandates, humanitarian aid and emergencies relief. COMMAND ORGANIZATION Under the Argentine Constitution , the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, exercising his command authority through the Minister of Defense. The Army is headed by a Chief of the General Staff directly appointed and removed by the President. The General Staff of the Army (''Estado Mayor General del Ejército'') includes the Chief of Staff, a Deputy Chief of the General Staff and the heads of the General Staff's six departments (''Jefaturas''). The current departments of the General Staff (known also by their Roman numerals) are:
The General Staff also includes the General Inspectorate and the General Secretariat. There are also a number of Commands and Directorates responsible for development and implementation of policies within the Army regarding technological and operational areas and handle administrative affairs. As of 2005 these include the following:
The current Chief of the General Staff (since May 2003) is Lieutenant General Roberto Bendini. STRUCTURE See Also: Structure of the Argentine Army See Also: List of Argentine Army Regiments The Army is structured into three corps, to which are attached varying numbers of Brigades of armor, mechanized forces and infantry. Each brigade is in turn composed of several Regiments of each combat arm, plus several company-sized support units. Each regiment or artillery group is actually more of a reinforced battalion, and the regimental designator is a legacy of the Argentine War Of Independence , during which the Argentine Army fielded traditional regiment-sized units. A major problem of today's Army is that most of its combat units are understrength in manpower due to budgetary limitations; the current Table of Organization and Equipment being established at a time during which the Army could rely on larger budgets and conscripted troops. Current plans call for expansion of combat units until all combat units are again full-strength, as soon as budget constraints allow for the induction of new volunteers. RANKS Insignia for all ranks except Volunteers is worn on shoulder boards. Ranks from Senior Colonel onwards use red-trimmed shoulderboards and the suns denoting rank are gold-braid; the suns on other officers' shoulder boards are metallic. Senior Colonels and Generals also have golden wreath leaves on their coat lapels. The rank insignia for Volunteers 1st Class, 2nd Class and Brevet 2nd Class is worn on the sleeves. Collar versions of the ranks are used in combat uniforms. Officers
Non-commissioned Officers and Enlisted Men EQUIPMENT The following are estimated totals for the weapon systems of the Argentine Army in service as of 2006: Total Vehicles : 5860 vehicles (aprox.) Fighting Vehicles
Support Vehicles
Artillery
Aircraft SEE ALSO
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