TheChilean Army (Spanish:Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of theChilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which areconscripts)[2] is organized into six divisions, aspecial operations brigade and an air brigade.
In recent years, and after several major re-equipment programs, the Chilean Army has become the most technologically advanced and professional army inLatin America.[4][5]
The Chilean Army is mostly supplied with equipment fromGermany, theNetherlands,Switzerland,Sweden, theUnited States,Israel,France, andSpain.
The National Army of Chile was created on December 2, 1810, by order of theFirst National Government Junta.[6] The army was actively involved in the second Independence War, which was fought againstroyalist troops in battles such asChacabuco andMaipú or others. During this period, national figures such asBernardo O'Higgins commanded the army and José de San Martín was allied with O'Higgins. The Army's first commander-in-chief was José Miguel Carrera.
After obtaining independence from Spain, the newly formed Republic reorganized its military structure by creating the Military Academy of Chile, which was founded by General O'Higgins in 1817.
Diego Portales set up a civil militia, the Guardia Nacional, to end one of the worst stages of militarism in Chilean history. The militia was created in 2005. Portales developed this parallel army to compensate the army's might.[7] The ChileanConscription Law of 1900 marked the beginning of the end of the Guardia Nacional.[8]
During the War of the Pacific, many high-ranking officers won valuable insights into the state of the army and became aware that the army required rebuilding. Losses, material destruction, and organizational flaws regarding strategic planning and officer training, were noted by officers likeEmilio Sotomayor andPatricio Lynch, who approached PresidentSanta María arguing the need of good schools and technical departments for the military. Other factor that supported the emulation, the deliberate systematic imitation of the military technology, organisation, and doctrine of one country by another[Notes 1] was the danger of war with Argentina. The emulation was backed by a broad coalition of civil and military leaders.
Chile hired a French military training mission in 1858,[9]: 129 and the Chilean legation inBerlin was instructed to find a training mission during the War of the Pacific in 1881. But large-scaleemulation of thePrussian Army began in 1886 with the appointment of CaptainEmil Körner, a graduate of the renownedKriegsakademie in Berlin. Also appointed were 36 Prussian officers to train officer cadets in the Chilean Military Academy. The training occurred in three phases; the first took place from 1885 to 1891 during the presidency of Domingo Santa María, the second was the post-civil-war phase, and the third was the 1906 reorganization.[9]: 128-
The emulation was focused in armaments, conscription, officer recruitment and instruction, and general staff organization as well as military doctrine (adopted 1906). It was extended also into military logistics and medical services, promotions, retirement, salary regulation and even uniforms (adopted 1904), marching styles, helmets, parades, and military music.
Armaments: Prior to 1883, the army was equipped with a variety of rifles, mostly French and Belgian origin. From 1892 to 1902, the Chilean-Argentine Arms Race, marked the peak of Chilean arms purchase. 100,000Mauser rifles and newKrupp artillery was bought for 3 millionGerman marks (ℳ︁) in 1893, 2 million marks in 1895 and 15 million marks in 1898. Ammunition factories and small arms manufacturing plants were established.[9]: 134
Conscription: Like other armies in South America, Chile had had a small army of long-term service officers and soldiers. In 1900 Chile became the first country in Latin America to enforce a system of compulsory military service, whereby training, initially five to eighteen months (Germany: three years), took place in zones of divisional organization in order to create a solid military structure that could be easily doubled with well-trained and combat-ready reserve forces. Budgetary restrictions prevented the full impact of the law: the service fell disproportionately on the lower classes, no more than 20% of the contingent was incorporated annually, and former conscripts were not retrained periodically.[9]: 137
Officer education and training: The beginning of the German mission was dedicated almost exclusively to the organization and implementation of a standardized, technically oriented military education with the essence ofMoltke's German military system of continuous study of artillery, infantry, cartography, history, topography, logistics, tactics, etc., for a modern, professional and technically trained officer corps. In 1886, the "Academia de Guerra" (War Academy) was founded"to elevate the level of technical and scientific instruction of army officers, in order that they be able, in case of war, to utilize the advantages of new methods of combat and new armaments." The best alumni were candidates for general staff service. By the mid-1890s Körner organized the courses for a Noncommissioned Officers' School (Escuela de Suboficiales y Clases).[9]: 139
During the1891 Chilean Civil War Körner was removed from duty byJosé Manuel Balmaceda. He and his followers set sail north to join the Congressional forces inIquique. He became chief architect of the new army and, thoughEstanislao del Canto formally was commander-in-chief, Körner led the rebel forces in the major clashes of the civil war.[9]: 145
Chile had had aGeneral Staff during the War of the Pacific.[10] Körner turned his attention to a permanent institution in 1893-94 that should replace the old "Inspector General del Ejército", but with control over military affairs in peacetime and wartime. It had four sections: Instruction and Discipline, Military Schools, Scientific Works (strategic and operational planning), and Administration.[9]: 147-
TheGuardia Republicana orMilicia Republicana was created after the fall of theSocialist Republic of Chile in order to prevent anothercoup d'etat. On May 7, 1933, 20,000 militiamen marched past PresidentArturo Alessandri in the streets of Santiago. In theLas Mercedes' plot in 1933, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Pedro Vignola, called "to resist the Milicia Republicana by any means"; he was forced to resign from his post.[11] In 1936, the militia was disbanded.[11][12]
During the decades preceding the 1973 coup, the Chilean Army became influenced by the United States'anti-communistideology in the context of various cooperation programs including theUS Army School of the Americas.[13]
On 11 September 1973, in a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile, presidentSalvador Allende was overthrown in a coup d'état by the Armed Forces. Paul W. Drake and Ivan Jaksic state inThe Struggle for Democracy in Chile:
The Army, with now Captain General Augusto Pinochet, leader of the coup, as commander-in-chief of both the Army and the Armed Forces, led the national mobilization effort in 1978 as theBeagle conflict began to hit the country. The Army was on full alert status during the duration of the crisis.
Patricio Aylwinwas elected President of the Republic on December 14, 1989. Although Chile had officially become a democracy, the Chilean military continued to be very powerful during Aylwin's presidency, and theChilean constitution had been amended by Pinochet's regime to ensure the continued influence of Pinochet and his commanders.
As a result of tensions with neighbors during the conflict-prone 1970s and early 1980s, the Chilean Army refined existing strategic concepts and eventually formulated a plan to restructure its forces. Though wars were avoided, the threats from the 1970s and 1980s encouraged the army to address more effectively its major defense disadvantage: lack ofstrategic depth. Thus, in the early 1980s it looked outward for a model of army organization that would best advance defensive capabilities by restructuring forces into smaller, more mobile units instead of traditional divisions. The resultingPlan Alcázar envisions three military zones in Chile, with the bulk of forces concentrated in the north, and reinforces the center and south. The plan was implemented in stages, starting in 1994. Thus Alcázar, based on threat scenarios of the past, is one of the most durable "lessons" of the past.[clarification needed] Even with the resolution of almost all remaining territorial disputes, the restructuring agenda continued, reinforcing a conflict-based mindset in the army.[15]
Army General Headquarters, inSantiago.
Land Operations Command, headquartered inConcepcion.
Training and Doctrine Command (Comando de Institutos y Doctrina)
Force's Support Command (Comando de Apoyo de la Fuerza)
Army Independent Commands
Army General Staff (Estado Mayor General del Ejército)
The Chilean Army acquired a number of new systems with the goal of having a completely modernized and largely mechanized army by 2015. The military also modified its operational structure, creating armoured brigades throughout the entire territory and a new special operations brigade, while preserving the existing divisional scheme.[citation needed]
In 2013, there were 3,900 officers, 17,300 NCOs, 3,600 professional soldiers, and 9,200 conscript soldiers. In military schools, 2,400 students. Civilian employees, 8,400.[2]
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Chilean Army[16] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
| General de ejército | General de división | General de brigada | Brigadier | Coronel | Teniente coronel | Mayor | Capitán | Teniente | Subteniente | Alférez | ||||||||||||||
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| Chilean Army[16] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suboficial mayor | Suboficial | Sargento primero | Sargento segundo | Cabo primero | Cabo segundo | Cabo | Soldado de tropa profesional | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Chilean Army is famous for its elaborate drill, exhibited in large scale during theDía de las Glorias Navales on 21 May and theParada Militar de Chile (Great Military Parade of Chile) on 19 September. The early armed forces adopted many Prussian military traditions, and it was during this period that the Chilean military had many of its most famous victories. As a result, the drill features many 19th and early 20th century Prussian and German patterns.
Participating soldiers wear German-stylestahlhelm, andpickelhaube spiked helmets, and march in unalteredgoose step. Marching music consists of Central European marches, alongside several local compositions. EachParada Militar on 19 September ends with a playing ofPreussischer Präsentiermarsch (first played in 2018) andLos viejos estandartes by a mounted band playing in the German tradition.
Pickelhaubes have long been worn by the Military School, and later by the 1st Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Artillery Regiment. The stahlhelm is worn only by the NCO School.
This is also the case for parades held on 18 September, Independence Day, in the local level, whenever Army units take part.
Several Army units wear on parade historical dress uniforms from the time of 19th-century battles, but do not march in the German manner:
The Army Band Service is themilitary band department of the army, operating through the Welfare Command. The massed bands of the capital are known as theGran Banda de la Guarnición de Santiago (Grand Band of the Santiago Garrison), which is involved every 19 September with theGreat Military Parade of Chile. When it was formed it had up to 550 musicians; since 1980 it has been reduced to about 295 musicians, with an attachedcorps of drums.[17] The mainmilitary band in the army is the Concert Band of the Chilean Army. It was founded in 1963, and is the most senior army band, but is more of aconcert band, some of its musicians being seconded to the Military Academy. It reports to the Chief of the Bands Service. In 2000, it appeared in Rome on the occasion of the Military Music Jubilee. In 2004 and 2012, it participated in theQuebec City International Festival of Military Bands in Canada.[18] It has also visited Germany, Scotland, Uruguay, France and the United States.[19]
The Chilean Army has twomounted bands:
Other bands include the band of the Army NCO School and the Bernardo O'Higgins Military Academy. Military bands in Chile have aCorps of Drums and theTurkish crescent percussion instrument, similarly to German military bands. Departing from the German tradition is the presence of an added Bugle section behind the Corps of Drums, a tradition inherited from France and in the buglers of Imperial Germany, with the band's conductor being assisted by a bugle major who is placed either in front of the bugle section or if in a massed corps of drums behind the buglers.
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