Ejercito Argentino - Argentine Army - Organization 1985
The headquarters of the Argentine Army's general staff was located at the Libertador Building, which was the site of many military ceremonies in downtown Buenos Aires. Army troops deployed throughout the country were distributed among five military regions and four army corps commands. The bulk of army troops were deployed in the vicinity of Buenos Aires, where some 40 percent of the nation's population lived. The most important army base was the Campo de Mayo, located on the western outskirts of Buenos Aires.
In October 1984 the First Army Corps, which was headquartered at the Palermo Barracks in downtown Buenos Aires, was disbanded by presidential decree, along with other smaller units of military police, "electronics operations companies," and "advance intelligence organizations" that were based in the cities of Buenos Aires, Bahia Blanca, and Fray Luis Beltrán. Command over troops deployed in the territory of the first military region was assumed by the Fifth Army Corps.
The territory, formerly under the First Army Corps' command, included the city of Buenos Aires and almost all of Buenos Aires Province. The Argentine government noted that the corps was dissolved for budgetary reasons, yet there was some speculation that the political activities of its commanding officers might have been a factor in the government's decision. Personnel garrisoned at the Palermo Barracks traditionally played a significant role in Argentine military politics. The Fifth Army Corps, headquartered in Bahia Blanca, previously held command over troops stationed in southern Buenos Aires Province and the country's three southern provinces — Rio Negro, Chubut, and Santa Cruz — as well as the National Territory of Tierra del Fuego.
Each of the military regions under the command of the three remaining army corps was much smaller in terms of territory. The Second Army Corps, headquartered in Rosario, commanded troops deployed in the second military region, encompassing the provinces of Santa Fe, Chaco, Formosa and, in the region of Mesopotamia, the provinces of Entre RIos, Corrientes, and Misiones on the eastern bank of the RIo Paraná. The Third Army Corps had its headquarters in the city of Córdoba and was responsible for troops deployed in the third military region, made up of the provinces of Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca, La Rioja, and San Juan.
The Fourth Army Corps was headquartered in Santa Rosa, La Pampa Province, and commanded all troops deployed in that province as well as those in Mendoza, San Luis, and Neuquén — territory corresponding to the fourth military region. Brigadier generals customarily held the commands of the army corps. There was no definitive structure with respect to the kinds of military units assigned to each army corps. Infantry and cavalry brigades were the largest troop formations in the Argentine Army and were usually composed of three regiments.
In the early 1980s major formations that were under the command of the First Army Corps included an armored cavalry brigade and a motorized infantry brigade, in addition to the Buenos Aires detachment at Palermo Barracks made up of the General San Martin Mounted Escort Regiment — known as the San Martin Grenadiers — and the First Infantry Regiment, known as the Patricios. Both of the units at Palermo were part of the presidential guard; their functions were largely ceremonial. It was unclear in 1985 what impact the disbanding of the First Army Corps — and subsequent incorporation of the first military region into the command of the Fifth Army Corps — might have had on the distribution of army units formerly under its command.
Other major troop formations in the Argentine Army included one mechanized infantry and two motorized infantry brigades, three mountain infantry brigades, a jungle infantry brigade, and an airborne infantry brigade. Efforts were made to organize two additional motorized infantry brigades during 1983. An airborne cavalry brigade, the first of its kind in the Argentine force structure, was expected to be formed by 1985 but, as was the case with the motorized brigades, it remained uncertain what effect budget cutbacks had on the plan.
In August 1984 the Ministry of Defense announced its intention to cut the number of army brigades to six. Other major army units included four independent cavalry regiments—three of which were horsed, some 16 artillery battalions, at least five air defense battalions, and an aviation battalion. Field support was provided by the army's five independent engineering battalions, as well as by the various logistics battalions that were assigned to the army corps.
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