The Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina) is the air force of Argentina.

History

The Argentine Air Force´s history begins with the establishment of the Military Aviation School on August 10th, 1912. Several military officers were amongst the pioneers of Argentine aviation, including Jorge Newbery, a retired Navy officer. The School began to turn out several military pilots who participated in milestone events in Argentine aviation, such as the crossing of the Andes mountains. In 1927 a General Directorate of Aeronautics was created to coordinate the country´s military aviation. In that same year, the Military Aircraft Factory (FAM - Fábrica Militar de Aviones)was founded in Cordoba, which would become the heart of the country´s aviation industry.

By the 1940s there were several air units in the Army and the Navy, and the first step towards an independent force came on February 11th, 1944 with the establishment of the Aeronautical Command, which would go on to become the Argentine Air Force on January 4th, 1945, an independent force on par with the Army and the Navy. Immediately after the end of World War II, the Air Force began a process of modernization, incorporating aircraft such as the Gloster Meteor jet fighter, thus becoming the first air force in Latin America equipped with jet-propelled aircraft. Also a number of Avro Lincoln and Avro Lancaster bombers were acquired, creating a powerful strategic force in the region. The Air Force (in collaboration with German technicians) also began to develop its own aircraft, such as the Pulqui I and Pulqui II jet fighters, even though these never went beyond the prototype stage.

In 1952 the Air Force began flights to supply the early Antarctic scientific bases, expanding its activities in the Antarctic continent and establishing Marambio Air Base on September 25th, 1969.

During the 1970s the Air Force reequipped itself with modern aircraft for the period, including the Mirage III interceptors, IAI Dagger multi-role fighters (Israeli derivatives of the Mirage V), A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft and C-130 Hercules cargo planes. Also, an indigenous counter-insurgency airplane (the Pucará) was used in substantinal numbers.

The Malvinas War (1982) took a great toll on the Air Force, which lost more than 80 aircraft. Due to the deteriorating economic situation, international opposition and political distrust upon the military, the Air Force was denied the resources needed to replace the war losses. This, coupled with diminishing budgets, led to a period of reduced activity and growing materiel obsolescence, even though 36 refurbished Skyhawks were incorporated during the 1990s

The primary concerns of the Air Force nowadays are the establishment of a radar network for control of the country´s airspace, the replacement of its older combat aircraft (Mirage III, Mirage V) and the incorporation of new technologies.

On early 2005 the top seventeen brigadiers of the Air Force, including the Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Carlos Rohde, were sacked by President Néstor Kirchner following a drug traffic scandal through Ezeiza International Airport. Kirchner cited failures in the security systems of Argentine airports (which were overseen by the National Aeronautic Police, a branch of the Air Force) and cover-ups of the scandal, even though it later became known that many government agencies, among them the Interior Ministry, the Customs Administration and the Secretariat of Intelligence (formerly known as SIDE ) knew about the drug traffic operations. The Air Force´s current Chief of Staff is Brigadier Eduardo Schiaffino.

Organization

Aircraft

Ranks

Enlisted men and Non-Commissioned Officers

• Suboficial Mayor (Master NCO - USAF Chief Master Sergeant)

• Suboficial Principal (Senior NCO - USAF Senior Master Sergeant)

• Suboficial Ayudante (Staff NCO - USAF Master Sergeant)

• Suboficial Auxiliar (Auxiliary NCO - USAF Technical Sergeant)

• Cabo Principal (Senior Corporal - USAF Staff Sergeant)

• Cabo Primero (Corporal First Class - USAF Senior Airman)

• Cabo (Corporal - USAF Airman 1st Class)

• Voluntario 1ra Clase (Volunteer 1st Class - USAF Airman)

• Voluntario 2da Clase (Volunteer 2nd Class - USAF Airman Basic)

Officers

• Brigadier General (Brigadier General - USAF General)

• Brigadier Mayor (Brigadier-Major - USAF Lieutenant General)

• Brigadier (Brigadier - USAF Major General)

• Comodoro (Commodore - USAF Colonel)

• Vicecomodoro (Vice Commodore - USAF Lieutenant Colonel)

• Mayor (Major - USAF Major)

• Capitán (Captain - USAF Captain)

• Primer Teniente (1st Lieutenant - USAF 1st Lieutenant)

• Teniente (Lieutenant - USAF 2nd Lieutenant)

• Alférez (Ensign)

Order of Battle

• 1st Air Brigade (El Palomar Military Air Base, Buenos Aires Province)

1. 1st Air Transport Squadron (C-130 Hercules)
2. 2nd Air Transport Squadron (Fokker F-28)
3. 5th Air Transport Squadron (Boeing 707)

• 2nd Air Brigade (Paraná Military Air Base, Entre Ríos Province)

1. 2nd Reconnaissance Squadron (Learjet 35 A)
2. 4th Air Transport Squadron (Fokker F-27)

• 3rd Air Brigade (Reconquista Military Air Base, Santa Fe Province)

1. 2nd Attack Squadron (IA-58A Pucara)
2. 3rd Attack Squadron (IA-58A Pucara)

• 4th Air Brigade (El Plumerillo Military Air Base, Mendoza Province)

1. 1st Training Squadron (MS-760 Paris)
2. 2nd Fighter Squadron (IA-63 Pampa)
3. 3rd Search and Rescue Squadron (SA-315B Lama)
4. 4th ´Cruz del Sur´ Acrobatics Squadron (Su-29 )
5. Fighter School

• 5th Air Brigade (Villa Reynolds Military Air Base, San Luis Province)

1. 1st Fighter-Bomber Squadron (A-4AR Fightinghawk)
2. 2nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron (A-4AR Fightinghawk)

• 6th Air Brigade (Tandil Military Air Base, Buenos Aires Province, Mirage IIIEA/DA, Mirage 5PA, IAI Dagger)

1. 1st Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Mirage V)
2. 2nd Air Interceptor Squadron (Mirage IIIEA/DA)

• 7th Air Brigade (Moreno Military Air Base, Buenos Aires Province)

1. 1st Search and Rescue Squadron (Bell 212)
2. 2nd Tactical Squadron (Hughes 500D)
3. 3rd Squadron (UH-1H)
4. 4th Squadron (UH-1H, Hughes 500D)

• 9th Air Brigade (Comodoro Rivadavia Military Air Base, Chubut Province)

1. 6th Air Transport Squadron (Fokker F-27)
2. 7th Air Transport Squadron (DHC-6 Twin Otter)

• Military Aviation School (Cordoba, Córdoba Province)

1. Glider Flight
2. Services Squadron
3. Mentor Squadron (T-34 Mentor)
4. Tucano Squadron (Embraer EMB-312 Tucano)

Chiefs of the Argentine Air Force

Commanders of the Army Military Aviation (1912-1919)

• Colonel Arenales Uriburu (1912-1915)
• Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro P. Obligado (1915-1919)

Commanders of the Army Aeronautical Service (1919-1927)

• Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro P. Obligado (1919-1920)
• Colonel Enrique Mosconi (1920-1922)
• Lieutenant Colonel Jorge B. Crespo (1923)
• Colonel Luis A. Cassinelli (1923-1927)

Commanders of the General Directorate of Aeronautics (1927-1941)

• Colonel Luis A. Cassinelli (1927-1929)
• Lieutenant Colonel Jorge B. Crespo (1929-1930)
• Colonel Angel M. Zuloaga (1941)

Commanders of the First Air Division (1936)

• Brigadier General (Army) A. Verdaguer (1936)

Commanders of the Army Air Forces (1936-1939)

• Brigadier General (Army) A. Verdaguer (1936-1939)

Commanders of the Army Aviation Command (1938-1944)

• Colonel Antonio Parodi (1938-1941)
• Colonel Angel M. Zuloaga (1941)
• Colonel Pedro Zanni (1941-1942)
• Brigadier General (Army) Jorge J. Manni (1942-1944)

Commanders-in-Chief of the Aeronautica (1944)

• Brigadier General (Army) Bartolomé de la Colina (1944)

Commanders of the Argentine Air Force (1945-1947)

• Brigadier Edmundo Sustaita (1945)
• Brigadier General Oscar Muratorio (1945)
• Brigadier P. Castex Lainford (1945-1946)
• Brigadier General Oscar Muratorio (1946-1947)

Commanders-in-Chief of the Argentine Air Force (1947-1973)

• Brigadier General Oscar Muratorio (1947-1951)
• Brigadier General Hermansson (1951-1952)
• Brigadier General Carlos Mauriño (1952-1955)
• Brigadier General Juan Fabri (1955)
• Brigadier General Hermansson (1955-1956)
• Brigadier General Heriberto Ahrens (1956-1957)
• Brigadier General Guillermo Zinny (1957)
• Brigadier General Angel A. Peluffo (1957)
• Brigadier General Alfredo Vedoya (1957-1958)
• Brigadier Miguel Moragues (1958)
• Brigadier General Manuel L. Aleman (1958-1960)
• Brigadier General Cayo Alsina (1960-1962)
• Brigadier General Carlos Armanini (1962-1966)
• Brigadier General Adolfo Alvarez (1966-1968)
• Brigadier General Martinez Zuviría (1968-1970)
• Brigadier General Carlos A. Rey (1970-1973)
• Brigadier General Hector Fautario (1973)

General Commanders of the Argentine Air Force (1973-1976)

• Brigadier General Hector Fautario (1973-1975)
• Brigadier General Orlando R. Agosti (1975-1976)

Commanders-in-Chief of the Argentine Air Force (1976-1983)

• Brigadier General Orlando R. Agosti (1976-1979)
• Brigadier General Omar Graffigna (1979-1981)
• Brigadier General Basilio Lami Dozo (1981-1982)
• Brigadier General Augusto Hughes (1982-1983)

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Argentine Air Force (1983-present)

• Brigadier General Teodoro Waldner (1983-1985)
• Brigadier General Ernesto Crespo (1985-1989)
• Brigadier General José A. Julia (1989-1993)
• Brigadier General Juan Paulik (1993-1996)
• Brigadier General Rubén Montenegro (1996-1999)
• Brigadier General Walter Barbero (1999-2003)
• Brigadier General Carlos A. Rohde (2003-2005)
• Brigadier Eduardo Schiaffino (2005-today)

External Links

[[1]] Official site of the Argentine Air Force. In Spanish