Paraguayan Army

Mission

History

Paraguay's army was formally established in 1811, the year of the country's independence. For the first several years of Paraguay's existence the commanders of the army, such as Fulgencio Yegros and Pedro Juan Caballero, formed the majority of the cabinet until 1814, when they were replaced by Dr. Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, who installed himself as supreme dictator for life after a series of political clashes with Yegros. Francia removed all army personnel from the government and reformed the army, which was by now inept and corrupt. He limited the power of the army by declaring that no rank above captain could be achieved, and that after three years of service officers were to be retired. By 1816 there were no officers in the army who had fought at the Tacuari or the Paraguari. Francia's horse-grenadier guard company was the first new unit created and was to form the nucleus of the army. Each captain was given command of a branch of the service, which consisted of line infantry, light infantry, dragoons, chasseurs, hussars and artillery. The infantry, artillery and hussars were stationed in the capital Asuncion, and the rest of the army was stationed in outposts around the country to defend from attacks by Indians. The cavalry would go dismounted during peacetime, and were distinguished by the yellow aiguillette sewn onto their left shoulder. Although no formal wars were fought, conflicts with the Chaco Indians, particularly the sub-groups of the Guaykuru tribes, raged in the borderlands. The size of the army varied according to the magnitude of threat. In 1825 it was 5000 strong, but in 1834 it was only 649 strong. There was also a large number of militia troops, which usually numbered around 25,000.

After Francia's death in 1840, Carlos Antonio Lopez assumed power and modernized the army and expanded the navy. He opened an iron foundry at Ybycui that produced arms and bullets and also built up a railway system in the country to transport troops and materiel.

Following the succession of Lopez's son, Francisco Solano López, the army was expanded yet further until it was one of the largest in South America, consisting by 1864 of 44 infantry battalions, 46 cavalry regiments and four artillery regiments. In that same year Paraguay fought its first actual war against Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Despite numerical superiority and initial success, the allies soon upped their game and Paraguay eventually found itself surrounded. Despite constant defeat on the field by the allies, the Paraguayans did not capitulate until Lopez had been killed in 1870, on the run with his 200 remaining men.

Presence in UN Missions

Structure

As of 2016, the Paraguayan Army had a total strength of 10,600 personnel, including 2,500 conscripts.

The Paraguayan Army is composed of Presidential Guard Regiment, two battalions (infantry and military police), an armored squadron and a battery of field artillery (plus the Mounted Ceremonial Squadron "Aca Caraya"). Their equipment includes three Argentine modified M4 Sherman tanks, four EE-9 armored cars, four EE-11 armored personnel carriers (APCs), three M-9 halftracks mounting 20mm guns and four M-101 105 mm howitzers. Arguably, this "flagship" of military rule is structurally and physically the strongest of the EP. The REP is an independent unit from other commands. The EP features two artillery groups (GAC 1–12 88 mm QF-25 and GAC 2–12 105mm M-101) and one antiaircraft artillery group (GAA 13 40 mm L 40/60, Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, and six M-55 4×12, 7.0 mm).

Six battalions of combat engineers, one communications battalion, one Special Forces battalion, seven regiments of infantry and six regiments of cavalry comprise the rest of the force. There is little organic aviation available to it.

Each corps has a weapons school run by its command. The logistical command manages and addresses materials, mobilization, health care, etc. The command of the Army Institute of Education administers three schools, commissioned and noncommissoned officers, a military academy and the CIMEFOR (a center for pre-military study that trains Reserve officers).

Each of the nine divisions that make up the three corps has one or two regiments of infantry or cavalry, its platoon of engineers, its communications section, military police units, etc.

Officer Ranks

The stars worn by Army and Air Force lieutenants (Sub-Teniente, Teniente, Teniente 1ro) and captains are silver in color. The ones worn by the Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel are gold. The army officers branch is denoted by the color of circular pads under the stars, which is also the same color used for the chevron. Red denotes branches such as Infantry and Artillery, while Cavalry is denoted by a pink. A darker red denotes support branches such as Engineering Corps, Communications, and Intelligence. Green means Supply and Transportation, while purple is reserved for the Medicine Branch. Generals' special chevron consists of a woven depiction of the olive and palm found in the national emblem in gold threads.

Enlisted Ranks

As in the case of the army officers, the army enlisted branch is denoted by the color of their chevrons and bars. The colors and meanings are the same as the ones explained above.