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Ejército de Chile - Information

Officers

Rank.........................US Equivalent
Alferez.......................2nd Lieutenant
Sub-Teniente.............1st Lieutenant
Teniente....................1st Lieutenant
Capitan......................Captain
Mayor........................Major
Teniente Coronel.........Lt. Colonel
Coronel......................Colonel
Brigadier.....................Colonel
Brigadier General.........Major General
Mayor General............Lt. General
General de Ejercito.....General
Capitan General..........General of the Army

Enlisted

Rank.........................US Equivalent
Soldado Segundo.......Basic Private
Soldado Primero.........Private
Cabo Segundo...........Private 1st Class
Cabo Primero.............Corporal/Specialist
Sargento Segundo.....Sergeant
Sargento Primero.......Staff Sergeant
Suboficial..................Master Sergeant/First Sergeant
Suboficial Mayor........Command Sergeant Major

Commanders of the Army
General de Ejército Jorge Sanfuentes - Army Chief of Staff / Commander-in-Chief, 1928-1931. General Sanfuentes was commander-in-chief for three years prior to the Bolivian invasion of Chile, which precipitated the Andean War. General Sanfuentes' weak response to the invasion, and his attempts to blame on-scene commanders for the Surrender of Antofagasta disaster, resulted in thirty-one senior officers appealing to the president and demanding his resignation. Sanfuentes was relieved the next day and retired.

General de Ejército Ricardo Larrain - Army Chief of Staff / Commander-in-Chief, 1931-1937. General Larrain replaced General Sanfuentes following the surrender of Antofagasta. He masterminded a reorganization of the Chilean Army in one of its most desperate circumstances, introduced new doctrine, and masterminded the Chilean efforts in the Andean War. He served an unusually long six years as Army Chief.

General de Ejército Rodrigo Agosin - Army Chief of Staff / Commander-in-Chief, 1937-1941. General Agosin served as the main organizer of the Chilean reserves during the Andean War, being responsible to train conscripts and volunteers to join battle-hardened line units as replacements. His harsh training regime won few friends but ensured new troops survived to become combat veterans. He later served as deputy to General Larrain between 1935 and 1937.

General de Ejército Mathias Aravena - Army Chief of Staff / Commander-in-Chief, 1941-1945. As commander of the Army of the North during the Andean War, General Aravena established himself as one of the true masters of maneuver warfare, dodging larger Bolivian formations and striking against their lines of supply. General Aravena was named Commander-in-Chief in 1941.

General de Ejército Agustín Sommermeier - Army Chief of Staff / Commander-in-Chief, 1945-(1949?). Commander of the Army of Coquimbo and the Army of Valparaíso-O'Higgins during the Andean War, Sommermeier was a noted field commander. After the war, he served as chief of the Infantry Branch, chief of the General Staff, and very briefly as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army.