Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War

This is a list of the ground forces from Argentina that took part in the Falklands War ( es, Guerra de las Malvinas). For a list of ground forces from the United Kingdom, see British ground forces in the Falklands War.

Operation Rosario (April 2)

* Amphibious Task Group 40.1 - Rear Admiral of the Marines Carlos Büsser
** Amphibious Commandos Group, on board the destroyer ''Santisima Trinidad '' landed at Mullet Creek south of Stanley, in inflatable boats
*** 84 men (†one) ^{dubious, more likely 50, too many for a type 42 destroyer plus crew} Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez Sabarots.
** '' Buzos Tácticos'', on board the submarine ARA Santa Fe, swam ashore.
*** 15 frogmen Lieutenant-Commander Alfredo R. Cufré.
** 2nd Marine Infantry Btn. (BIM 2),
*** embarked on LST ARA Cabo San Antonio (Q42), they landed in 20 LVTP-7 amphibious, armoured, tracked and five LARC-V wheeled vehicles
*** and ARA Almirante Irízar (Q-5), inserted on Stanley airport by SH-3 Sea Kings helicopters
**** 500 men
** A 25th Infantry Regiment Company (Argentine Army) airlifted by C-130

South Georgia (April 3)

* 1st Marine Infantry Btn. (BIM 1) (†two), embarked ARA Bahia Paraiso transport and ARA Guerrico corvette Lieutenant Guillermo J. Luna.
** 60 men
* '' Buzos Tácticos'', on board the ship ARA Bahía Paraíso.
** 14 frogmen Commander Alfredo Astiz.

Preparations for war

Argentina had eight complete infantry brigades: 4th Airborne Infantry Brigade in Córdoba; 5th Mountain Brigade in Tucumán; 9th Brigade in the Santa Cruz Province close to the Falklands; the well-equipped 6th and 8th Mountain Infantry Brigades along the Chilean border; 11th Brigade, (cold-adapted) in the extreme south; and 3rd (Jungle) and 7th (Jungle) Brigades facing Brazil and Uruguay. The Argentine Army also had the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the capital guarding against a theoretical seaborne invasion along the Buenos Aires coastline. Two assumptions governed the deployment of the Argentine ground forces on the islands ( es, Guarnición Militar Malvinas):
*the junta did not believe that the British would use military force to retake the islands, so the initial landing force had been withdrawn shortly after April 3, and was not reinforced until after the British recaptured South Georgia. The intent was to place a large number of troops onto the islands to dissuade the British from any military action. As the Royal Navy had submarines patrolling the immediate area, reinforcements had to be airlifted in, which limited the heavy equipment that could be deployed.
*an attack was feared from Chile due to the ongoing Beagle Channel dispute. As Chile was marshalling troops close to its Southern Argentine border, the Argentinian High Command had to deploy their better trained forces to deter a Chilean attack. As a result, neither the mountain warfare regiments, nor the paratroop brigade were available. Furthermore, only a fifth of the cold-adapted marine infantry was sent to the islands. The majority of the troops deployed were from sub-tropical areas, the Argentine Mesopotamia region and Buenos Aires Province, and not trained for action in the terrain (they were trained to avoid snakes and sunstroke, not frostbite). These two incorrect assumptions led to inappropriate troops being sent to the islands.

In the Argentine Army, the bulk of the national servicemen were demobilized in late December. The ''Soldados Clase'' ’63 (SC 63) were conscripts born in 1963. On April 2, 1982 the ''SC 63'' inducted into the army in February had started their 45 days of boot camp training. When the Royal Navy set sail for the South Atlantic, the army tried to replace their ''SC 63'' intake with the recently demobilized ''SC '62'' reservists.

The conscripts inducted in February and March 1982 in Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín's 25th Infantry Regiment from the 9th Infantry Brigade in Santa Cruz Province, received Commando training in a crash 4-week course. British Warrant Officer Nick Van Der Bijl, who interviewed key captured Argentine officers in the fighting has written:

In all, some fifty conscripts in the 12th Regiment from the 3rd Infantry Brigade in Corrientes Province had also been put through a compressed commando course organized by visiting Argentine Army Green Berets in 1981. Private Esteban Roberto Ávalos who fought in the Falklands as a sniper recalls:

During 1981, a Commando course was squeezed in the 10th Mechanised Infantry Brigade in Buenos Aires. The brigade commander, Brigadier Oscar Luis Jofré had decided that an airlanding special operations platoon would be formed for each of his regiments. Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet, the Operations Officer of the 6th Regiment, took over command of the formation of these helicopter-borne platoons of mainly conscripts. Jaimet, a dedicated professional soldier had served behind Marxist separatist guerrilla lines as a Commando in the Tucumán Province in 1975. Private Santiago Fabián Gauto was selected to be part of the Commando platoon for the 7th Regiment:

Major Carlos Carrizo Salvadores, second-in-command of the 7th Regiment confirms that:

Theatre of Operations in the Falkland Islands (April 7 – June 14)

''Guarnición Militar Malvinas''
* Commander: Brigade General Mario Menéndez (governor). RI (''Infantry Regiments'') were about 800 men.

With regards to the number of night vision rifle scopes and head-mounted goggles that Battle Group Puerto Argentino had for the coming battles, it was later established that contacts in the United States had managed to find a firm that agreed to sell 100 night vision scopes and 100 pairs of night vision goggles, all this under the very noses of the various US intelligence agencies and they were sent to the Falkland Islands before the start of the ground battles. Rear-Admiral Edgardo Otero from the Malvinas Joint Command, who commanded the Marines deployed in Stanley and Pebble Island, received these sophisticated items of equipment and ordered that the Marines were to keep half of them and the other half would be distributed among the various Argentinian Army units

3rd (Jungle) Infantry Brigade

It was on 2 April 1982 when Brigadier-General Omar Edgardo Parada learned that the Falklands/Malvinas had been occupied. This brigade commander did not have much time to take part in the official celebrations held in the capital city of Corrientes Province; he soon received orders to prepare his brigade for transfer to southern Argentina, with one of his units, the 3rd Artillery Regiment ordered to Port Stanley. At this juncture most of the 3rd Brigade conscripts had completed their national service and had returned to civilian life, and the new batch of conscripts had just been incorporated. Parada immediately went about the task of rounding up all the reservists, which he was able to achieve in great numbers by sending messengers in vehicles. Thus a substantial part of the trained reservists from the provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, and Misiones, were mobilized, many of the recalled soldiers scrambling aboard the trains laden with the brigade's regulars on their southbound journey. After crossing the Colorado River, Parada received new instructions to reinforce Brigadier-General Américo Daher's 9th Infantry Brigade in Santa Cruz Province that had already sent the 8th and 25th Regiments to the Falklands. Before this request could be met, the 3rd Brigade received orders to board the transport planes heading to Port Stanley.

Private Pablo Vicente Córdoba from the new arrivals (''Soldados Clase '63'') in the 4th Infantry Regiment recalls the accelerated boot-camp training he received under Sub-Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (Killed in action on Mount Tumbledown):

Commander: Brigade General Omar Parada. Brigade home base: Mesopotamia
* 4th Regiment (RI 4) — '' Mount Harriet and Two Sisters (Stanley)'' (†23 and 121 wounded Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
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** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Diego A. Soria.
* 12th Regiment (RI 12) — '' Goose Green and Darwin (East Falkland)'' (†35 and 72 wounded )
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Italo A. Piaggi.
* West Falkland
** 5th Regiment (RI 5) — ''Port Howard'' (†8 and 67 wounded )
*** Commander: Colonel Juan R. Mabragaña
** 8th Regiment, 9th Infantry Brigade (RI 8) — ''Fox Bay '' (†5 and 51 wounded )
*** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto A. Repossi.

4th Infantry Regiment

On 27 April, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th (Jungle) Infantry Regiment (Regimiento de Infantería 4 'Monte Caseros' or RI 4) arrived at Stanley Airbase and joined the 10th Brigade, now redesignated 'Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino' (Puerto Argentino Army Grouping) RI 4 was soon preparing a defensive west of Murrell River, some 18 kilometres from Stanley. And, as the regiment dug in, C Company provided stevedoring parties from the 2nd Rifle Platoon (Second Lieutenant Jorge Pérez-Grandi) to help unload the various ships which brought in heavy equipment and stores to Port Stanley.

The 4th Regiment's Operation Officer, Captain Carlos Alfredo López-Patterson, who Carlos M. Túrolo and Héctor Rubén Simeoni interviewed for their books 'Así Lucharon' (Editorial Sudamericana, 1982) and 'Malvinas: Contrahistoria' (Editorial Inédita, 1984), found the regiment to be in good spirits, though some thought that they were being sidelined by 10th Brigade Headquarters. By all accounts,the soldiers in the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under Second Lieutenant Marcelo Alberto Llambías-Pravaz from C/RI 4 really did perform well. Constant patrolling, extremes of temperature (down to -12 degrees Fahrenheit), the terrain, heavy shelling and protracted periods on largely American-style C Rations were a strain.

The half a dozen officer or so cadets from the El Palomar Army Academy in Buenos Aires granted emergency commissions, becoming Second Lieutenants in the 4th Regiment, had a remarkable relaxing influence on the young soldiers, who were naturally very tense and anxious at the prospect of combat in the Monte Caseros Line.

Occasionally the opportunity to bathe arose. Second Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz, one of the officer cadets, can clearly remember walking half his platoon down from Mount Challenger in mid-May to have a hot shower and get some proper food and rest and which allowed the platoon commander to make a quick telephone call to his dad and step-mom.

On 27 May, Second Lieutenant Marcelo Alberto Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Ariel Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon C Company on Mount Challenger, where patrolling the western slopes of Mount Kent under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, when they were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this important piece of information to Regimental Headquarters, the small rifle section soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the hide and soon found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.

On 28 May, Brigadier-General Jofre ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Soria to reposition the 4th Regiment on Two Sisters Mountain and Mount Harriet, but it was too late to build proper positions as Soria explains:

Private Dacio Dario Agretti, who manned a Czekalski 105mm anti-tank gun in the Support Platoon (under Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella) from C/RI 4, questioned the move to abandon Mount Challenger:

At 11 am on 30 May, Royal Air Force Harrier fighter-bombers appeared over the Mount Kent zone in support of D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service Regiment battling 602 Commando Company. Upon discovering them, the soldiers in the 3rd Rifle Platoon C Company covering the Argentinian withdrawal to new positions on Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain, opened fire with rifles and machine guns. Second Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz later learned that his platoon in the form of Private Nicomedes Castillo, a machine-gunner, had hit one Harrier XZ-963, forcing the pilot, Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook, to ditch his aircraft into the sea off Port Stanley.

On 1 June, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria had removed all restrictions on the use of cold-weather ration packs (tinned provisions) in his regiment, which helped raise morale and keep hunger under control among the conscripts.

Corporal Antonio Gómez from B/RI Mec 7 on Longdon, recalls catching up with his younger brother, Private Martiniano Gómez (KIA) from B/RI 4 on Harriet in June, and being a non-smoker swapping his cigarette packets for the miniature whisky bottles in the ration packs issued to both of them only to discover once inside his tent that his cheeky brother had drank all the whisky and filled up the bottles with water in order to trick him.

The 4th 'Monte Caseros' Regiment took the main brunt of the fighting in the position dubbed Monte Caseros Line against strong British Commando night-fighting-patrols. Argentinian attempts to improve their positions were disrupted by British artillery which killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters and damage beyond immediate repair the RASIT ground-surveillance-radar on Harriet in early June.

There was a steady build-up of casualties. The regimental medical officer, Lieutenant Rubén Juan Cucchiara, reported cases of battle fatigue. Though sick, Second Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz carried on in his imperturbable manner, winning the admiration of Captain López-Patterson.

On 9 June, the Mount Harriet defenders discovered the presence of the Reconnaissance Platoon (under Sergeant Ian Allum) from the 2nd Battalion The Scots Guards (2SG) in and around Port Harriet House. Corporal Carlos Cortéz along with several hand-picked men from the Reconnaissance Platoon and Heavy Mortar Platoon on Harriet, including a paratroop officer (First Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia) from 4th Regimental Headquarters, received orders to clear the Scots Guards at bayonet-point and as the British platoon withdrew with their two wounded from the ensuing Argentinian mortar bombardment, the Argentinian force very nearly opened fire on two Argentinian Marine Special Forces returning from reconnoitering San Carlos.

During the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, the commander of the 2nd Rifle Platoon (Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Pérez-Grandi) from C/RI 4 was badly wounded with Private Andres Avelino Barosso refusing to abandon his platoon commander despite repeated orders from Pérez-Grandi to do so, keeping him warm and conscious long enough to allow Corporal Nicolás Urbieta with Private Aldo Adolfo Leiva (future Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina) to return with a stretcher and rescue the young officer.

9th Infantry Brigade

25th Special Infantry Regiment

Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín's 25th Infantry Regiment (Regimiento de Infantería 25 or RI 25) was part of Brigadier-General Américo Daher's 9th Infantry Brigade (Brigada de Infantería IX or Br I IX), and based in Colonia de Sarmiento in the Chubut Province as part of 5th Army Corps. At the time the regiment consisted of two rifle companies and a Headquarters & Support Company.
Under the influence of 'Halcón 8' instructors, Special Forces techniques were implemented. The regiment was unofficially renamed Regimiento de Infantería 'Especial' 25. RI 25 were overjoyed to be selected to take part in Operation Rosario, and a third company was formed followed by a fourth and fifth company comprising reservists that had completed their training in 1981

1 May 1982 was a real eye-opener for the soldiers in the 25th Regiment with Private Alejandro Corso waking up early and unzipping his warm-up tent only to be greeted with the blasts and huge orange fireballs from 21 1,000-pound bombs dropped by a Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber hitting Stanley Airbase that threw him back inside the tent.Stanley Airbase was attacked again by Sea Harriers in the morning and Royal Navy warships in the afternoon with the Regimental Commander playing the trumpet from a hill under naval gunfire in order to steady the nerves of his men.

That day, a Sea Lynx assisting the Royal Navy ships in the correction of fire was taken by surprise by Second Lieutenant Guillermo Eduardo Laferriere's rifle platoon from RI 25 on Beagle Ridge and hit by machine-gun fire and a Wessex scared off by a Tigercat missile fired from the 601st Air Defence Artillery Regiment.

That night, as part of the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under First Lieutenant Rafael Francisco Bitti) from RI 25's Headquarters & Support Company, Private José Luis Salina and the other fellow mortarmen in his platoon opened long-range fire with their 120mm Thompson-Brandt mortars on the British warships shelling the Stanley defences.

On 15 May, ''Equipo de Combate Güemes'' (Combat Team Eagle), established a small garrison at Port San Carlos. On 21 May, the outpost on Fanning Head was abandoned, the retiring Argentinians in the form of 'Gato' Rifle Platoon extricating themselves from an SBS ambush. In Port San Carlos, EC Güemes in the form of the A/RI 12 Heavy Weapons Platoon (under Second Lieutenant José Alberto Vázquez) broke contact with 3 PARA, shooting down two Gazelle helicopters armed with SNEB rockets and damaging a third. The RI 12 platoon reached Stanley via helicopters with the men under Second Lieutenant Reyes captured on 11 June after having taken refuge at New House and Moss Side House.

In Stanley Airbase, RI 25 fretted, contemptuous of the British advance and the Argentinian conduct of the campaign with Private José Adrián Luna from the Headquarters & Support Company tuning to Radio Carve from Uruguay in order to get the truth about the progress of the war.

The fierce winds from the South Atlantic, rain, hands and feet and water that froze, needed great dedication to combat, but despite all this, morale remained reasonably strong according to Private Juan Carlos Bortol from B/RI 25.Discipline was never really a problem in the 25th Regiment, as each soldier knew how much each depended on the other. Nevertheless, trench life had its pressures and stealing and other perceived infractions were dealt with immediately. Private Víctor Antonio Ventura from A/RI 25 says the soldiers in his company received a bowl of hot lentils in the morning and another serving of the same thing in the afternoon and recalls witnessing two soldiers in his company that were caught stealing provisions from the C-130 transports in Stanley Airbase, being staked out in the freezing ground for a long period.

Private Nolberto Eduardo Filippi from Captain Raúl Sevillano's E Company remains highly critical of the officers and NCOs in the 25th Regiment and says that although the soldiers in his company got a can of tinned meat each day, apart from the lentils that were served, he often went hungry and got caught and punished several times for stealing food and for shooting and butchering a horse with the Regimental Commander even threatening to have him court-martialed and shot on the spot for desertion and that when he was last caught stealing in his new post as a mortarman in First Lieutenant Rafael Bitti's Heavy Mortar Platoon from the Headquarters & Support Company, he was forced to sit for a long period in the freezing water on a nearby beach as punishment for which he ended up in hospital for several weeks suffering from numb feet and not evacuated to the Argentinian mainland as expected but forced to return to the Heavy Mortar Platoon upon recovering as a form of punishment.

Private Jorge Antonio Urteaga from D Company says that he was fortunate to have served in RI 25 and that the Regimental Commander that he much admired, ''"turned me into a very good soldier and made me a much better person"''.Private José Adrián Luna maintains that Lieutenant-Colonel Seineldín had no special privileges and slept beside the soldiers in the airbase and that if you had a chocolate bar you would take a nible and share it with your comrades regardless of rank and that the officers and NCOs ''"for us were like parents the way they would take care of us"'' although he says he did witness cases of field punishments being carried out against some soldiers.

As part of A/RI 25, Private Miguel Ángel González remained defending Stanley Airbase along with B, D and E Companies of the 25th 'Special' Infantry Regiment, and with his colleagues watched the tracer rounds, star-shells and artillery explosions of the night battle of 11/12 June and British softening up fire fall on the 7th Regiment and 5th Marine Battalion throughout the afternoon of 13 June.

On a bitter, icy cold morning of 14 June, after the frustration of a false start earlier in the night, Privates Zanatto, Urteaga, Salina and Filippi as part of a 120-strong combat team comprising elements of B and D Companies and Heavy Mortar Platoon from Support Company, all under First Lieutenant Machi, deployed to defend a hillock overlooking Felton Stream at Moody Brook. The soldiers were told to hold it for the withdrawal of the 7th Regiment, reportedly overrun in several places, and the dismounted cavalrymen from the 10th Brigade, who had gone to help. An Argentinian Skyhawk strike with napalms bombs from Rio Gallegos was in progress, which was hardly a good sign, but was fortunately cancelled along with the planned counterattack on part of the 25th Regiment reinforcements. Private Zanatto recalls that the company formation reassembled some distance back and commenced preparations for house-to-house combat.But urban combat in Stanley Town was aborted with the 10th Brigade's Operation Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Dalton reportedly stopping his jeep beside First Lieutenant Machi and updating him and telling him, ''"I have just saved your company from sure destruction."''

After the Argentinian surrender, Private Nolberto Filippi was given the opportunity to help a British soldier retrain and save two German Shepherd Dogs that only understood Spanish but Filippi soon ditched that job in order to gorge on the recently liberated food depots.All the captured dogs in Argentinian service in the end had to put down.

181st Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Detachment

The 181st Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Detachment (Destacamento de Exploración de Caballería Blindado 181 or Dest Expl C Bl 10) was an armoured car unit based in Esquel, Chubut Province. Equipped with 8 French-built Panhard AML-90 armoured cars under Second Lieutenants Fernando Pedro Chércoles and Gustavo Adolfo Tamaño, it was deployed to the Falklands on 9 April.

The 181st Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Detachment (under Major Alejandro David Carullo) was soon joined by the two other Panhards from the 10th Armoured Cavalry Exploration Squadron from the 10th Brigade.

On the night of 11/12 June, Dest Expl C Bl 181 prepared to counterattack 45 COMMANDO and moved forward along the Stanley-Estancia track, but the armoured cars were recalled with the collapse of the Two Sisters strongpoint.

On the night of 13/14 June, Esc Expl C Bl 10 provided dismounted reinforcements for RI Mec 7. During the fighting for Wireless Ridge the platoons of Lieutenant Luis Ernesto Bertolini and Warrant Officer Diego Bianchi-Harrington engaged the British light tanks in ''"the only armour-versus-armour-engagement of the war"''.It was near suicide, the cavalry unit suffering 6 killed and 50 wounded.

8th Infantry Regiment

Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Alejandro Repossi, Commanding Officer of the 8th Infantry Regiment (Regimiento de Infantería 8 or RI 8) received orders from Colonel Horacio Chimeno (second-in-command of the 9th Brigade) on 5 April to get his unit ready for deployment in the Falklands with RI 8 arriving in Stanley Airbase on 8 April.

The regiment soon joined the 9th Engineer Company (Ca Ing 9) in Fox Bay between 9 and 16 April.

Before their arrival in the Falklands, Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Alejandro Repossi had purchased in Comodoro Rivadavia rain boots for his men, after learning from Major Lima (Officer Commanding 9th Engineer Company at Fox Bay) of the wet terrain and the fact that the locals civilians went about their day in Wellington boots, a decision he claimed saved his men from suffering from trenchfoot.

181st Military Police Company

Compañía de Policía Militar 181 (181st Military Police Company or Ca PM 181) was a 65-strong unit based in Buenos Aires. The military police unit arrived very early in April, and escorted some of the captured Royal Marines to Comodoro Rivadavia in southern Argentina. Its mission was to maintain law and order in the capital and to maintain military discipline. Ca PM 181 was based in Stanley Police Station. The unit was involved in several operations, including mounting a cordon around the Falkland Islands Company warehouse, where it was suspected that a resistance meeting was being held. They were also involved in the arrest of several Falkland Islanders.

Working alongside Ca PM 181 was a Marine canine platoon complete with German Shepherd dogs. When these were captured the British wanted to keep the dogs, until it was realized they only understood Spanish.

Leftist anti-military veterans from the Buenos Aires-based 'Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' (Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre or CECIM) complain of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for going ''ausente sin licencia'' (Absent Without Leave or AWOL) to steal from the Stanley food depots or shoot and kill sheep for food in the middle of minefields. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that the field punishments were absolutely necessary to keep the lesser disciplined conscript soldiers in line.

Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay, the officer commanding the 181st Military Police Company, would claim that his unit would win the trust of the Port Stanley residents fleeing to the countryside: ''"In order to prevent break-in-and-enter crimes, the local residents would repeatedly go to the Police Station to request that personnel from 181 MP Coy enter and occupy their homes during their period of absence, for which they would hand over the keys to their properties, which shows the level of trust won among the local population."''

10th Mechanised Infantry Brigade

''Agrupación Puerto Argentino'' (Stanley Sector)
Commander: Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre. Brigade home base: Buenos Aires Province

Throughout 1981, the 10th Brigade found itself building up and training for war with Chile and it was ''"rather a hectic time"'' as Juan Manuel Villegas, a former sergeant in the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment recalls. There were trips to the field-firing area at Ezeiza, and the senior soldiers were given specialist weapons courses, MAG machine-guns, FAP light-machine-guns, 120-mm and 81-mm mortars , radios and RASIT ground-surveillance radar.

At the end of their forty-five days of basic training, Private Vicente José Bruno was one of the 1981 intake regarded as the best soldiers. He says that forty-five of the conscripts and half a dozen NCOs in the 7th Regiment were selected to form a Commando platoon within the 7th Regiment.

Brigadier Jofre, aged 53, had converted his 10th Brigade into a well-trained formation. The culmination of the training cycle for the conscripts consisted of a full-scale mechanized infantry assault with supporting aircraft from the Argentine Air Force in the General Acha Desert in La Pampa Province in October 1981. Private Claudio Alberto Carbone from the 7th Mechanized Regiment recalls the major exercise that also involved the 1st Armoured Cavalry Brigade:

In an interview with Private Manuel Valenzuela from the 6th Mechanized Regiment in 2015, the Argentine newspaper ''Publicable'' confirmed that the exercises in the General Acha training area (716 kilometres north of Buenos Aires) were designed to toughen up the conscripts nearing the completion of their national service, with very little food and water provided to the participating units in the first burst of heatwave conditions in the Argentine summer of 1981:

The 10th Brigade mobilized with creditable speed. The Argentine reservists were sustained by patriotism and indignation. Private Patricio Pérez from the 3rd Regiment:

Private Horacio Benítez from the 3rd Regiment:

The 10th Brigade assumed responsibility for the defence of Port Stanley with Moody Brook Barracks initially serving as the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.
* 3rd Regiment (RI 3) — ''Stanley - aborted urban warfare'' (†five and 85 wounded )
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini.
* 6th Regiment (RI 6) — ''Stanley Common'' (†12 and 35 wounded )
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Jorge Halperin.
* 7th Regiment (RI 7) — '' Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge (Stanley)'' (†36 and 152 wounded )
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Omar Giménez.
* 25th Infantry Regiment (Argentina) (RI 25), 9th Infantry Brigade (attach to 10th Brigade) — '' Stanley Airport, Goose Green and San Carlos'' (†13 and 67 wounded )
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Ali Seineldin.
* Panhard Armoured Cars Squadron (''Esc Panhard/Destacamento de Exploración de Caballería Blindada 181''), 9th Infantry Brigade (attached to 10th Infantry Brigade) - ''Moody Brook''
** Commander: Major Alejandro David Carullo.
** 12× Panhard Armoured Car 90 mm.
* 10th Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (dismounted), 10th Infantry Brigade (attached to reserve) - ''Moody Brook'' (†six and 68 wounded )
** Commander: Captain Rodrigo Alejandro Soloaga.

During its defence of Port Stanley, the 10th Brigade had suffered 66 killed and 370 wounded.

3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment

The first elements of the La Tablada-based 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment (Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizado 3 or RI Mec 3) arrived in Port Stanley on 9 April and from 13-21 would spend their time digging in ''Sector Oro'' (Gold) covering the southern beaches. The Commanding Officer of the 3rd Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini attended his first briefing inside the ex-Royal Marine Barracks on 10 April with Comini that night giving a patriotic speech in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez that welcomed the new arrivals with a giant chocolate easter egg and bottles of French wine seized from the Royal Marine cellars, a televised event that Argentine war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo captured on film.

The 3rd Infantry Regiment from the La Tablada suburb of Buenos Aires, was allocated two warehouses in Port Stanley for the drying of wet clothes left hanging inside and to get some proper sleep, 200 men per night; this luxury of course ended, with the British San Carlos landings and an increase of British air activity and naval shelling.

First Lieutenant Víctor Hugo Rodríguez-Pérez in the book Así lucharon (Editorial Sudamericana, Carlos M. Túrolo, 1982) says his rifle platoon as part of A Company 3rd Regiment carried out several simulated counterattacks against an expected helicopter-borne attack in the Golden Sector. The regiment remained facing the sea throughout the campaign and was subjected to much naval shelling and simulated seaborne landings. Rest and recreation (R&R) in Port Stanley was somewhat limited. Cigarettes and chocolate were rationed but each soldier had a cold-weather ration pack delivered to them once per week.

There were the normal 'out-of-bounds' area in Stanley which were clearly local stores and signposted, and were mainly ignored by the young soldiers. Many soldiers soon began to compliment their meals with snacks bought in the Port Stanley shops. Private Horacio Javier Benítez from A/RI Mec 3 in an interview with British journalists recalled: ''"And the other thing that I never tried in Argentina was the Aero Mint Chocolate, which I love. I once bought twenty bars. So I realised that I was trying a type of food that wasn't mine, but it wasn't easy, although it helped us to get by."''Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton & Peter Kosminsky, p. 185, Andre Deutsch, 1989

Mail, as always was enormously important to the soldiers. Private José Luis Cerezuela in A Company 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment (A/RI Mec 3) who received no mail had this problem sorted in a unique way when his platoon sergeant Manuel Ángel Villegas organized for his soldiers to get a young female related to them to write a personal letter to Cerezuela that helped restore his morale.

While on sentry duty facing the southern beaches, Private Sergio Ariel Vainroj, a keen paino player, from C Company 3rd Regiment was caught reading music sheets. But the officer that caught him, Lieutenant José Luis Dobroevic, let him get off scot-free refusing to punish Vainroj for as he later confessed during a veterans barbecue get-together in 2016, he had also a sister at the time like Vainroj that was studying music and would play the piano.

Surrounded by retreating and demoralized companies during the Battle of Wireless Ridge, A/RI Mec 3 kept its head. It stood and fought, during a nocturnal counterattack on the night of 13/14 June, when retreat and rumours were rampant in RI Mec 7. Surrender was a mix of relief, hurt pride and great sadness. Private Patricio Pérez from A Company 3rd Regiment recalls: ''"People greeted the surrender with relief. They were all crying. That wasn't how I reacted. I had been fighting for many hours and I was not prepared to give up my rifle until forced to do so. It's different for those who had been in actual combat. I couldn't give my rifle back until they took it away from me, and when I did give it back I made sure it was completely unusable."''

6th Mechanized Infantry Regiment

Between 13 and 14 April, troops from 6th Mechanized Infantry Regiment (Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizado 6 'General Viamontes' or RI Mec 6) arrived in Stanley Airbase and dug in beside the Stanley-Airport road protecting the southern beaches on both sides of Rookery Bay with B Company 6th Regiment as part of the helicopter-borne reserve occupying The Saddle at the foot of Mount Kent.

To bring 6th Mechanized Infantry Regiment in the 'Malvinas' to full strength there were drafts from 1st 'Patricios' Regiment.

In 2013, when questioned if he was sufficiently prepared to go to war, Walter San Martin who arrived as a corporal with the regiment explained in an interview with Grupo Feedback: ''"Yes I felt prepared because I had enrolled in the NCO School aged 16 and was mobilized aged 18 to the Chilean border during the Beagle Channel Crisis and with all the training and military exercises I felt very much prepared."''

There were some luxuries available to the soldiers. The 6th Regiment being relatively close to Stanley Town, enjoyed postal, telephone, telegram and bank cheques sent by family members that could be cashed in the Port Stanley Post Office. Corporal San Martin kept all the letters sent to him and produced one dated 25 May that his family had sent and a telegram he sent back to his parents telling them all was well, in the interview granted to Grupo Feedback.

In late May, B Company now occupying anti-tanks positions near Two Sisters Mountain, received reinforcements in the form of a 120mm mortar section under Sergeant Ramón Antinori from the 1st 'Patricios' Regiment. Private Carlos Roberto Varela from the section recalled in 2012, ''"In general, we felt much pride to go defend the Fatherland in the Malvinas. We were very young, but the majority of us behaved well, like men and not like many like to say that we were just the kids of the war. We really had to learn and grow up fast and we fought well against the British which proved to be a valuable experience."''

Towards the end of the first week in June, air reconnaissance in the form of Pucara ground-attack-aircraft checking on the targets of earlier Canberra bomber strikes in the area of Mount Kent reported that there were a number of British tents in the vicinity of Murrell Bridge.

Around this time Second Lieutenant Aldo Eugenio Franco, a platoon commander in B/RI Mec 6 had the opportunity of observing the commando-trained Major Oscar Jaimet go about his duties as the overall commander of the helicopter-borne reserve and decided to become himself a Green Beret after the war. A very keen NCO, Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, on the other hand would clash with his platoon commander Second Lieutenant Guillermo Luis Robredo-Venecia and the B Company commander First Lieutenant Raúl Daniel Abella, also an Army Commando, and would quit the Army in disgust in 1983 after having had several run ins with Robredo-Venecia, Abella and an Air Force officer in the final battles outside Port Stanley."Malvinas en Primera Persona" - Mis Entrevistas - Cabo Juan Antonio Barroso (available in Youtube)

Major Jaimet would later point out that during this period, he and the platoon commanders in his company out in Stanley Common shared the same wartime privations of the ordinary soldiers:

On 8 June, Second Lieutenant Augusto Esteban La Madrid, the commander of the 3rd Rifle Platoon from B Company saw a Huey helicopter that was bringing supplies forward land in the vicinity of Two Sisters. He went to see if he could scavenge any items of use for his platoon. The Company Sergeant-Major Jorge Edgardo Pitrella was already there and informed him that someone had written to the second lieutenant. La Madrid recalls, ''"I received a telegram from my father, a Professor of History, telling me to fight on to the end -'Victory or Death' - your father will bless you.' I thought, with that blessing, I was ready to die."''The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Penguin, 1990

On the night of 9/10 June, a patrol clash occurred when Lieutenant Andy Shaw's night-fighting patrol (5 Troop Yankee Company) was required to penetrate through the 3rd Rifle Platoon from B/RI Mec 6 dug on the valley between Longdon and Two Sisters and destroy the four Thompson-Brandt 120mm mortars of Second Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Corbella's Heavy Mortar Platoon. There was a big mistake made in the dark, resulting in four dead and three seriously wounded Royal Marine Commandos.

45 COMMANDO were assigned to attack Two Sisters Mountain, and decided on a silent approach through what turned out to be a frozen minefield. The soldiers from B/RI Mec 6 were alerted by the attack on Mount Longdon by 3 PARA on the night of 11/12 June. Second Lieutenant La Madrid: ''"My Litton night binoculars were very good, and I could see British troops in the Murrell Bridge area firing on Longdon; it was possibly a mortar or a missile detachment. I could even hear their commands ... so I moved one of my machine-guns further to the right, so as not to reveal its main position, and it opened fire on the British."''

Soon the 1st Rifle Platoon from C/RI 4 were in trouble on northern Two Sisters. Their platoon commander (Second Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez) wounded early in the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain. Initially Second Lieutenant Aldo Eugenio Franco 2nd Rifle Platoon had word they would have to counterattack in conjunction with the Panhard armoured cars from Esc Expl C Bl 181.

About 5.00 am communications were re-established with the news that C/RI 4 had completely abandoned the mountain. B Company was now dangerously exposed. The 1st (Second Lieutenant Guillermo Robredo-Venencia) and 3rd (Second Lieutenant Augusto Esteban La Madrid) Rifle Platoons and Heavy Mortar Platoon (Guillermo Enrique Corbella) in turn were receiving attention from the British light cruiser HMS Glamorgan as they tried to reach B/RI Mec 6 with naval gunfire and cut off their escape route.

B/RI Mec 6 reassembled some distance back and commenced preparations for the complete break in contact that was to take them to Tumbledown. The orders puzzled and dispirited Corporal Juan Barroso, because it was so different to military doctrine he had been brought up to believe. Barroso looked on the big break of contact as running away and did not like it at all. He chose to stay along with Privates Mario Javier Romero, Angel Fernandez, Hugo Batista and Carlos Gabiado to help cover the Argentinian retreat and in order to get see some action.

The 2nd Rifle Platoon B Company fought Yankee Company 45 COMMANDO to a standstill forcing the light cruiser HMS Glamorgan to come to the assistance of 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Andy Shaw) that as the British spearhead was trying to exploit onto Tumbledown. Second Lieutenant Franco's men eventually disengaged, covered in great part by Private Oscar Poltronieri, who apart from several naval rounds, suffered two near-misses from British 84mm and 66mm anti-tank rockets.
Having run out of machine gun ammunition at one point he held off the Royal Marines with an abandoned rifle.

Not content with his last stand on Two Sisters, Private Poltronieri took up new positions later that morning between Longdon and Tumbledown among the dismounted cavalrymen of Esc Expl C Bl 10 (under Captain Rodrigo Alejandro Soloaga) and opened long-range fire again in the daylight hours with a machine gun forcing 3 Platoon (under Lieutenant David Wright from A Company 3 PARA to abandon the eastern summit of Longdon.

It was during their time on Tumbledown that the 10th Brigade Commander visited B Company under heavy shellfire. He came round and spoke to each of the officers, promising them more ammunition and warm clothing for their men, and even giving his own leather gloves to the ever inquisitive Private Poltronieri, winning the admiration of Second Lieutenant Augusto La Madrid in the process. Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre reminded them of the reputation the Argentinian Army had enjoyed in the Desert Campaign (1833–1834) and enjoined them to ''"fight hard and avenge their earlier defeat."''

7th Mechanized Infantry Regiment

Between 13–14 April, Lieutenant-Colonel Omar Giménez's 7th Mechanized Infantry Regiment (Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizado 7 'Coronel Conde' or RI Mec 7) was flown to Stanley Airbase to relieve the 3rd Rifle Platoon (Lieutenant Héctor Edgardo Gazzolo) from Delta Company 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (D/BIM 2) and 3rd Rifle Platoon (Lieutenant Alfredo José Imboden) from Hotel Company 3rd Marine Infantry Battalion (H/BIM 3) holding Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge in Sector Plata (Silver). The next day, they moved to Sector Silver overlooking Murrell River and Moody Brook Barracks and the bulk of the regiment were to spend the next 62 days of the war in this sector of the Stanley front. Private Vicente Bruno recalls Second Lieutenant Juan Domingo Baldini commandeering a truck in order to help get his 1st Rifle Platoon from B Company 7th Regiment (B/RI Mec 7) to Mount Longdon.1st Platoon (Lieutenant Hugo Aníbal Quiroga) and 2nd Platoon (Second Lieutenant Diego Carlos Arreseigor) from the 10th Mechanized Engineer Company were assigned for sapper support. Dismounted cavalry troops and Panhards were in support from Reserva Z. GA 3 was on call via 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters (Brigada de Infantería Mecanizada X or Cdo/Br I Mec X).

At Port Stanley in April and May before the British landings, the 7th Regiment companies were fortunate in they had access to hot showers which were available to them every fortnight before the British landings on 21 May. At first, the 7th Regiment on Wireless Ridge was relatively comfortable, shooting sheep and roasting them on old bed frames the soldiers had found nearby, according to Anglo-Argentinian Private Miguel Savage of the Mortar Platoon (under First Sergeant Mario Ricardo Alcaide) from C Company who was interviewed by the Scotsman in 2002.

Private Savage says he received minimal training for as he explains in his book 'Malvinas, Viaje al Pasado' his father had arranged with the Regimental Commander for his son to largely sit out, along with five other conscripts, their military service as handymen at a shooting range in Buenos Aires, but that it all backfired when Savage found himself incorporated into C/RI Mec 7 and sent to defend Wireless Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Giménez had selected a quiet and secluded part of Stanley Hospital for his companies to rest, but the weary soldiers found it difficult to unwind. The nervous tension of being subjected to naval bombardment and possible air attack for a long period was taking its toll. Private Jorge Alberto Andreeta from B/RI Mec 7, in an interview with the Argentinian 'Clarín' newspaper in April 2012, reported that rough punishment was indeed meted out in his unit to those caught stealing provisions or hunting sheep, but admitted that his platoon got a chance to visit this sanctuary fitted with colour tv and video cassette player, ''"One day they took us to the hospital, we showered and they got us to watch a film, it turned out to be a horror movie."'' There was a strict ration of one ration pack per soldier per week and stealing and going absent without leave (AWOL) attracted fairly harsh physical retribution.

Vicente Bruno from the 1st Rifle Platoon, in an interview in 2022 with former Argentinian war correspondent Nicolas Kasanzew, says that Second Lieutenant Juan Baldini was a good officer that allowed him and others to shoot and butcher sheep and that Baldini would eat the same food and share his cigarettes despite claims to the contrary.Private Guillermo Alberto Vélez from the 7th Regiment's Headquarters & Support Company maintains that he personally shot and killed 50 sheep to help feed a substantial part of the Wireless Ridge defenders.

In the week prior to the Battle for Mount Longdon, a mortar post under Private Felix Guillermo Álvarez from the 1st Rifle Platoon B Company spotted a Close-Target-Reconnaissance Patrol from D Company 3 PARA in the area of Murrell Bridge and opened fire forcing the four British Paratroopers involved to vacate the area.

Corporal Jorge Daniel Arribas from the 1st Rifle Platoon C Company on Wireless Ridge, would explain that when the moment came to execute a nocturnal counterattack in support of the Mount Longdon defenders, the men in his rifle platoon would certainly be up to the task, ''"When the time came to fight, despite the loss of weight, despite having not had any real sleep we fought so hard like as if we were these really tough Commandos, Elite Soldiers but we did it all for love of the Fatherland, for each other and for our families."''

On the night of 13/14 June, The British SAS reportedly tried to infiltrate the regiment by mingling with the fleeing RI Mec 7 soldiers from Wireless Ridge, making it very difficult for the 181st Military Police Company and supporting 1st Amphibious Engineer Company to differentiate between the two in the dark. After the Argentinian surrender, after a bitter street brawl with the British soldiers from 3 PARA, the 7th Regiment soldiers were taken back to Argentina on board the British cruise liner 'Canberra'.

10th Mechanized Engineer Company

Major Carlos Roberto Matalón's 10th Mechanized Engineer Company (Compañía de Ingenieros Mecanizada 10 or Ca Ing Mec 10) arrived around 2.00 am on 14 April and began preparing field defences and laying minefields for Sector La Plata. 1st Platoon (under Lieutenant Hugo Aníbal Quiroga) was sent to Mount Longdon, where it laid 1,500 mines and formed part of the local reserve. 2nd Platoon (under Second Lieutenant Diego Carlos Arreseigor) was sent to Wireless Ridge where it laid a similar number of mines, and also later fought in the infantry role). 3rd Platoon (under Second Lieutenant Hector Rene Aguirre) and 4th Platoon (under Second Lieutenant Gustavo Manuel Salvadores) were left in Stanley Town to help maintain it clean and beef up street patrols that Argentinian Army Green Berets conducted in the town in search of deserters and local saboteurs and British Special Forces believed to be hidden among the civilian population. Under the orders of Brigadier-General Mario Menéndez, the Argentine Military Governor at Port Stanley, the 5th Platoon (under Second Lieutenant Luis Alberto Inocente) in the Falklands capital built field showers for the 10th Brigade, that allowed the 3rd, 6th, 7th and supporting 4th, 25th Regiments and 5th Marine Battalion before the British landings, to send companies into town on a rotating basis to get a hot shower.

Artillery

* 3rd Artillery Group (GA 3), 3rd Infantry Brigade (†two and 21 wounded)
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Martín A. Balza
** 18 OTO Melara Mod 56 105 mm field guns ''(Stanley and Goose Green)''.
** 2 x CITER 155mm L33 Guns airlifted from May 15 (from the 101st Artillery Group) ''(Stanley)''.
* 4th Airborne Artillery Group (GA Aerot 4), 4th Airborne Brigade (†3 and 42 wounded) ''(Stanley)''.
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Carlos Alberto Quevedo
** 18 x 105 mm guns.

Miscellaneous Army Units

I Corps
* 181st Military Police and Intelligence Coy ''(Stanley)''.
Army Chief of Staff Troops
* 601st Engineer battalion (BI-601) (†one and 10 wounded ) ''(Fitz Roy bridge demolition)''
** Commander: Major Jorge L. A. Etienot.
** 9th Engineer company
*** Commander: Major Oscar M. Lima.
** 10th Engineer company (†one and five wounded )
*** Commander: Major Carlos R. Matalon.
* 601 Commando Company ''Port Howard and Murrell River''
** Commander: Major Mario Castagneto
* 602nd Commando Company''Mount Kent and Murrell River(†five and seven wounded )
** Commander: Major Aldo Rico.
* 601 Combat Aviation Battalion (Batallón de Aviación de Combate 601) See 601 Assault Helicopter Battalion

Under the orders of Brigadier-General Menéndez, the Argentine Military Governor at Port Stanley, the army engineers (under Colonel Manuel Dorrego) in the Falklands capital built field showers for the 10th Brigade, that allowed the 3rd, 6th, 7th and supporting 4th and 25th Regiments before the British landings, to send companies into town on a rotating basis to get a hot shower.

'Reserva Z'

''Reserva Z'' (Z Reserve) was established on 7 April 1982. Initially comprising Major Alejandro Carullo's 181st Armoured Cavalry Squadron, it was located on Stanley Racecourse with orders to reinforce Fox Bay or Goose Green if required via helicopters or ships.

* 181st Armoured Car Squadron ''(Stanley Racecourse)''.
* 10th Armoured Squadron ''(Moody Valley)''.
* 6th Regiment's 'Piribebuy' Company ''(The Saddle)''.
** Commander: First Lieutenant Raúl Daniel Abella.
* 3rd Regiment's 'Tacuari' Company
** Commander: Captain Rubén Oscar Zunino.

With the arrival of the 10th Brigade, 'Reserva Z' was reinforced by Captain Rodrigo Alejandro Soloaga's 10th Armoured Cavalry Squadron and the 3rd Regiment's 'Tacuari' Company and the 6th Infantry Regiment's 'Piribebuy' Company. By the end of April, 'Reserva Z' received clear instructions to defend the Stanley sector. The two armoured car units were ordered to patrol the Stanley-Estancia track. The 6th Regiment's B Company occupied The Saddle in support of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Regiment digging in on Mount Challenger and Wall Mountain. It was also warned to be ready to reinforce the 3rd and 6th Infantry Regiments in the event of a seaborne landing on the southern beaches. In late April, 'Equipo de Combate Solari' in the form of the 12th Infantry Regiment's B Company joined 'Reserva Z', bringing it to a regimental-size grouping.

Marines

* 5th Marine Infantry Btn. (BIM 5) attached to Army — '' Mount Tumbledown, Mount William and Sapper Hill (Stanley)'' (†16 and 68 wounded)
** Commander: ''Capitan de Fragata'' ( commander) Carlos Hugo Robacio.
* Heavy Machine-Gun Company; 27 x 12.7 mm MGs
** Commander: ''Teniente de Navio'' (Marine Captain) Sergio Dachary. '' Stanley Common'' (†seven and 17 wounded )
* Amphibious Engineer Company ''Stanley Common'' (†four)
** Commander: ''Capitan de Corbeta'' Luis A. Menghini
*1st Marine Field Artillery Battalion's B Battery (Batería B/BlAC) ''Stanley Common'' (†two and two wounded)
* Commander: ''Teniente de Navio'' Mario R. Abadal
** 1,800 men
* Dog platoon Naval Base Puerto Belgrano ''Teniente de fragata'' Miguel A. Pa


** 18 dogs (†two), 22 men

On the night of 13–14 June, the British 5th Infantry Brigade carried out their attacks. The 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attacked Tumbledown Mountain in the centre. The Argentines defending Tumbledown were Marines from N Company from Commander Carlos Hugo Robacio's 5th Marine Battalion. They were supported on the forward slopes of Mount William with O Company of the 5th Marines. Although its men were conscripts too, the marines were well fed and well clothed for the Falklands. The battalion had been based in Tierra del Fuego in the far south of the Patagonia and the soldiers were used to the harsh terrain and cold climate.

Gendarmería (Border Guards)

'' Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de Gendarmería Nacional''
The following Gendarmerie (Argentina), Gendarmeria combat patrols in the form of the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron operated in the Falklands:
*Special Forces Combat Patrols: (†seven) _{'' 6 died and 11 injured in the Puma helicopter crash on 30 May''}
**''Atucha'' Squad - ''Mount Kent (East Falkland)''.
**''Bariloche'' Squad.
**''Calafate'' Squad.
**''Esquel'' Squad - '' Smoko Mount (East Falkland)''.

The 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron under Major José Ricardo Spadaro along with the 181st Military Police Company carried out several cordon-and-search operations in Port Stanley, to ensure that British special forces were not hiding among the civilian population in the Falklands capital. Port Stanley resident John Smith recalls the surprise inspection his family received on the night of 9–10 June from the Gendarmerie commando patrol squad under Captain Hugo Díaz:

Air defences

Army

* 601st Air Defence Artillery Group (GADA-601). (†six and 23 wounded ) _{''4 by Shrike 3rd June''}
** Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Héctor L. Arias
** Cardion AN/TPS-44 long range radar
** Roland SAM system
** 4 x Tigercat SAM triple launchers
** 6 x Skyguard fire control radars, each controlling 2 Oerlikon GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons. (One Skyguard radar and two GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons deployed to BAM Cóndor/Goose Green.)
** 12 x GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons for the Argentine Army. 3 x GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons for the (FAA) Air Force. The FAA Oerlikon GDF-002 guns were sited on the Southwest side of Port Stanley Airport.
** 3 x Oerlikon 20 mm single barrel Anti-Aircraft Cannons.
*B Battery, 101st Anti-Aircraft group (GADA 101), I Corps.(†three and nine wounded )
** Commander: Major Jorge Monge.
** 8 x Hispano Suiza 30 mm guns.
** 10 x 12.7 mm machine guns.
*Some Infantry units
** Blowpipe shoulder fired SAMs.

Air Force

* Stanley Airfield defence group
* Goose Green Airfield defence group (BAM Cóndor)
* Special Operations Group:
** Westinghouse TPS-43F long range radar
** 3 x Oerlikon twin 35 mm guns
** Super Fledermaus fire control radar
** Elta short ranged radar at Goose Green
** 15 x Rheinmetall Rh-202 twin 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (9 deployed to defend Port Stanley Airbase, 6 deployed to defend Goose Green Airbase)
** A number of SA-7 man portable short ranged SAMs.

Navy

* 1st Marine Anti-Aircraft Battalion ''Stanley Common'' (†2).
** Commander: ''capitan de corbeta'' (Marine Major) Hector E. Silva .
** 3 x Tigercat SAM triple launchers
** 12 x Hispano HS-831 30 mm anti-aircraft guns

Infantry weapons

* Personal Weapons
** Browning Hi-Power
** Ballester–Molina
** FM PA3-DM
** FMK-3 submachine gun
** L34A1 Sterling
** FM FAL 50.61
** FM FAL 50.41
** M16A1, "partially used"
* Support Weapons
** FM FAP
** FM MAG
** Browning M2HB
** 90mm M20 Bazooka
** FM 60 mm Mortar
** FM 81 mm Mortar
** FM 120 mm Mortar
** FM Model 1968/M-1974 105mm recoilless gun
** Blowpipe MANPADS (Man Portable Air-Defence System)
* Anti-personnel mines
** FMK1 (mine)
** No. 4
** P4B
** SB33
* Anti-tank mines
** C3B
** FMK3
** M1
** No. 6
** SB81

Casualties

*Argentine Army: 194 (16 officers, 35 NCOs and 143 conscripts) killed and 1,308 wounded
**lis
Argentine Army casualties
* Argentine Navy : 34 Marines killed (one officer, three NCOs and 30 conscripts) and 105 woundedEl 3 de junio fallecio un heroe de malvinas
/ref>
*Gendarmería Nacional Argentina: seven commandos (two officers, four NCOs and one gendarme) killed and 12 wounded or injured.

See also

*Argentine air forces in the Falklands War
* Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War

References

Notes

Sources

* ''The Battle For The Falklands'', Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins,
* ''Falklands Air War'', Chris Hobson,
* ''The Falklands War 1982'', Duncan Anderson,
*
Argentine Order of Battle

External links

{{Falklands War, style=wide

Falklands War orders of battle