General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

César Augusto Astudillo Salcedo is a

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

, who serves as the incumbent Chief of the Joint Command of the

Peruvian Armed Forces The Peruvian Armed Forces () are the military services of Peru, comprising independent Army, Navy and Air Force components. Their primary mission is to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity against any threat ...

from October 2018 to August 2021. Prior to his post, he served as the General Commander of the Peruvian Army in December 2017.

Early life and education

He was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, on September 30, 1960, and entered the

Chorrillos Military School The Chorrillos Military School () is the institution in charge of the undergraduate education of officers of the Peruvian Army. Overview The school was opened in 1830 during the first government of Agustín Gamarra and was relocated to Chorri ...

in February 1979, before graduating in the "Héroes de la Breña" class of 1983. He graduated as a Systems Engineer, and holds a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Administration and in Military Sciences. He also attended the Advanced Business Management Program (PADE) at the ESAN Business School and the Senior Management Program at the

University of Piura The University of Piura (; "UDEP") is a private university in Peru. It has two campuses, the main one is in Piura, while a more recently built one is located in the Miraflores District of Lima. In 1964, Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus D ...

. He also took courses locally and abroad such as the Weapons Course in Fort Gulick,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and the Resource Management Course and the Advanced Informatics Course at

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He is trained in Parachuting, Jumping Master, Free Fall, Regular Command Course and Armored Courses. He also graduated from the LVI Course on Command and General Staff at the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

, and the Higher Course in Psychological Operations and in the CAEN as a participant in the Defense and National Development Course.

Military career

He graduated as an infantry officer in 1983, and was assigned to command various army units, particularly in infantry and special forces units. In 1995, he was involved in the

Cenepa War The Cenepa War or Third Ecuadorian-Peruvian War (26 January – 28 February 1995), also known as the Alto Cenepa War, was a brief and localized military conflict between Ecuador and Peru, fought over control of an area in Peruvian territory (i. ...

, serving the Commando Battalion No. 19., and also led the Capture of Miguel Rincón from the MRTA, and in 1997, he, then a Major, was appointed to integrate the Intervention Force to rescue the 72 hostages that were held captive. On April 22, the date on which the “Chavín de Huántar” Rescue Operation was carried out, and joined the “ALFA” rescue patrol, whose mission was to rescue hostages on the 1st floor of the residence. Given his specialty in Command and training in rescue operations. On April 22, the date on which the “Chavín de Huántar” Rescue Operation was carried out, he joined the “ALFA” rescue patrol, whose mission was to rescue hostages on the 1st floor of the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Peru. He was also involved in Operation "Cerco", by leading the capturing Óscar Ramírez Durand (Feliciano) in 1999, and in Operation "Peru", where he led the capture of DT Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala (Artemio), in 2012, as commander of the 3rd Special Forces Brigade. In 2014, he was appointed the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the VRAEM Special Command, and in June of the same year, he was appointed General Commander of CE-VRAEM. In 2015, he was appointed as the Inspector General of the Army until in December 2017 he was appointed as General Commander of the Peruvian Army, before being appointed as the Chief of the Joint Command of the

on October 30, 2018. During his term as Chief of the Joint Command, he led various operations in terrorism and military enforcement during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Awards in military service

* Mariscal Cáceres-Distinguido * Mariscal Cáceres-Honor * "Cross of Courage" medal * Decoration of the Joint Command in the Grade of Grand Cross * Francisco Bolognesi Military Order for Operations in the Huallaga. * Military Order Francisco Bolognesi in the degree of GRAN CRUZ * Peruvian Cross Medal for Military Merit in the GRAN CRUZ degree * Order Peruvian Cross to the Naval Merit - Grade of Grand CROIX- Distantivo White * Captain Quiñones order in the Grade of Grand Cross * Medal of General Merit FAP Armando Revoredo Iglesias ”in the“ Gran Cruz ”Class * Military Merit award to Colonel Eduardo Abaroa, the Armed Forces of the State of Bolivia in the Grade of Grand Cross * Academic Medal of the Army in the degree of Merit *Medal to the Combatant Mariscal Cáceres in the degree of Honor * Diploma and Medal to the winners of Cenepa * Naval Medal of Honor to the Merit by the Navy - Merit value * Medal to the Defender of Democracy. CROSS * National Pacification Belt - HONOR - 2015 * Diploma to the Defender of the Fatherland - Winners of Alto Cenepa * Diploma of the Council of the Medal of Honor of the Congress of the Republic of Peru

Distinctions

* Argentine Medal for Academic Excellence * COINDE plaque of honor for having obtained the first place in the Systems Engineering career * Distinction of the Republic of Bolivia from the Military Institute of Engineers * Chilean Army Award * Distinction of the General Staff of the Army of the Federative Republic of Brazil * Decoration of the San Martiniano Institute of Peru * Diploma and Medal of Honor for Merit from the Peruvian Journalists Association -2018 * Diploma from the San Martín University in the San Martín region at the service of the Community

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astudillo, Cesar 1960 births Living people Peruvian generals