Ernesto Horacio Crespo (8 December 1929 – 6 March 2019)
was an Argentine
Brigadier General (Lieutenant General) and former Chief of Staff of the
Argentine Air Force.
Early life
In 1982, Crespo, who was the commander of the Fourth Air Force Brigade at the time, was commanded to create, deploy, and command the
South Air Force
The South Air Force was a military unit of the Argentine Air Force that controlled air units during the Falklands War.
The Strategic Air Command created the South Air Force to command the military air operations in south of Argentina
...
( es, Fuerza Aérea Sur); the military organization that would control both Air Force and
Argentine Navy
The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...
air units that would later take part in the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
.
From 1985 to 1989, he acted as Chief of Staff of the Air Force under presidency of
Raúl Alfonsín. During the ''
Carapintadas'' conflict within the
Argentine Army, the Air Force under his command, stood in defense of the democratic government.
During his mandate, the
Condor Program was revealed publicly, which was later discontinued in the early 1990s during the
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...
presidency because of political pressure from the
United States.
Death
Crespo died on 6 March 2019, at the age of 89.
See also
*
Argentine air forces in the Falklands War
References
Argentine Airpower in the Falklands War
1929 births
2019 deaths
Argentine Air Force brigadiers
Argentine military personnel of the Falklands War
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