The Fuerte Baquedano is a large military base of the
Chilean Army located in the
Atacama Desert. It is located 15km to the North of
Pozo Almonte and 16km to the South of
Huara. It is considered the largest defense facility in
Chile and the most powerful due to the large number of armored vehicles it has. The place is known for being a patch of vegetation in the middle of the desert landscape, since the facilities are surrounded by trees and bushes.
It is the headquarters of the Second Armored Brigade "''Cazadores''". It was created on December 16, 2007 on the basis of the Armored Regiment 2 "''Cazadores''". Also located in this Military Fort is the Commando Company 6 "''
Iquique''", the FAMAE Industrial Maintenance Center "''
Pozo Almonte''" and the Telecommunications Battalion 6 "
''Tarapaca''".
The 2nd Armored Brigade is made up of:
* ''Mechanized Infantry Battalion No. 5 "Carampangue",''
* ''Armored Group No. 7 "Guides",''
* ''Mechanized Engineering Company No. 7 "Aconcagua",''
* ''Artillery Group No. 9 "Salvo",''
* ''Independent Logistics Company.''
* ''Telecommunications Company No. 11 "Huara"''
* ''Administrative and Logistics Headquarters''
Fort Baquedano has several vehicles in the base such as the
Leopard 2A4,
Leopard 1V,
Marder (IFV)
The Schützenpanzer Marder 1 (''" Schützen" carrying "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Marten 1"'') is a German infantry fighting vehicle designed for use with the West German Panzergrenadiere units (mechanized infantry specialized for IFV combat) ...
,
M-109 and various versions of
M113 and other mechanized and motorized tanks. The place has two residential villas, the
El Bosque Military Villa for Officers and the Baquedano Military Villa for NCOs.
References
Chilean Army
Populated places in Tarapacá Region
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