User:KeriMitchell/sandbox

25th Mechanized Infantry Regiment The 25th Mechanized Infantry Regiment is an infantry unit of the Argentine Army belonging to the 9th Mechanized Brigade, 3rd Army Division. Its base can be found in the Army Garrison of Sarmiento, province of Chubut.

History
In 1943, the creation of the 25th Infantry Regiment was decreed, tasked with command of the Patagonia population, becoming their first provisional base in the town of Las Heras, province of Santa Cruz. In December 1943, Port Desire — a province of Santa Cruz— was established as a base of the 25th Regiment. Finally on August 31, 1943, it was established as a fixed base at the locality of Sarmiento, Province of Chubut, where it shares the Sarmiento Army Garrison with the 9th Armored Artillery Squadron.

The 25th Infantry Regiment integrated into Grouping B that traveled around the province of Tucumán by order of the Commanding General of the Army in order to reinforce the 5th Infantry Brigade that was pressing ahead with Operational Independence. Grouping B alternated with Groupings A and C, created for the same purpose.

In 1977, the 25th Infantry Regiment deployed Combat Team Eagle to the city of Campana in order to join Task Force Campos. The unit was made up of personnel from the three companies of the regiment and totaled 30 Officers and 141 Soldiers.

Falklands War
This section is an excerpt from Operation Rosary.

Operation Rosary was a conquest of the Falkland Islands by Argentina in 1982, by means of an amphibious and bloodless operation, due to the decision of the military junta that had governed the country since 1976. The archipelago had been under control of the United Kingdom since its occupation in 1833.

The Argentine soldiers pushed out the British authorities and established a military governance. The Argentine authorities, led by Leopoldo Galtieri, had planned the operation since December 1981. In March of 1982, an expeditionary fleet set sail from the continent. The disembarkment began on April 2nd and was carried out without any major issues except for a death in the occupation of the Government palace. The Argentine commander reached his goal without causing injuries on the enemy or the civilians, something that the dictatorship had demanded for diplomatic negotiations. At the end, the Argentine forces defeated the reduced British garrison, which was deported along with Governor Rex Hunt.

On April 3rd, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 502, which ordered:


 * 1) The immediate cessation of hostilities
 * 2) The immediate withdrawal of all Argentine forces from the Falkland Islands
 * 3) The governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to come to a diplomatic solution to their differences and to fully obey the aims and principles of the Charter of the United Nations

15 out of 30 countries voted in favor of the resolution, one more than the necessary minimum. The Argentine dictatorship did not expect this. With the exception of Panama, the members of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries voted against Argentina while the Soviet Union, Spain, Poland, and China abstained.

That same Saturday April 3rd, the government of the United Kingdom launched Operation Corporate, under the care of Task Force 317, in order to recapture the archipelagos.

The 25th Infantry Regiment was the first unit of the Argentine Army to step on to the territory of the Falkland Islands in the recovery of the islands in 1982. During the Falkland War, although its leader Mohamad Alí Seineldín was in the airport area, Company C, which was assigned to Darwin-Goose Green, fought in the Battle of Goose Green, suffering injuries and causing damage to the enemy troops including their leader, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones who was killed on the hillside of Mount Darwin by two drafted soldiers from Section Bote, the ROA (Reserve Officer Aspirants) Guillermo Huircapán (FAL marksman and grenadier) and Oscar Ledesma (MAG operator). The leader of Section Bote was Lieutenant Roberto Néstor Estévez who was shot down while directing his men. In the end, Lieutenant Colonel “H” Jones turned out to be the highest ranking enemy killed in combat, making this act the merit of the Argentine Army, and particularly, of the 25th Infantry Regiment. Another merit of the Argentine Army was the shooting down of British helicopters the previous week, in the Battle of Fort San Carlos, elevation 234, by the Güemes Combat Team (under the command of Second Lieutenants Roberto Reyes and José Alberto Vásquez) as its Commander, First Lieutenant Carlos Daniel Esteban.

The 25th Regiment received special training to act accordingly in the Falklands. According to the highest ranking British non-commissioned Officer, Nick Van Der Bijl, principle interrogator of the Argentine POWs in the Falklands:

When notified that his regiment had been selected for deployment to the Falklands, Seineldín renamed the 25th Special Infantry Regiment although Argentine reporters would later call it the Seineldín Commanded Regiment. In the defense of the Argentine Port, Seineldín soon expanded his regiment to include 5 companies of about 100 men each adding to companies D (Captain Hernán Garay) and E (Captain Eduardo Jesús Olmos). The majority of the Officers and NCOs were commanders or paratroopers, and with a team of extremely capable and motivated NCO instructors, he brought out the best in his draftees in a short but tough command course.

In his book The Falklands: A Sentiment (South-American Publishers, 1999), Seineldín declared that it was his subordinates in Command Companies 601 and 602 who suggested taking charge of the Argentine defenses, which he strictly rejected. British authors Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins said the following:

The Calvi report prepared by the Army after the war even suggests that a mutiny was plotted to replace Menéndez with Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín, of the 25th Infantry Regiment.

On the night of June 13 and 14th, 1982, the regiment deployed a company to stop the enemy advance at Moody Brook.

For participation in the Falklands War, the unit’s war flag was decorated with the “Campaign Medal” of the Argentine Army, the Medal “to the flag that fought in the South Atlantic” of the Province of Santa Fe and the Medal of the Municipality of Sarmiento.

Likewise, 35 members of the Cadre and troop personnel were decorated, including the fallen, like the Section Commander, Lieutenant Roberto Néstor Estévez.