25th Infantry Regiment (Argentina)

In 1943 the 25th Infantry Regiment was created as part of the Patagonia Group. It was first headquartered in the town of Las Heras, Santa Cruz. In December 1943 the town of Puerto Deseado became the barracks of the 25th Regiment. On 31 August 1943 the town of Sarmiento, Chubut became the long term barracks of the 25th Regiment, and is also shared with the 9th Armored Artillery Squadron.

In the mid-1970s the 25th Infantry Regiment deployed officers and other ranks in the fighting taking place in Tucumán Province between military/police units and left-wing guerrillas/radicals.

The 25th Regiment was a member of Group B that traveled to the Tucumán province by order of the Commanding General of the Army to reinforce the V Infantry Brigade that carried out Operation Independence. Group B took turns with Group A and C, created for the same purpose.[1]

In 1977, the 25th Infantry Regiment dispatched the Combat Team “Águila” to the city of Campana, Buenos Aires, to integrate with the Task Force “Campos”. The unit was made up of personnel from the three companies of the regiment and totaled 30 Officers and 141 soldiers.[2]

Falklands War

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 Regiment was the sole unit of the Argentine Army to take part in the amphibious landings that took place in the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982, as part of Operation Rosario. A platoon of the 25th Regiment was detached to clear the obstructions on Stanley Airport in the form of abandoned vehicles and concrete blocks. During the Falklands War, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Ali Seineldin was entrusted with the defense of Stanley Airport. The 25th Regiment's C Company formed outposts at Goose Green and San Carlos, along with part of the 12th Infantry Regiment. C Company suffered heavy casualties on Darwin Ridge and Goose Green Airbase, but forced the British attackers to withdraw twice in the battle before the Argentines surrendered. During the British landings on 21 May, the 12th Regiment platoon under Second Lieutenant José Alberto Vásquez shot down 2 Gazelle helicopter-gunships, while at Fanning Head the majority in the 25th Regiment platoon under Sub-Lieutenant Roberto Oscar Reyes were able to successfully evade encirclement by British SBS Commandos. On 11 June, a platoon of Royal Marines under Lieutenant Martin Howell from 40 Commando's B Company finally caught up with Sub-Lieutenant Reyes and surrounded and captured his platoon that had taken refuge in New House and Moss Side House.[3] Enemy leader, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones 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 had received Commando training in February/March 1982, according to the book 9 Battles To Stanley (Nick Van Der Bijl, Leo Cooper, 1999), to act out the mission in the Falklands. The highest-ranking British Warrant Officer Nick Van Der Bijl, who interviewed key captured Argentine officers/POWs in the Falklands fighting has written:

Van Der Bijl even alleges that a mutiny was at one stage plotted, to replace Brigadier-General Mario Menéndez with Colonel Seineldín of the 25th 'Special' Infantry Regiment.[4]

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.

In recognition of their role in the Falklands War, the regimental battle flag was awarded the "Medalla de Campaña" of the Argentine Army, "To the flag that fought in the South Atlantic" of the Santa Fe Province and the Medal of the Municipality of Sarmiento.

In all, 35 members of the Cadre and troop personnel were decorated, including the fallen, like Lieutenant Roberto Néstor Estévez, a platoon commander during the Battle of Goose Green.