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Uruguay NATIONAL SECURITY
Armed Forces: Total strength in 1991 estimated
at
22,900: army, 16,000; navy, 3,500; and air force, 3,400.
Organization: Country divided into four military
regions headquartered in Montevideo (I), San José (II),
Paso de
los Toros (III), and Maldonado (IV). Each military region
headquarters hosted one of four administrative army corps
headquarters. Montevideo's First Corps traditionally most
powerful of army's main command elements. Army had one
independent infantry brigade, fifteen infantry battalions,
six
engineer battalions, six artillery battalions, and ten
cavalry
battalions. Navy organized into one fleet command divided
into
one escort division and one patrol division. Navy also
commanded
naval air, coast guard, marines, and National Maritime
Police.
Air force organized into tactical, training, and matériel
commands, principally Tactical Air Command.
Equipment: Services had mostly obsolete United
States
equipment in 1991. Army had sixty-seven United States-made
light
tanks; armored vehicles from Belgium, Brazil, United
States, and
Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany); and Swedish-,
Argentine-, and United States-made artillery pieces.
Navy's
former United States equipment included one frigate, one
destroyer escort, one corvette, and two large patrol
craft.
French-made equipment included three frigates and three
large
patrol craft. Fleet included one minesweeper, five
amphibious
landing craft, and one training vessel. Air force had
thirtythree combat aircraft (seven of them trainers).
Police: Total strength in 1990 estimated at
17,500.
About 40 percent of police assigned to urban areas (with
at least
20 percent in Montevideo). National Police subordinate to
Ministry of the Interior and organized into four operating
agencies: Montevideo Police, Interior Police, National
Traffic
Police, and National Corps of Firemen. Two police
paramilitary
organizations--Republican Guard and Metropolitan
Guard--assigned
to capital area for ceremonial and guard or riot-control
duties,
respectively.
Data as of December 1990
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