Since yesterday, by order of the Minister of Defense, Walter Astudillothe committees of officers of the Peruvian Army (EP) that will decide the future of their institute with promotions, are already meeting to evaluate who will take the reins in 2025.
In a document he accessed Peru21Division General Jorge Agramonte, head of the Army Personnel Command (Copere), asks all EP units to grant facilities to all personnel who are part of these committees to be absent from October 7 to 9 and comply with the selection process, which will be made public no later than this week—unless there is any objection from the Government Palace—.
The selection board for Division General will be made up of 14 members. It will be chaired by Commander General César Briceño (class of 1987). This board must decide to which Army arms it will grant the three approved vacancies. By the way, Briceño will complete one year in office, he still has one more year to be at the head of the Army.
According to the resolution published in El Peruano last Thursday, by 2025 there will only be three vacancies for promotion to Division General. There will be nine candidates from the 1990 class who will compete for these positions. The six Brigade Generals who are not promoted will go into military retirement status due to renewal.
WHY NOT 4?
This year the three vacancies also mean that three current division members will retire at the end of the year. Most likely, these casualties will fall on Major General Miguel Gonzáles Bojórquez (class of 1987), Major General Miguel Pajuelo Jibaja (1988) and Major General Carlos Rabanal Calderón (1989). However, it is striking that the name of Orestes Vargas Ortiz (class of 1987) is not included in this list of division members.
Both Gonzáles and Vargas have been Division Generals since January 1, 2020, that is, they have been in the same position for five years. Gonzáles would soon leave the Army, however, Vargas would continue, despite the fact that he no longer has any projection in a military career. In the Army’s history there is no case in which a Major General has remained in the rank for six consecutive years; unless his condition has been that of General Commander or Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces. Do you want to avoid Orestes Vargas’ retirement? For what purpose?
THE ARMY SPEAKS
According to sources from the military high command, the first option is to grant the three vacancies to the Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery arms, respectively. The second option that is being used is to give two vacancies to Infantry and one to Cavalry. Currently, of the 15 active Division Generals, six are from Infantry, four from Cavalry, three from Engineering and two from Artillery. Of the nine expectant Brigade Generals: four are from Infantry, two from Cavalry, two from Artillery and one from Engineering.
Those who have the best chance of achieving promotion to divisional ranks, by maintaining a correct career path in the Army, are: General Víctor Huertas, Jorge Arévalo and Carlos Gamarra. However, generals Francisco Costa, José Whittembury and Jorge Díaz are also fighting for the quota that would correspond to Gamarra.
The Army indicated Peru21 that “next year one more vacancy may be assigned to the 1990 class.” He also assured that Major General Orestes Vargas has been in his position for five years and that “according to the law, all Major Generals (EP, MGP and FAP) can remain active until they reach 40 years of service.”
What is expected from the selection board? That the qualification that will be given to the candidates for promotion is based on the institution, with rigor regarding the background and investigations. In that sense, their criteria should be completely removed from the gloomy past that the Army experienced in the 1990s. The Army and the Armed Forces, in general, need a renewal of integrity and that will only be achieved by promoting the best values of each armed institute.
PROMOTIONS IN THE FAP AND THE NAVY
Promotions in the Peruvian Air Force will also be defined in the coming days. For lieutenant general there are four major generals as candidates, but only two of them will obtain the rank, both soldiers belong to the class of 1991.
The number of vacancies that said institute grants is two lieutenant generals per promotion. Currently there are eight with the aforementioned degree in each of the promotions (1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990). The names that have come to light for the 2025 promotions are those of officers Javier Tryon, Ricardo Guerra, David Gonzáles and César Vassallo.
For its part, in the Navy there are five rear admirals candidates for promotion to one of the two vacancies for the rank of vice admiral. As in the FAP, two vacancies are being granted per promotion. Today, in total, there are eight vice admirals from the 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 classes.
The candidate rear admirals are Enrique Arnaez, Gonzalo Carrera, César Benavides, Jorge Andaluz and Alberto Avilez.
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