Training the Best of the Best

Peruvian Soldiers celebrate the successful liberation of the hostages. [AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE]

On December 17, 1996, 14 members of the terrorist organization Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) seized the Japanese Embassy in Lima. With hundreds of guests in attendance for the Japanese emperor’s birthday celebration, the terrorists infiltrated the compound and took everyone hostage. As the hours wore on, dozens of hostages – including all the women – were permitted to leave until 72 hostages remained (see sidebar).

The next day, top military leaders devised a plan to retrieve the remaining hostages. For a span of four months, 140 Peruvian Commandos trained, prepared and rehearsed for what was to become the most successful rescue operation in the history of Peru. Operation Chavín de Huántar went into effect on April 22, 1997, when the Commandos stormed the embassy and liberated all the hostages. The operation lasted just 30 minutes as the preparation, planning and training came to fruition.

Current director of the Commando School, Colonel José Oliva, explained that the foundation for that training began at the institution. Since its inception more than 50 years ago, the school has been training not only the finest Peruvian Soldiers, but Soldiers from other countries as well, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

“Our primary mission here at the school is to train our Soldiers to be Commandos,” said Col. Oliva. The school was officially founded in 1961 after the Peruvian Army saw the need to have a Special Forces unit. Fourteen officers were selected to travel to Fort Benning, Georgia, to complete the intense U.S. Army Ranger School. Upon returning to Peru, the officers applied all the training and fundamentals to the first class of cadets, thus creating the first graduating class of Commandos. The Commando School still adheres to the fundamental principles learned at the U.S. Army Ranger School, but the Peruvian Army has adapted it to better fit their needs. Tactical courses such as those to counter terrorism became essential with the rise of the Shining Path and the MRTA in the 1980s.

Col. José Oliva, once a cadet, is now the school's director. [ACHA JIMENEZ ALFONSO]

The six-month course is not for the weak or faint of heart. Peak physical and mental conditioning is paramount for its completion. Enrollment at the officer level typically includes members ranging from 2nd lieutenants to captains, while at the enlisted level the inductees range from staff sergeants to master sergeants. A cadet’s training at the school is divided into three phases: basic, technical and applicable.

At the basic phase, aside from daily physical training, cadets learn the fundamentals of first aid, communications and human rights – an aspect heavily stressed by the school. The technical portion tests the cadets’ physical stamina with trials in water survival, mountaineering, obstacle courses, patrolling and rucksack marches. Failure to complete any portion of this phase will cause the Soldier to be dropped from the school. “Throughout the duration of the course, attrition is a natural factor,” said Col. Oliva. “Typically the average graduating class is around 25 to 30 students after an initial enrollment of 50 or 60.”

During the final phase of the course, cadets apply everything they have learned from Peru’s diverse geography. For example, the mountaineering phase takes place in Peru’s high altitude Huaraz region, located about 420 kilometers north of Lima and 3,052 meters above sea level. Upon completing this trial, the students move on to the jungle phase typically taking place in the Apurímac and Ene Rivers Valley region, a hub for Shining Path activities nowadays.

Cadets who complete the Commando School curricula receive additional specialized training in areas such as sharpshooting/sniper, mountaineering, search and rescue or underwater operations. To complete the entire course and be part of the Commando brotherhood is a matter of honor for these select Soldiers. Their motto is loosely translated to “Being and not seeming,” a reference to not simply boasting of their actions, but carrying out their mission and everything they do as a true Commando Soldier. The Commando School’s hymn states, “Victory is for all our brothers on the field, not just the Commandos.”

A cloud of smoke rises from the Japanese Embassy after the Peruvian Army set off explosives to begin the Chavín de Huántar rescue operation. [AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE]

“If you ask almost everyone in the Army, most Soldiers would like to be a Commando, but not everyone can be one,” said Col. Oliva. “For me it’s a matter of personal pride to have graduated as a Commando because of everything we learned and went through; it shows what the will of the human spirit is capable of doing.”

Peru’s Daring Rescue Operation

DIÁLOGO STAFF

For four months the Soldiers dug through the rocks and cement every day. Dug with very basic tools and equipment in order to minimize the noise. They dug until they finally reached the bottom of the Japanese Embassy, which had been seized by terrorists.

Part of the Commandos training requires a trek through the Apurímac and Ene Rivers Valley. [JAIME REYES LEÓN]

Four months earlier, on the evening of December 17, 1996, members of the Peruvian terrorist organization Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) stormed the residence of Japanese Ambassador Morihisa Aoki as more than 500 guests gathered to celebrate the Japanese Emperor’s birthday. The 14 terrorists, armed with assault rifles, RPGs and grenades, set off two explosions and took the panic-stricken guests hostage.

Over the course of the evening, all the women were released along with dignitaries until 72 hostages remained. They included Japanese authorities and senior officials of Peru’s security forces — including Navy Admiral Luis Giampietri, who would become a key asset for the Peruvian Military through the duration of the hostage crisis.

On December 18, one day after the siege, Operation Chavín de Huántar, in reference to a famous Peruvian archaeological site known for its underground passageways, was put into effect by the Peruvian Government with the utmost secrecy. To prepare for the operation, a life-size replica of the embassy was built at a military base. There, 140 Special Forces Commandos volunteered for the mission and practiced every detail of the operation. Simultaneously, extensive tunnels were being dug from buildings adjacent to the embassy leading to three key points under the Japanese residence where explosives would be placed.

On April 22, 1997, three explosive charges, which had been placed in the underground tunnels, detonated in three different rooms on the first floor. The first explosion hit in the middle of the room where an indoor soccer game was taking place, killing three of the hostage-takers immediately. Through the holes created by the blasts, 30 Commandos stormed the building, chasing the rest of the MRTA members before they reached the second floor.

Two Soldiers stand at attention in front of the statue of famed Inca warrior Pachacutec. [ACHA JIMENEZ ALFONSO]

Two other tactics were deployed at the same time as the explosions. A direct assault from the front of the building by 20 Commandos, joining their comrades who had already entered from underneath the building. A third group of Commandos entered the second floor by climbing up external ladders. The third group then blew up a grenade-proof door on the second floor and began to evacuate the hostages. In the end, all 14 terrorists were killed, as well as two Commandos and one hostage, who died from cardiac arrest after being hit in the femoral artery by shrapnel from a terrorist grenade.

Today, the replica of the embassy used to prepare for the mission has been turned into a museum to honor the success of the operation. April 22 has been declared a national day of remembrance to honor those who died during the Chavín de Huántar Operation.