The Chilean Army comes by its German influences and traditions honestly, from a decent-sized influx of German immigrants during the second half of the 19th century, most of whom settled in the southern part of the country, centered around Puerto Montt, where the weather is cooler and wetter, and where dairy farms and breweries now abound. But it didn’t end with Chile. Bolivia, Columbia and Argentina all used German advisors, techniques and uniforms. Right up to the present day.
(Bolivian soldiers with stahlhelm M35 helmets and M16 assault rifles.)
(Argentine soldiers with Casco M38 helmets in the mid-1940s.)
Former US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman general Mike Mullen with Chilean honour guard 2012.
Chilean army 2014
German Waffen SS troops 1944
Chile
Chile
(Colombian troops on the streets of Bogota in the 1948-1949 time frame.)
Traditions are hard to break, especially military tradition.
Not to be left out of the equation, the U.S. changed their military helmets in the early 1980’s. The Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) is the United States Army’s current combat helmet. Although very different from the German helmets, the U.S. helmet does have a similar look.
