2022 Chilean Military Parade
The 2022 Chilean military parade was held at O'Higgins Park in Santiago on 19 September 2022 to commemorate the «Day of the Glories of the Army». It was the first Great Military Parade of Chile presided over by President Gabriel Boric, who was accompanied by Defence Minister Maya Fernández.
A total of 8,276 personnel from the Chilean Armed Forces, Carabineros de Chile and the Investigations Police of Chile (PDI) participated. The parade also marked the return of spectators to the ceremony after two editions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.
Background
The 2022 edition represented a return towards the traditional format of the parade following restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the traditional ceremony at O'Higgins Park was replaced by a smaller event at the Military School, while the parade returned to the park in 2021 but was held without spectators.
For 2022, the public was again permitted to attend, although sanitary measures remained in force. The Ministry of Health established a maximum of 4,800 invited guests, required mobility passes for them and organized participating formations as separate sanitary groups. The general public was permitted in designated areas of O'Higgins Park.
The ceremony was also the first military parade of Boric's presidency, following his inauguration in March 2022.
Parade
The ceremony began on the morning of 19 September. Boric arrived at O'Higgins Park aboard the traditional presidential Ford Galaxie and was accompanied by Fernández and senior civil and military authorities. Major General Cristián Vial, commander of the Santiago Army Garrison and head of the parade forces, subsequently requested presidential authorization to begin the march-past.
A total of 8,276 personnel participated, comprising 3,177 members of the Chilean Army, 1,372 of the Chilean Navy, 1,201 of the Chilean Air Force, 1,695 Carabineros and 400 PDI personnel. Of the participants, 1,410 were women.
The Navy's 1,372-person contingent included personnel from the Arturo Prat Naval Academy, the Naval Polytechnic Academy, reserve officers and the 21st Marine Infantry Battalion Miller of the Amphibious Expeditionary Brigade.
The PDI participated for the second time in the parade, following its debut in 2019.
Aerial parade
The Chilean Air Force deployed approximately 50 aircraft during the ceremony, including F-16 fighters, Northrop F-5s, C-130 and KC-130 Hercules aircraft, a KC-135 tanker, helicopters and the newly acquired Boeing E-3D Sentry airborne early warning aircraft.
The parade included the E-3D Sentry's first appearance in the event. It also marked the final flypast over O'Higgins Park by the Air Force's A-36 Toqui aircraft, which were approaching the end of their service life after being used for the training of generations of Chilean combat pilots.
The Air Force's Halcones aerobatic team also flew its GB1 GameBird aircraft over the parade for the first time.
Public attendance
The 2022 parade was the first since 2019 at which spectators were again admitted to O'Higgins Park. The 2020 ceremony had been substantially reduced because of the pandemic and the 2021 parade had taken place without spectators.
During portions of the ceremony, some spectators booed Boric. After the parade, the president said that expressions of opinion were legitimate, while objecting to interruptions directed at the military personnel taking part in the ceremony.