Army maneuvers by promoting command chief of staff – 10/26/2023 – Power

The Army High Command made a move this week to promote Commander Tomás Paiva’s chief of staff in advance. Francisco Humberto Montenegro was elevated to general of four stars even though he was the officer with the lowest score among his class peers at Aman (Agulhas Negras Military Academy) who are still on active duty.

With the maneuver, two generals were promoted instead of one, as stipulated by the Force’s regulations. The other promoted was General Maurílio Ribeiro.

Montenegro has served as head of the Army commander’s office since 2019 and was the favorite among the other military personnel in the High Command to receive the promotion, which takes place in a secret vote. However, if only he benefited, Army rules would require that all other generals in his class be sent to the reserves. The domino effect would leave the subsequent round of promotion, scheduled for March, without competitors.

In addition to being unprecedented, the absence of a general capable of being promoted to High Command in March would create an impasse for the Army. There are departments and regional commands that can only be headed by a four-star general — and one of these positions would be vacant.

During his career, Montenegro served as chief of staff with commanders Edson Pujol, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, Júlio Cesar Arruda and Tomás Paiva. From the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government to the beginning of the Lula (PT) administration, he participated in troubled moments in internal crises and acted as commanders’ right-hand man in controversial decisions.

He had influence, for example, in drafting the note from the commanders of the Armed Forces, on November 11, 2022, during the effervescence of the coup camps. The text was interpreted as an endorsement by the military of the anti-democratic demonstrations that took place in front of the barracks after the electoral campaign.

It also survived the job changes that Paulo Sérgio promoted after Pujol’s departure in the worst crisis in the Armed Forces since redemocratization, in 2021.

Despite the preference, Montenegro was the most modern general among the soldiers still on active duty who graduated from the Aman class of 1986.

In practice, Montenegro’s solo promotion would cause the fall of eight generals from his class and leave a seat vacant at the top of the career ladder. In other words, in the next round of promotion, there would not be a soldier from his class capable of reaching the fourth star.

The promotion provides new benefits for Montenegro and Ribeiro, such as an increase in salary of around R$4,000, depending on the courses you have taken in your career, and sporadic benefits, such as when moving to other states, which can exceed R$ 150 thousand.

According to military rules, the Army High Command meets three times a year to decide which generals are promoted and to which positions they will be sent. Meetings traditionally take place in February, June and October.

The first meeting of each class cycle promotes two generals to the fourth star. The second and third meetings each define just one officer for the last position in the Force.

The promotion defined this week by the High Command would be the second for the class of 1986. With the anticipation, there should be no new promotions for the last position in the Army at the next collegiate meeting.

Ribeiro and Montenegro will assume the highest positions in the Force in the place of generals Estevam Theophilo, current head of the Land Operations Command and considered the most Bolsonarian among the military at the top of the career; and Fernando Soares, Chief of Staff of the Army, who will only leave his position in March.

The proposal to bring forward the promotion of generals was presented by Soares, who heads the Officer Promotion Commission.

The justification presented internally, according to reports made to Sheetwas that the decision would be fairer to avoid the last place being contested by few people or even, in the case of Montenegro being chosen, there being a lack of generals to reach the top of the career ladder.

The promotion of officers was not usually a matter of concern in the barracks. According to military rules, the selection of which soldiers should advance in their career follows specific rules, such as seniority and placement in training courses.

The Forces’ regulations establish that officers are promoted based on merit from cadet to colonel. Promotion to general officers is chosen by the High Command, in secret votes, and not necessarily the best placed in the class are elected to win the new stars.

This method of promotion causes a series of criticisms of the Armed Forces. Scholars consider that the lack of criteria for promotions to senior career positions opens up gaps for political decisions.

The Army also foresees a risk of attrition with the unprecedented nature of evaluating the promotion of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, a soldier who now wears an electronic ankle bracelet and who signed a plea agreement after being imprisoned for four months.

Such as Sheet showed, Cid is one of the heads of the Aman class of 2000 and his promotion to colonel is scheduled for March 2024. The Army commander and nearby generals look to the legislation to see if there is an impediment to the career progression of the former adjutant of orders of Bolsonaro.