Ernesto Horacio Crespo (8 December 1929-6 March 2019) was an Argentine brigadier-general and Chief of Staff of the Argentine Air Force from 1985 to 1989. He commanded Argentina's South Air Force during the Falklands War of 1982.
Biography[]
Ernesto Horacio Crespo was born in Mendoza, Argentina on 8 December 1929, and he became an officer in the Argentine Air Force. In 1982, while commanding the IV Air Brigade, he was tasked with implementing and commanding the South Air Force ahead of Operation Rosario, the Argentine occupation of the British Falkland Islands. He commanded Argentina's air force during the war, and its use of Exocet missiles destroyed several Royal Navy ships and inflicted heavy losses. He went on to serve as Chief of Staff of the FAA from 1985 to 1989, and he defended Argentine democracy from the more authoritarian faction of the military; he retired in 1989 and died in 2019.