Mayor General CELESTINO ÁVILA ASTUDILLO
COMMANDER OF THE MEXICAN ARMY
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN ARMIES
MEXICAN ARMY
Academic Background
- Officer Formation Course, Heroico Colegio Militar (Military Academy).
- Combat Patrol Course, 49th Infantry Battalion.
- Infantry, Artillery, Saper, and Support Branches Application Course (Cuernavaca, state of Morelos).
- Airborne Course, 3rd Airborne Battalion.
- Command and General Staff Course, 57th Class, War School.
- Superior Warfare Course, War School.
- Command and General Staff, Class of 1993, School of the Americas (Ft Benning, GA, US).
- Master’s Degree in National Security, Superior Naval Studies Center, Secretariat of the Navy.
Positions and Assignments
- Platoon and Company Commander, 67th Infantry Battalion (San Quintín, state of Baja California).
- Section Chief, General Staffs of the I, III, and IX Military Regions.
- Deputy Chief of Staff, General Staff, 27th Military Zone, IX Military Region.
- Deputy Commander and Chief of Command Group, 8th Infantry Battalion (Mazatlán, state of Sinaloa).
- Commander, 7th, 15th, and 53rd Infantry Battalions.
- Chief, Counterintelligence Section, Second Section (Intelligence), National Defense General Staff.
- Assistant Defence Attaché, Mexican Embassy to the Kingdom of Spain, Mar 16, 2003 – Mar 16, 2005.
- Chief of Staff, 28th and 42nd Military Zones.
- Deputy Commandant, Studies Center of the Mexican Army and Air Force.
- Chief, Sixth Section (Education, Training, and Military Doctrine), National Defense General Staff.
- Commander, Military Garrison, (El Ciprés, Ensenada, state of Baja California).
- Commander, 20th and 45th Military Zones.
- Commander, II and IX Military Regions.
- Commander of the Mexican Army and Chairman of the PESCA, Cycle XXXVI.
Decorations
- 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Classes, Special, Extraordinary, and Institutional Perseverance Decoration.
- 2nd and 1st Classes Campaign against Drug-Trafficking Merit Decoration.
- “Distinguished Services” Decoration.
- “Legion of Honor”.
- “Irmandade dos Exercitos Americanos” Military Medal, granted by the Chairman