The following summary is from a 1925 U. S. attaché report, concerning the Peruvian Army and Navy, which I found in the U. S. National Archives in Washington, DC.

The Peruvian army has a war strength of 106,500 men. These are divided into a 7,500 Regular Army, a 20,000 first line reserves, and a 79,000 untrained reserve force. The first line of reserves consists of those between the age of 21 and 25 who can be conscripted. The untrained reserve consisted of those between the ages of 21 and 25, who have been excused from military duty and those between ages of 25 and 30. There is also a territorial army that consisted of those between the ages of 31 and 51 who are liable for service within their providence. All men between the ages of 21 and 50 can be called to service for two years in peace time and for the duration during war time.

The Peruvian Army is divided into four skeleton divisions. These divisions form the cadre around which the war strength divisions will be built. The divisions at war strength are to consists of two regiments of infantry, one regiment of artillery, and one regiment of cavalry. Each of the divisional regiments in peace time are at little better then cadre strength. In addition there is an infantry regiment at Iquitos, a cavalry regiment "Escort of the President' at Lima, a coast artillery regiment at Callao, and a group of field artillery (location not given). Total strength for the infantry is 9 infantry regiments, 1 company of light infantry, and 1 infantry battalion at the military school. The cavalry consists of 5 regiments. The artillery branch contains 4 regiments and 1 group of artillery. The coast defense artillery has 1 regiment. A machine gun section is assigned to each infantry regiment. Total war strength of a infantry regiment is 2,100 officers and men. Total war time infantry strength will be 20,000.

The artillery regiments contains both field and mountain artillery. The artillery's most common weapon is the 75 mm Schneider Canet rapid fire gun. There are also some Krupp guns. The total number of artillery guns is 112. The coast artillery is equipped with Armstrong 152 mm and Schneider Canet 240 mm guns. Infantry weapons on hand includes 60,000 Mauser rifles model 1891 of 7.65 caliber, and 15,000 Mannlicher rifles. Most of these rifles are reported to be in poor condition. Machine guns consisted of 105 Schneider Canet ( of 7.65 caliber (?)). There is a reported shortage of ammunition for all weapons. All weapons and ammunition have to be purchased abroad. Only the soldiers clothing is being made in country. For transportation the Army has only animal drawn carts but automobiles are available from the civilian community. The country's poor road network however limits there use.

Militarily the Peruvian Army does not have the necessary trained staff to co-ordinate a divisional attack or defensive battle. It is also lacking in communication equipment and trained officers and NCO's. The army is organized basically as a police force for controlling internal uprisings and disorders. An invading army would most probably meet organized resistance from the Peruvian Army only near the cities of Lima, Arequipa, Lambayeque and Cuzco. It is at each of these towns that the skeleton divisional headquarters are located. While there is a regimental headquarters at Iquitos the troops are distributed in company size and smaller units through out the Amazon basin. Battles would be primarily infantry fights with some artillery support. Warfare would in all probability be more in the nature of guerrilla warfare then combat between opposing armies on a battlefield.

The Army operates an aviation section of 26 planes. The majority of these aircraft are in flyable condition. An airfield is located at Lima and is being up graded with new officer quarters, barracks, workshops, and hangers. The air service is the most efficient and modern segment of the Army.

Those who serve in the army's ranks are all Indians or mestizos. The officer corps consist mostly of those of European decent. Moral of the soldiers is general low due to their small pay which arrives at irregular intervals. Efficiency is also low due to worn out equipment, lack of realistic training, and the poor education level of the soldiers. The officers in general are lacking in military field experience and tactical manoeuvring of troops. Senior officers devote the majority of their time to the political arena and express little interest in building an efficient army.

At present a French military mission is providing training for the Peruvian Army. They however appear to be unable to effect any real institutional change to professionalise the Peruvian Army.

The army can be supported by the national police force which has approximately 7,500 officers and men. The national police consist of a number of separate organizations with different responsibilities. While these are organized into regiments and companies they are generally disbursed through out the country in squad size detachments. They are equipped as light infantry but have little training.

The Peruvian Navy consists of two cruisers, one gunboat, and one destroyer. The cruisers are the Admiral Grau and the Colonel Bolognesi, each armed with two 6 inch, eight 3 inch, eight 1.5 inch guns and two 18 inch torpedo tubes. The gunboat is the Lima armed with four 4 inch guns and four 47 mm guns. The destroyer is the Teniente Rodriguel with six 5 inch guns and two 18 inch torpedo tubes. All of these ships are based at Callao. The Admiral Grau has been converted to oil firing and the Colonel Bolognesi is in Panama under going conversion to oil firing. Two submarines are being built in the United States and these will be station at the new naval base on the Island of San Lorenzo. There is also a river flotilla in the Amazon basin consisting of four launches classified as gunboats.

The Peruvian Navy operates an aviation section. It has two Curtiss seaplanes, five HS-2 planes and three Boeing seaplanes.

A U. S. Naval mission is working with the Peruvian Navy. Moral and discipline in the Peruvian Navy enlisted men is good despite the poor pay, which reaches the men at only infrequently intervals. The officers moral is good though they have little sea going training due to lack of fuel for the ships. The ships spend most of their time anchored off of Callao. A positive point concerning the naval officers is that they, as a group, are less involved in politics than the army.

In the opinion of the reporting officer, name not given, Peru could not defend herself from an attack from Chile or Brazil. The results of a war with Bolivia would most probably favor Peru. Only in a war with Ecuador could Peru be sure of a victory on the battlefield.

The rest of the report is concerned with economic and political Conditions within the country.