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Military of Colombia
The military of Colombia, officially the Military Forces of Colombia is the armed forces of Colombia. It consists of:
Colombian National Army Ejercito Nacional de Colombia
Colombian National Armada Armada Nacional de Colombia (Marines and Coast Guard attached)
Colombian Air Force Fuerza Aerea Colombiana
All of these services are under the supreme command of the President of Colombia and conjointly with the Civil Defense Force (decentralized) and the National Police (Centralized) are controlled directly by the Colombian Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry of Defense's main purpose is to plan and coordinate the operation of the Armed Forces for internal and external defense and security. It is composed of an Army, Navy (which includes both marines and coast guard) and an Air Force, all under the leadership of a civilian Minister of Defense.
In 1999, Colombia assigned 3.6% of its GDP to defense, according to the National Planning Department. By 2007 this figure had risen to 6.1% of GDP, one of the highest rates in the world. The armed forces number about 250,000 uniformed personnel: 145,000 military and 105,000 police. These figures do not include assistance personnel such as cooks, medics, mechanics, etc. This makes the Colombian military one of the largest and most well-equipped in Latin America. Many Colombian military personnel have received military training assistance directly in Colombia and also in the United States. The United States has provided equipment and financing to the Colombian military and police through the military assistance program, foreign military sales, and the international narcotics control program, all currently united under the auspices of Plan Colombia.
History
The military history of Colombia as an institution goes as far back as the colonial wars of independence fought by the patriot army of 'Gran Colombia', composed of the future Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia; and lead by General Simon Bolivar and other important heroes such as Francisco de Paula Santander. It is, however, only with the triumph of August 7, 1819, in Boyaca that the military forces of Gran Colombia establish themselves as a fundamental part of the Colombian Nation. Venezuela and Ecuador declared independence from Colombia by proclamation in 1830.
Narcotics decertification in 1996 forced a temporary halt to U.S. military assistance programs, except for those related to counternarcotics. On 1 August, 1997, the U.S. and Colombia signed an End Use Monitoring (EUM) memorandum of understanding which stipulated that U.S. counternarcotics assistance to the Colombian military be conditioned on human rights screening of proposed recipient units. Once equipment is provided, it continues to be subject to end-use monitoring to ensure it is being used for counternarcotics purposes.
U.S. assistance to Colombian military and police forces is provided strictly in accordance with Section 564 of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (Public Law 106-113) and with Section 8098 of Department of Defense Appropriations Act (Public Law 106-79). No assistance is provided to any unit of the security forces for which the U.S. Government has credible evidence of commission of gross violations of human rights, unless the Secretary of State is able to certify that the Government of Colombia has taken effective measures to bring those responsible to justice. End-use monitoring also is required in these cases.
Since 2000 the Ministry of Defense (Ministerio de Defensa) and the Joint Staff Command started a program to overhaul and improve the performance of the military branches it was the result of a study (1998-1999) suggesting to improve the military mobility, personnel training and internal organization to allow more flexibility. It is also known that increasing use of Special Forces such as AFEUR (Urban Warfare/CounterTerrorism Units), Lancero units (Jungle Warfare/Ranger like) is suggested by the study.
In addition to its own domestic needs, Colombia also provides troops to international peacekeeping efforts, most notably the Multinational Force and Observers, to whom it has provided a full infantry battalion since 1982 for the Sinai Peninsula.
Dependencies
Military Medical Corps (Sanidad Militar):Medical and Nurse Corps)
Military Industry (Industrias Militares INDUMIL): Military Industry Depot
Military Sports Federation (Federacion Deportiva Militar FEDECODEMIL)
Military Printing (Imprenta Militar)
Military Museum (Museo Militar): History of the Armed Forces of Colombia
War Superior College (Escuela Superior de Guerra ESDEGUE)
World factbook Statistics
Military branches:Colombian Army (Ejercito Nacional)
Colombian Navy
Colombian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Colombiana)
Military manpower - military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 24 months (2004)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 18-49: 10,212,456
females age 18-49: 10,561,562 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 6,986,228
females age 18-49: 8,794,465 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males age 18-49: 389,735
females age 18-49: 383,146 (2005 est.)
Expenditures
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$8.6 billion (FY08) [*]
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
6.5% (FY08) [*]
See also
Colombia
AFEUR
Colombian Army
Indumil
External links
Ministerio de Defensa de Colombia - Official Ministry of Defense site in Spanish
Comando General de las Fuerzas Militares - Official Armed Forces General Command in Spanish
Ejercito Nacional de Colombia - Official Army site in Spanish
Ejercito Nacional de Colombia - Official Army site in English
Armada Nacional de Colombia - Official Navy site (in Spanish and English)
Fuerza Aerea Colombiana - Official Air Force site (in Spanish)
Policia Nacional de Colombia - Official National Police site in Spanish
Colombia: Seguridad & Defensa - Unofficial site in Spanish
Other Links
Colombian Military expenditure
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Military of Colombia
