National Army of Colombia

The National Army of Colombia (Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces. It has the responsibility for land-based military operations along with the Infanteria de Marina (Naval Infantry) to protect the Colombian state against domestic or foreign threats.

The modern Colombian Army has its roots in the Ejército de los Comuneros or Army of the Commoners which was formed on August 7, 1819, before the establishment of the present day Colombia to meet the demands of the Revolutionary War against the Spanish Empire.

That same day, the Congress of Angostura created the Greater Colombian Army after the triumph over the Spanish, to replace the disbanded Commoners Army. However, the Colombian Army considers itself to be an evolution of the Commoners Army, and thus dates its inception from its origins.

History
The Colombian Army trace its history back to the 1770s and 1780s, when the comuneros (Commoners) (mostly descendants of Spanish and Amerindians) decided to separate from the Spanish Empire to create their own country and initiated a revolutionary war. The Greater Colombian Army is consolidated on August 7, 1819 by defeating the Spaniards at Boyacá in the Battle of Boyacá under the command of Simon Bolivar. Since then the Colombian Army has been the biggest organization in Colombia.

The military reform carried out by General Rafael Reyes Prieto in the year 1907 marked the professionalization of the Colombian Armed Forces.

Recent History
The Colombian Army is present at war with leftist rebels of the FARC, ELN and EPL, as well as other minor groups. Throughout the war, military personnel have usually maintained a level of professionalism.

Members of the military have been accused or condemned for collaborating with the activities of right wing paramilitaries, such as the AUC and others. The BBC and other sources have reported on cases of corruption in the military, as well as other scandals.

The United States government approved the Plan Colombia initiative. Part of the resources provided by this initiative would be directed to the support of the Colombian Army by strengthening its combat and logistics capabilities.

The Colombian Army is led by the President of Colombia (a civilian) and directed as well by a (four sun) General.

The training of Colombian soldiers is world recognized due to its demanding features. The promotional courses (courses that the candidate has to take in order to be promoted to a higher rank) are usually tough and physically demanding.

A "Lancero" training course in counterinsurgency warfare is held in Tolemaida, 150 miles (240 km) from Bogotá, where temperatures range between 85 and 100 degrees F. (29.5-38 degrees C.) throughout the year. The course, which has been called the toughest in the world, is run by the Colombian army with U.S. military instructors also playing a role. According to Paris Match (no. 2964, March 9–15, 2006) the course lasts 73 days and trains Bolivian, Ecuadorean, and Panamanian troops as well as Colombian soldiers; some French and American soldiers are also trained there. The course, founded in 1955, derives from the Ranger program of the US Army. Reportedly, severe techniques and live ammunition are used. Because of its exceptional nature, the course has gained international prestige.

Military overseas operations
The Colombian National Army deployed soldiers in the Sinai as part of the United Nations Emergency Force between 1956 and 1967. Since 1980 it has supplied one battalion ('COLBATT') to the Multinational Force and Observers there. This is not a UN operation, due to Cold War manoeuvring. It has also joined forces many times with different armies around the world under the UN mandate.

Colombia is also planning to send around 100 troops to support Spain in the ISAF in Afghanistan.(The troops would also be under Spain's command.)

Divisions
Colombian Army Divisions are static Regional Commands
 * Primera division ejercito de Colombia logo.png 1st Division (Santa Marta) - Its jurisdiction covers the Northern Region of Colombia in which there are the departments of Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, Sucre, Bolívar and Atlántico. 2nd Mechanized and 10th Armored brigades.
 * Segunda Division Coat.svg 2nd Division (Bucaramanga) - Its jurisdiction covers the north eastern Colombia in which there are the departments of Norte de Santander, Santander and Arauca. 5th Infantry, 30th Infantry and 23rd Mobile brigades.
 * Tercera Division Coat.svg 3rd Division (Cali) - Its jurisdiction covers the South West of Colombia in which there are the Departments of Nariño, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Caldas, Quindio, Risaralda and the southern part of the Chocó. 3rd, 8th, 23rd and 29th Infantry brigades.
 * Cuarta Division Coat.svg 4th Division (Villavicencio) - Its jurisdiction covers the eastern region of Colombia in which there are the departments of Meta, Guaviare, and part of Vaupés. 7th Infantry, 22nd Infantry and 31st Jungle Infantry brigades.
 * 5th Division (Bogota) - Its jurisdiction covers the Central Region of Colombia in which there are the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyaca, Huila and Tolima. 1st Infantry, 6th Infantry, 8th Mobile, 9th Infantry and 13th Infantry brigades.
 * Sexta Division Coat.svg Division (Florencia) - Its jurisdiction covers the southern region of Colombia in which there are the departments of Amazonas, Caquetá, Putumayo and southern Vaupés. 12th Infantry, 13th Mobile, 26th Jungle and 27th Jungle brigades.
 * 7th Division (Medellin) - Its jurisdiction covers the western region of Colombia in which there are the departments of Cordoba, Antioquia, and part of the Chocó. 4th, 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th Infantry and 11th Mobile Brigades
 * 8th Division (Yopal) - Its jurisdiction covers the northeastern region of Colombia: the Departments of Casanare, Arauca, Vichada, Guainía, and the municipalities of Boyaca of Cubará, Pisba, Paya, Labranzagrande and Pajarito. 16th, 18th, 28th, and the 5th Mobile Brigade.

Other Units

 * Mobile Medical Command with 3 Battalions
 * Military and Institutes Brigade
 * 19th Cadet Brigade with 3 battalions
 * Army Aviation with 135 helicopters and aircraft.
 * Army Commando Battalion

Combat Arms

 * Infantería (Infantry)
 * Caballería (Cavalry)
 * Artillería (Artillery)
 * Ingenieros (Engineers)
 * Inteligencía (Intelligence)
 * Comunicaciones (Communications)
 * Cuerpo Logístico y Administrativo (Logistics and Administrative Corps)
 * Aviación (Army Aviation)

Special Units
The Colombian Army has created new programs in order to fight terrorist guerrillas that during the last 40 years have fought a war to overthrow the Colombian government. They are highly trained, specially selected Colombian Army soldiers. They do special recon operations to find and expel Colombian terrorists hideouts.

Rapid Deployment Force

 * The Rapid Deployment Force or Fuerza de Despliegue Rápido abr. FUDRA, was created as a modern quick reaction force to deploy to different regions and to all types of weather. Currently, its function is to solely carry out offensive operations against insurgents or outlaws.

Anti-Narcotics Brigade

 * Anti-Narcotics Brigade (Brigada Anti-Narcoticos). This unit was specifically activated for operations against the trafficking of narcotics. It was created on December 8, 2000 and has its main headquarters in the Guaviare Department.

Air Assault Aviation Division

 * The Colombian National Army Aviation or División de Aviación Asalto Aéreo del Ejército, is an aviation branch that works autonomously from the Colombian Air Force. It's part of the Colombian Army and its main mission is to support the army's ground operations. The unit has recently focused in the security of the Colombian border and Colombia's sovereignty. This Unit was created on September 7 of 1916 and it is managed by the Colombian.

AFEUR unit
The Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas Urbanas (Urban Counter-Terrorism Special Forces Group, AFEUR) is an elite unit of the Colombian Army, whose primary mission is to perform counter-terrorist operations and hostage rescues based on stealth, surprise and team work.
 * Colombian National Army Special Forces Anti-Terrorist Group

VIP protection is another task of the unit. For example, they protect the Colombian President when he travels, and provided protection for President Bill Clinton's (Army group) and President George W. Bush's visits to Cartagena, in 2000 and 2004 respectively. They also provided the second security ring to Bush's visit to Bogotá in 2007.

This unit answers directly to the Commando General de las Fuerzas Armadas (Armed Forces Joint Staff), and they are allowed to use any military air transportation to guarantee mobility, and to use any weapon or additional equipment as required to accomplish their missions.

AFEUR won the "Fuerzas Comando 2005" (Commando Forces 2005) contest, that took place in Chile in June 2005 lasting two weeks.

This yearly contest sponsored by the US South Command and the US Special Operations Command with similar teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, U.S., Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Peru and Uruguay.

AFEUR also won the 2006 and 2007 versions of this contest.

Special Forces Brigade

 * Colombian National Army Special Forces Brigade

GAULA groups
GAULA is an acronym for Grupos de Acción Unificada por la Libertad Personal, i.e. Unified Action Groups for Personal Liberty, specialising in solving hostage-taking. These are elite units established in 1996 exclusively dedicated to the combating of kidnapping and extortion. They are composed of highly qualified personnel who conduct hostage rescues and dismantling of criminal gangs at the root of crimes which compromise the personal freedom of Colombians. There is an inter-institutional element in GAULA guaranteeing self-checking procedures, trained by staff of the Administrative Security Department, the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Criminal Investigation Bureau ( Fiscalía) and military forces. Currently, the country has 16 GAULA of the Colombian National Army and 2 of the Navy.

Courses

 * Cursos de Capacitación y Especialización de las Armas y Servicios (Arms and Services Capacitation and Specialization Courses)
 * Especialidades de Combate (Combat Specialities)
 * Lancero
 * Contraguerrilla
 * Paracaidista (airborne)
 * Fuerzas Especiales (Special Forces)
 * Desempeño Meritorio en Unidades Especiales (Meritorious Conduct in Special Units)
 * Others combat specialities:
 * Intelligence
 * Special Land Commandos
 * Urban Commando
 * Urban Counter-guerrilla
 * Psychological Operations
 * Military Police
 * Profesorado Militar (Military Professorate)
 * Por Acción Contra el Enemigo (For Actions against the Enemy)
 * Desempeño Profesional y Deportivo (Sports and Professional Achievements)

Military educational institutions

 * Colombian Military Academy "General José María Córdova"
 * Colombian Army NCO School "Sergeant Inocencio Chinca"
 * Army Arms and Services School
 * Army Infantry School
 * Army Cavalry School
 * Army Artillery School
 * Military Engineering School
 * Army Communications School
 * Army Logistics School
 * Colombian Army Military Police School
 * School of Civil-Military Relations
 * Army Equestrian School
 * Army Aviation School
 * Army International Missions Support School
 * Army Human Rights and International Rights School
 * Army School of Languages

Pistols

 * Beretta 92 🇮🇹 Italy
 * M1911 pistol 🇺🇸

Assault Rifles

 * IMI Galil - Standard assault rifle. Produced under license by Indumil 🇮🇱 🇨🇴 Colombia
 * IMI Tavor - 30,000 in use. 🇮🇱
 * Galil ACE - Produced by Indumil 🇨🇴 Colombia
 * M16A2 rifle 🇺🇸
 * M4 Carbine - 1328 M4s and M4A1s (Value $1,534,058.02.) Used by the AFEUR unit and the Special Forces Brigade. 🇺🇸

Submachine Guns

 * Heckler & Koch MP5 🇩🇪
 * FN/IMI Uzi Submachine gun 🇮🇱🇧🇪 Belgium

Machine Guns

 * IMI Negev 🇮🇱
 * Daewoo K3 🇰🇷 South Korea
 * FN Minimi - M249 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇺🇸
 * M60 machine gun 🇺🇸
 * FN MAG 🇧🇪 Belgium
 * M1919 Browning machine gun 🇺🇸
 * M240 machine gun 🇺🇸
 * Vektor SS-77 🇿🇦
 * M2 Browning machine gun 🇺🇸

Grenade Launchers

 * M79 grenade launcher
 * M203 grenade launcher
 * Milkor MGL - 200 units
 * Mk 19 grenade launcher

Artillery

 * 60mm Mortar
 * M-4 Commando Mortar - 350 in service
 * 81mm Mortar Produced for Indumil
 * M30 mortar - 148, of which 80 in service.
 * 120mm Mortar - 210, of which 120 in service.
 * Mortier 120mm Rayé Tracté Modèle F1
 * M116 howitzer - 80, of which 70 in service.
 * M101 howitzer - 100, of which 50 in service.
 * GIAT LG1 - 20 in service, Modern lightweight 105 mm howitzer
 * Obus GDSB 155/52mm - 15.

Anti Armour

 * Nimrod Missile 🇮🇱
 * BGM-71 TOW - 18, mounted on HMMWVs. 🇺🇸
 * Spike (missile) 🇮🇱
 * RPG-22 🇷🇺
 * M72 LAW 🇺🇸
 * APILAS 🇫🇷
 * AT4🇸🇪 Sweden
 * M40 recoilless rifle - 80, of which 63 are in service. 🇺🇸
 * Batteries IMI Nimrod (on vehicle) 🇮🇱

Air defense systems and anti-aircraft artillery

 * Mistral (missile)
 * Baterías AA Eagle Eye
 * Sistemas Oerlikon
 * bofors M1
 * M-55 AAA
 * M-8/M-55

Uniforms
Since 2006 the National Army of Colombia changed its uniform type forest (woodland) by a modern design featuring a new digital camouflage pattern is called a pixel.

There are 2 types of camouflage, jungle camouflage that is used by most of the army and the desert camouflage that is used by troops in the department of La Guajira and the Colombia Battalion in the Sinai peninsula in the International Watching Forces.

The changes provide greater comfort to the troops, while the material used allows even for the application of mosquito repellent to prevent mosquito bites and a high percentage of the concentration of bacteria and odors.

The design of camouflage texture, color and design is unique to the Colombian army. It is locally made and its distribution is controlled so that only Colombia's military forces can use it.

Ranks & Insignias
The tables below display the rank structures and rank insignias for the Colombian Army personnel.

{|class="wikitable collapsible" style="min-width:50%; border: 2px solid #475f3f; " !style="background:#475f3f; color:white"| !colspan=13 style="font-weight:bold; font-size:1.2em;text-align:center; background:#475f3f; color:white"|Ranks and Insignias - Colombian National Army
 * colspan=99 ; style="text-align:center" |
 * colspan=99 ; style="text-align:center" |
 * colspan=99 ; style="text-align:center" |

Officers
|OF-10||colspan=2|OF-9||OF-8||OF-7||OF-6||OF-5||OF-4||OF-3||OF-2||colspan=3|OF-1 |No equivalent |colspan=2| | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |||style="background:lightgray"| | - |colspan=2|General |Teniente General |Mayor General |Brigadier General |Coronel |Teniente Coronel |Mayor |Capitán |Teniente |Subteniente||style="background:lightgray"| |Major ||Captain ||Lieutenant ||Second Lieutenant||style="background:lightgray"|
 * - style="background-color:#CCCCCC; font-weight:bold;" align="center"
 * style="white-space:nowrap;"|NATO code
 * - align="center"
 * - align="center"
 * Spanish
 * - align="center"
 * Abbr.|| - ||colspan=2|GR||TG||MG||BG||CR||TC||MY||CT||TE||ST||style="background:lightgray"|
 * - align="center"
 * English || -||colspan=2|General ||Lieutenant General ||Major General ||Brigadier General ||Colonel ||Lieutenant Colonel


 * - style="border-top:2px solid #475f3f;"
 * colspan=99 ; style="text-align:center" |

Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and Soldiers
|style="background:lightgray"| | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |No Insignia |style="background:lightgray"| |Sargento Mayor de Comando Conjunto |Sargento Mayor|Sargento Mayor de Comando |Sargento Mayor |Sargento Primero |Sargento Vice Primero |Sargento Segundo |Cabo Primero |Cabo Segundo |Cabo Tercero |Dragoneante||Soldado Profesional||recluta
 * - style="background-color:#CCCCCC; font-weight:bold;" align="center"
 * style="white-space:nowrap;"|NATO code ||style="background:lightgray"| ||colspan=2|OR-9||OR-8||OR-7||OR-6||OR-5||OR-4||OR-3||OR-2||colspan=3|OR-1
 * - align="center"
 * - align="center"
 * Spanish
 * - align="center"
 * Abbr.||style="background:lightgray"| ||SMCC||SMC||SM||SP||SV||SS||CP||CS||C3|| - || - || -
 * - align="center"
 * English ||style="background:lightgray"| ||Joint Command Sergeant Major||Command Sergeant Major ||Sergeant Major ||First Sergeant ||Sergeant First Class ||Second Sergeant ||First Corporal ||Second Corporal ||Third Corporal||Private First Class||Private (Professional)||Private Basic
 * }