Colombian Army trains in Louisiana, talks five-year collaborative plan in Texas

[Judi Lynn]

JUNE 17, 2021 / 1:06 PM
By Zarrin Ahmed

June 17 (UPI) -- The Colombian Army trained at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., and held staff talks with the U.S. Army at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

The platoon arrived in Louisiana in early May, conducting tactical infantry operations with the 1-118th Infantry Regiment of the South Carolina Army National Guard, U.S. Army South said in a press release on Thursday.

They also trained in planning and executing complex operations, officials said.

Sargent Edwin Perez, JRTC observer-controller-trainer, praised the soldiers for their discipline and initiative.

"They start moving, get in position, and are engaged and attuned to what they have to do -- when it's go time, it's go time for them," Perez said.

"This platoon is very aggressive and gets after the enemy in the attack. Our soldiers are observing how disciplined they are and tapping into their tactical knowledge," he said.

More:
https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/06/17/army-trains-with-colombian-army/1741623946130/?ur3=1

(Their "enemies" are the poor, the indigenous, the African-Colombian peoople of Colombia, the ones the hard-right government imagine are its political adversaries.)

[SheltieLover]

1. This is extremely disturbing

I wonder if this is the 1st time? And if it was set up under TFG's admin? Guessing so!

Ty for posting.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Although they've been at it since the 1950's, the latest round seems to have started in 2019...

Here's a US Army statement:

Colombian Army trains at JRTC, conducts Staff Talks with Army South
By Donald SparksJune 15, 2021

The U.S. Army can trace its history training with the Colombian Army (COLAR) to more than 60 years ago when U.S. Army Ranger officers developed the Lancero training program for the COLAR in the mid-1950s. Since that time, the initiative has resulted in one of the longest one-on-one professional military relationships with U.S. Army South taking the lead in maintaining the long-lasting partnership; culminating with the first time a COLAR unit conducting bilateral training at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, La.; followed by bilateral staff talks between the two armies at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Having arrived to Louisiana in early May, a platoon element of the COLAR’s elite Counternarcotics Brigade integrated with the 1st Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, South Carolina Army National Guard, as part of rotation 21-08 to conduct tactical infantry operations, exercise interoperability, and strengthen their ability to plan and execute complex maneuver operations.

“JRTC is a crucible environment and is the culmination of a brigade’s training – it requires units who are qualified and capable to go into combat after training at one of the Army’s premier combat training centers,” said Maj. Gen. Daniel R. Walrath, Army South commanding general, during a visit June 8-10 to JRTC with senior Colombian Army leaders. “Army South has many partners in the region, and the Colombian Army is one of the best. We’re very proud and happy for their participation, and we hope to continue to have these types of training events as a continued effort in strengthening our relationship with Colombia.”

. . .

“They start moving, get in position, and are engaged and attuned to what they have to do – when it’s go time, it’s go time for them,” Perez said. “This platoon is very aggressive and gets after the enemy in the attack. Our [U.S. Army] soldiers are observing how disciplined they are and tapping into their tactical knowledge.”

. . .

Held in a hybrid manner, the staff talks featured a COLAR delegation led by Lopez at Fort Sam Houston, and the U.S. Army represented by a delegation led by Col. Jeffrey Lopez, Army South Security Cooperation Directorate chief, in Bogota, Colombia. Prior to the executive meeting from June 8-10, the COLAR and ARSOUTH staffs conducted virtual and in-person working groups to develop a five-year bilateral plan for calendar year, 2021-2025.

More:
https://www.army.mil/article/247575/colombian_army_trains_at_jrtc_conducts_staff_talks_with_army_south

(George W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, referred to Colombia as America's "lily pad nation" from which the US could roll north to Central America, or turn to operate in any of the South American countries, when "needed." )

No doubt this last agreement was already finalized well before the last election.



Donald Rumsfeld as a younger man.



George W as a younger man.



George H W Bush, also as a younger man.



Death Squad Dick Cheney, as a younger man.

( "Let's roll." )

[SheltieLover]

4. Ty!

If they would only use skills & equipment against drug cartels, that would be great, but your post specifies their enemies are indigenous, the poor, etc.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Summary of the training for the Colombian military:

Wikipedia:

. . .

History of the Course
The course was created as a result of the reform that took place inside the National Army of Colombia organization during the early 60s as a way to specialize and refocus the national army towards an irregular conflict with armed peasants in the mountains of Colombia. Inexperienced and with little knowledge of guerrilla warfare the Colombian Army sent its own officers to Fort Benning in Georgia, United States so they could take the Ranger Course that takes place there and as a way to apply their acquired knowledge in Colombia's specific situation.

The techniques learned in the American course were modified and taught to Sergeants, Lieutenants, Ensigns, Corporals and some enlisted and ranking officers of the Naval Infantry. This techniques were later spread across all the Colombian military components.

In 1959 Hernando Bernal Duran Colombian first Capitan who created companies of Lanceros. These newly created companies were more agile and flexible thus, leading to more successful operations. They were added as supportive personnel for units where the enemy was even more aggressive and active.

In 1966 an outbreak of dispersed bandits called for the creation of even sharper and faster units. This year the Colombian Army's military command put into effect a more extensive training program to combat the rebels; this program would later become a single course called "Contraguerrillas"

Since this time the Lancero course has focused on the training of Soldiers, Army Officers and even Police Officers for the needs of a country with an enemy that hides among the civilian population. After more than forty years the course has gained some notoriety among military personnel around the globe largely due to its focusing on guerrilla warfare and not on regular military warfare.[1]

The Lancero and Lanza concept
The term Lancero which can be translated as lancer has subsequently led to the use of the term Lanza (Lance) as a way to refer to a fellow soldier. In fact the course has emphasized on the importance of cooperative work between two soldiers as a way to accomplish goals (one being the Lanza or spear and the other one being the lancero or lance carrier). Thus, the terms Lanza and Lancero are both colloquial and honoring ways to call a fellow soldier or an officer.[citation needed]

More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancero

~ ~ ~

Colombia Army’s New Kill Orders Send Chills Down Ranks

By Nicholas Casey
May 18, 2019

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The head of Colombia’s army, frustrated by the nation’s faltering efforts to secure peace, has ordered his troops to double the number of criminals and militants they kill, capture or force to surrender in battle — and possibly accept higher civilian casualties in the process, according to written orders and interviews with senior officers.

At the start of the year, Colombian generals and colonels were assembled and told to sign a written pledge to step up attacks. Daily internal presentations now show the number of days that brigades have gone without combat, and commanders are berated when they don’t carry out assaults frequently enough, the officers said.

One order causing particular worry instructs soldiers not to “demand perfection” in carrying out deadly attacks, even if significant questions remain about the targets they are striking. Some officers say that order has instructed them to lower their standards for protecting innocent civilians from getting killed, and that it has already led to suspicious or unnecessary deaths.

The military tried a similar strategy to defeat Colombia’s rebel and paramilitary groups in the mid-2000s, before a landmark peace deal was signed to end decades of conflict.
But the tactics caused a national outrage when it emerged that soldiers, aiming to meet their quotas, engaged in widespread killings and disappearances of civilians.

Now, another incarnation of the policy is being pushed by the new government against the country’s remaining criminal, guerrilla and paramilitary groups, according to orders reviewed by The New York Times and three senior officers who spoke about them.

The new orders have sent a chill down the ranks of the army. Colombia’s military remains under investigation for the series of illegal killings in the mid-2000s, known as “false positives.”
Soldiers repeatedly killed peasants and claimed they were guerrilla fighters, sometimes even dressing them in fatigues and planting weapons near their bodies. The tactics stemmed from superiors demanding increased body counts, prosecutors say.

Beyond that, officers said, soldiers who increase their combat kills are being offered incentives, like extra vacation, in a pattern they fear is strikingly similar to the unlawful killings of the mid-2000s.
“We have gone back to what we were doing before,” said one of the officers, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by their superiors.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/world/americas/colombian-army-killings.html

[SheltieLover]

5. Ty

Great info!

Did you see info I posted about Cuba's vax trials?

[Judi Lynn]

6. So glad you mentioned it, I found it in G.D. I usually don't have time to read too much there,

would not have wanted to miss it.

Wonderful news. Thank you! ❤️️

Here's the link to your article:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215545920