Military Forces of Colombia

The Military Forces of Colombia (Spanish: Fuerzas Militares de Colombia) are the unified armed forces of the Republic of Colombia. They consist of the Colombian Army, the Colombian Navy and the Colombian Aerospace Force. The National Police of Colombia, although technically not part of the military, is controlled and administered by the Ministry of National Defence, and national conscription also includes service in the National Police, thus making it a de facto gendarmerie and a branch of the military. The President of Colombia is the military's commander in chief, and helps formulate defense policy through the Ministry of National Defence, which is in charge of day-to-day operations.

Military Forces of Colombia
Fuerzas Militares de Colombia
The tri-service badge
Founded	7 August 1819 (205 years, 364 days)
Service branches	Colombian National Army  Colombian National Navy  Colombian Naval Infantry  Colombian Aerospace Force
Headquarters	Ministry of National Defense, Bogota D.C.
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	President Gustavo Petro
Minister of Defense	Iván Velásquez
General Commander	Major General Helder Fernan Giraldo
Personnel
Military age	18
Conscription	18 months (Army and Aerospace Force) 24 months (Navy) 12 Months (National Police)
Active personnel	429 000 [1]
Reserve personnel	998 000[1]
Expenditure
Budget	60 Trillion COP US$14.37 billion (2025)[2]
Percent of GDP	4.1% (2025)[2]
Industry
Domestic suppliers	CIAC COTECMAR INDUMIL
Foreign suppliers	Belgium  Brazil  Canada  France  Germany  Spain  Sweden  Russia  United Kingdom  United States Former :  Israel
Related articles
History	Military history of Colombia
Ranks	Military ranks

The Military Forces of Colombia have their roots in the Army of the Commoners (Ejército de los Comuneros), which was formed on 7 August 1819 – before the establishment of the present day Colombia – to meet the demands of the Revolutionary War against the Spanish Empire. After their triumph in the war, the Army of the Commoners disbanded, and the Congress of Angostura created the Gran Colombian Army to replace it, thus establishing the first military service branch of the country.

The Colombian military was operationally involved in World War II and was the only Latin American country to send troops to the Korean War. Ever since the advent of the Colombian Conflict, the Colombian military has been involved in combat, pacification, counter-insurgency, and drug interdiction operations all over the country's national territory. Recently it has participated in counter-piracy efforts in the Horn of Africa under Operation Ocean Shield and Operation Atalanta.

The military of Colombia is the third largest in the Western Hemisphere in terms of active personnel and has the fourth largest expenditure in the Americas, behind the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces and the Brazilian Armed Forces respectively.^[3][4]

Services

The Colombian Constitution includes two overlapping definitions of what could be defined as 'armed forces' in English:

• The Public Force (La Fuerza Pública): Includes the Military Forces proper and the National Police (Title VII, chapter VII, Art. 216)
• The Military Forces (Las Fuerzas Militares): Includes only the 3 major military service branches: Army, Navy and Aerospace Force (Title VII, chapter VII, Art. 217)

This is a subtle yet important distinction, both in terms of emphasizing the civil nature of the National Police, but also adapting the national police to function as a paramilitary force which can perform military duties as a result of the Colombian Conflict. This has led to some of the most important police units adopting military training and conducting special operations alongside the Colombian Army, Aerospace Force, and Navy. Therefore, the functions of the Colombian Police in practical terms are similar to those of a gendarmerie, like the Spanish Civil Guard and the Carabineros de Chile, which maintain military ranks for all police personnel.

Personnel

The Colombian armed forces consist of:
Military Forces:

• Colombian Army
• Colombian Navy – and attached services Marines and Colombian Coast Guard
• Colombian Aerospace Force

And,

• National Police of Colombia

Public Force strength as of April 2014.^[5]

Force	Service	Officers	Total
Military	Colombian Army	10,094	246,325
Military	Colombian Navy	2,481	33,824
Military	Colombian Aerospace Force	2,679	13,928
Public	Colombian National Police	6,924	176,557
Total		22,178	470, 634

Military strength

Dependencies

• Military Medical Corps ('Sanidad Militar') – Medical and Nurse Corps
• Indumil (Industrias Militares – INDUMIL) – Military Industry Depot
• Military Sports Federation (Federación Deportiva Militar – FEDECODEMIL)
• Military Printing (Imprenta Militar)
• Military Museum (Museo Militar) – History of the Armed Forces of Colombia
• Superior War College (Escuela Superior de Guerra (Colombia) ESDEGUE)

Funding

In 2000, Colombia assigned 3.9% of its GDP to defense.^[6] By 2008 this figure had risen to 4.8%, ranking it 14th in the world.^[7] 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, and so on. 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.

Rank Insignia

Main article: Military ranks of the Colombian Armed Forces

• 
  Colombian Aerospace Force Sikorsky UH-60L Arpía III (S-70A-41) just after having launched several flares.
• 
  Colombian Marines
• 
  Colombian Navy Frigate ARC Caldas
• 
  Colombian Special Forces soldiers
• 
  A vessel of the Colombian Navy

See also

• AFEUR
• Colombia
• Colombian Army
• Colombian military decorations
• Indumil
• Joint Task Force OMEGA
• Military ranks of the Colombian Armed Forces