Last modified: 2026-10-31 by rob raeside
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Yesterday,
RCN
news channel announced the changes in the military hierarchy
of Colombia. Among these new postings, they mentioned the new
appointment of a General in the position of Commander of a new
Joint Command. The new unit will be named Comando Conjunto No. 2
'Pacífico' (Joint Command No. 2 'Pacific') and the flag will
have the same pattern as the Joint Command No. 1
'Caribbean'.
Also the creation of a new Army Division, the Octava División
(8th Division). The 8th Division War Flag follows the same
pattern as all of the other Army Divisions and the Standard is
the plain red flag plus the Coat of Arms which is still unknown.
I found an article on local newspaper
El
Colombiano where they mention the composition of the Comando
Conjunto No. 2
'Pacífico'. The units are: Army's Third Division, the FNP
(Fuerza Naval del Pacífico, Navy Pacific Force) and the CACOM
No. 3 (Comando Aéreo de Combate No. 3, Air Combat Command No. 3)
of the Air Force.
E.R., 13 November 2009
image by Eugene Ipavec, 5 February 2006
There's a military Task Force in Colombia recently created
which is higher than an Army Division (in the Military
hierarchy). It is only a temporary task force, but it comprises a
lot of military manpower, so it is very important. The official
name is Comando Conjunto No. 1 'Caribe' (Joint Command No. 1
'Caribbean'), and it comprises the Army's First Division, and the
Navy's First Marine Infantry Brigade, plus some other smaller
units.The flag is the Colombian tricolor, plus the Coat of Arms
of the General Forces Military Command. The image looks pretty
similar to the alternate version of the General Forces Military
Command, only that the lettering changes a bit: on the top it
reads COMANDO CONJUNTO, and on the bottom reads NUMERO 1 CARIBE.
E.R., 5 February 2006
There's a very thorough
article
that appeared on Revista Aeronáutica (official Colombian Air
Force Magazine), Edition 254, Year 2008, Volume II, with the
explanation of the organization and operation,a s well as the
chain of command of a Comando Conjunto (Joint Command) o Fuerza
de Tarea Conjunta (Joint Task Force). The organizational chart is
here.
E.R., 31 August 2009
image by Eugene Ipavec, 05 July 2011
image by Eugene Ipavec, 05 July 2011
There are two additional flags of the The Joint Command No. 1 'Caribbean'. In
this
image one can see on the left the Standard of the JC1 (Colombian tricolor
flag, on top reading REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA in golden capital letters around the
CoA and on the bottom reading COMANDO CONJUNTO No1 in golden capital letters as
well), and on the right side of the picture is the War Flag (variant) of the
already reported image. The variant is the
General Command of Military Forces Flag (variant)
but instead of reading COMANDO GENERAL on top, it reads COMANDO CONJUNTO No1 in
golden capital letters.
Esteban Rivera, 11 September 2010
In addition to the Joint Command No. 1 'Caribbean', I should mention
the full list of Task Forces up to date:
Joint Task Forces (combine Army, Navy and Air Force elements):
- Nudo de Paramillo (not featured on FOTW) based in Nudo de Paramillo, border
between Córdoba and Antioquia
- Sur del Tolima
- Quirón based in Arauca
- Apolo based in Cauca
- Omega based in Meta
- Vulcano based in Catatumbo region of Norte de Santander
- Pegaso based in Nariño
Other Tasks Forces (single-Force elements only):
- Ares (Air Force Task Force) based in Vichada
- Poseydon (Navy Task Force) multiple-based in Riverine harbours nationwide
Source:
http://www.semana.com/photos/1561/ImgArticulo_T2_108407_2012331_163935.jpg
(Semana magazine article published on April 1, 2012)
Esteban Rivera, 25 April 2012
image located by Esteban Rivera, 17 July 2013
Following the same pattern as the Joint Command No. 1 'Caribbean'
flag, this time the Comando Conjunto No. 2 "Suroccidente"
(Joint Command No. 2 'Southwest') has the same flag colors, and around the Coat
of Arms
it features on top the letters "CCON No.2" (CCON being the abbreviation Comando
Conjunto) in golden letters and on the bottom the letters "SUROCCIDENTE"
(Southwest).
Image is a screenshot taken today from RCN news channel broadcast)
Esteban Rivera, 17 July 2013
image by Eugene Ipavec, 11 August 2009
I've spotted the flag of the Fuerza de Tarea Conjunta Omega
(Omega Joint Task Force). It is displayed today on the General
Command of the Military Forces
official
website.
A Joint Task Force is by definition a military formation composed
by elements assigned to it two or more Forces (i.e. Army, Navy,
etc,) created by the Minister of Defense, or the Commander of a
Unified or Specific Command or by the Commander of an already
existing Task Force. It has very specific missions and goals and
the unit is disbanded once those objectives are accomplished.
Source:
www.cgfm.mil.co.
Colombia has had several Comandos Especificos (Specific Commands)
specially regarding the expansion of the Air Force (Air Bases
were used first as Specific Commands). Also the Army usually
prior to the establishment of a Brigade or Division has a Unified
Command for this purpose.
E.R., 10 August 2009
The motto (or at least some writing, it looks longer than just
the motto) should go in the black border of the shield.
Eugene Ipavec, 11 August 2009
The Fuerza de Tarea Conjunta “OMEGA” (Joint Task
Force "OMEGA") has been activated with Command Post in
Larandia, which belongs to the Municpality of Florencia in the
Department of Caquetá.
This Task Force has some 15,000 troops, combining Army, Navy and
Air Force elements as follows:
Field units of the Task Force consist of eight brigades as
follows
- Mobile Brigades 1, 2 and 3 which make up the FUDRA (Fuerza de
Despliegue Rápido, Rapid Deployment Force), these units are based
in La Macarena in the Department of Meta
- Mobile Brigade No. 6 based in Cartagena del Chairá, Department
of Caquetá
- Mobile Brigade No. 7 based in Calamar, Department of Guaviare
- Mobile Brigade No. 9 based in San Vicente del Caguán,
Department of Caquetá
- Mobile Brigade No. 10 based in Miraflores, Department of
Guaviare
- Mobile Brigade No. 22 based in Pe?as Coloradas, Department of
Caqueta.
Apart from the land component, the JTF has a river component
located in Tres Esquinas, Department of Caqueta, and an aviation
component in the bases of Larandia and Apiay.
Sources: www.armada.mil.co,
Wikipedia.
E.R., 31 August 2009
Some of the Units of the Omega Task Force are seen in this
image. (Source: Comando General de las Fuerzas Militares official
website, picture taken on April 24, 2012)
In the picture, one can see from left to right the following flags:
- Republic of Colombia
- Comando Específico del Caguán Standard (this is the Unit's HQ Command) (the
flag has inside its coat of arms in the middle, composed of the map of the
Caquetá Department, with a silver sword in the middle
and on top the Greek letter Omega in capitals), with a red circle around it that
reads COMANDO ESPECÍFICO DEL CAGUÁN (Caguan's Specific Command) on top, and FE
EN LA CAUSA (faith in the cause) on the bottom, both in black.
Caguán is a Municipality (full name San Vicente del
Caguán) and it was the main location where the failed peace negotiations
between the Farc guerrilla and the government took place (1999-2002), during a
Demilitarized Zone established by the government for that purpose only , known
officially as the Zona de Distensión (Distension zone), but informally known as
"El Caguán" (The Caguan) (Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Caguan_DMZ ).
- Two flags of undetermined Mobile Brigades
- Brigada Móvile No. 22 (Mobile Brigade No. 22) (the flag is a red horizontal
flag, with the coat of arms in the middle, the coat of arms being a green
background with two golden fringes around it, and in the middle, a helicopter
with one wing on each side and a sword in the middle), like the following
images:
http://www.septimadivision.mil.co/tools/microsThumb.php?src=recursos_user/imagenes//div7/escudo_Brim_25.jpg&w=335
(Source:
http://www.septimadivision.mil.co/?idcategoria=239517 ) and
http://www.ejercito.mil.co/tools/microsThumb.php?src=recursos_user/imagenes//AENE2010/el_tiempo/BRIGADA_MOVIL_5.jpg&w=321
(Source:
http://www.octavadivision.mil.co/index.php?idcategoria=6 )
Esteban Rivera, 01 May 2012
On April 19, a new Task Force was set up. The Fuerza de Tarea del Sur
del Tolima (South Tolima Task Force) was set up, basically with the
sole purpose of capturing or neutralizing the Farc's Top Commander.
It is composed of its HQ based in Chaparral, the Brigada Móvil 8
(Mobile Brigade No. 8) , the Brigada Móvil 20 (Mobile Brigade No. 20),
the Batallón de Alta Montaña ‘General Santos Gutiérrez Prieto’ (High
Mountain Battalion No. 3 ‘General Santos Gutierrez Prieto’), one
Company of the Batallón Plan Especial Energético y Vial 6 (PEEV
Battalion No. 6), a Detachment of Tiradores de Alta Precisión (High
Precision Shooters), and a Company of a Batallón de Apoyo de Servicios
Para el Combate(ASPC Battalion).
Its Area of Operations are the follwing Municipalities:
Río Blanco, Planadas on the Department of
Tolima, Pradera and
Florida on the Department of Valle, also on
Miranda, Corinto,
Toribio, Páez and Belalcazar on the
Department of Cauca.
Sources:
http://www.ejercito.mil.co/?idcategoria=243929
http://www.mindefensa.gov.co/index.php?page=181&id=10528&PHPSESSID=35db37ef9e1815dd6a6771c8f2090f21
http://www.cgfm.mil.co/CGFMPortal/index.jsp?option=noticiaDisplay&idNoti=3318
The Unit's Pennant uses the same template as the General commanding a Unit (reverse is
the tricolor Pennant with the General Star rank symbol, and the
obverse is the same image as the BRIAV Pennant, the only difference
being the initials FTST, that stand for Fuerza de Tarea del Sur del
Tolima (South Tolima Task Force) on bold capital golden letters as
well).
Esteban Rivera, 21 April 2010
image by Eugene Ipavec, 12 August 2009
During the Colombo-Peruvian War of 1932-1933, some Army
Battalions as well as Naval and Air Force Units participated in
combat actions against the Peruvians.
One of these Units is the Batallón de Infantería Boyacá
(Boyaca Infantry Battalion). Its War Flag can be seen
here
(picture taken on July 20, 2009).
E.R., 10 August 2009
obverse
image by Eugene Ipavec, 3 October 2005
reverse
image by Eugene Ipavec, 8 March 2006
Flag description from the
official
website (translated from Spanish):
"The flag of the Criminal Military Justice (Justicia Penal
Militar) has a white background and four stripes, from top to
bottom red, dark blue, light blue and green. On the center a
circled Coat of Arms, on dark yellow background, bearing a sword
with the tip facing upwards, superimpossed on the balance of
justice, both with golden ends, with the Coats of Arms of the
Army, Navy, Air Force and National Police [hence the colors
mentioned before], and with the motto around reading 'CRIMINAL
MILITARY JUSTICE' written in black letters.
Coat of Arms (translated
from Spanish):
"White represents transparency, trust, honesty; the colors
red, dark blue, light blue and green, as well as their
corresponding Coats of Arms, represent each one of the Forces in
which the Criminal Military Justice serves which are: National
Army, Navy, Air Force, an National Police; the yellow and gold
colors stand for commitment and wisdom. The balance featured on
the flag is the universal symbol of justice".
E.R., 27 June 2005
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Aviation Brigade old Emblem
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