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Colombia Operational Command, Deployment, and Equipment
In the late 1980s, the Colombian armed forces comprised
three
armed services: the National Army (Ejército Nacional), the
National
Navy (Armada Nacional), and the Colombian Air Force. In
1988 these
military forces were made up of some 86,300 personnel, an
increase
of 16,100 since 1987. The General Command of the Military
Forces
exercised control over the three armed services. The
General
Directorate of the National Police (Dirección General de
la Policía
Nacional), although also headed by a senior military
officer, was
under the direct command of the Ministry of National
Defense as it
had been since the 1950s
(see The National Police and Law Enforcement Authorities
, this ch.). The building housing
the
Ministry of National Defense in Bogotá--called the
National
Administrative Center--served as the headquarters for the
nation's
military forces. Each of the three service commanders
maintained
headquarters in that building. Paralleling the United
States
military organization, the armed forces headquarters staff
was
divided into five departments: D-1 (personnel), D-2
(intelligence),
D-3 (operations), D-4 (logistics), and D-5 (civil
concerns).
Headquarters staff members were specifically denied
command
functions.
Data as of December 1988
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