SOUTHCOM to Deploy U.S. Army Advisory Team to Support
Enhanced Counter-narcotics Cooperation with Colombia

Release No: 20-007 May 28, 2020

MIAMI – The U.S. Army’s 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) will deploy an advisory team to Colombia June 1 to support U.S. enhanced counter-narcotics cooperation with Colombian security forces.

The brigade’s company-sized advisory team will provide military support to U.S.-Colombia diplomatic and development efforts by training, advising and assisting host units with strengthening capabilities crucial to U.S.-Colombia enhanced counter-narcotics cooperation.

The deployment marks the first time an SFAB advisory team supports a partner country in the region and will support the Enhanced Counter-Narcotics Operation announced April 1 by U.S. President Donald Trump.

SFAB members receive specialized education at the Military Advisor Training Academy at Fort Benning, Ga., where they learn to assist the professional military forces of U.S. partners and allies based on operational and institutional needs. They are trained and equipped to assess, support, advise and liaise with defense and security partners around the globe.

In Colombia, the team will work with host units in areas designated by the Colombian government as “priority areas,” where they will focus on logistics, services and intelligence capabilities directly supporting U.S.-Colombia counter-narcotics collaboration and information sharing.

Upon arrival in Colombia, the team will comply with the country’s mandatory 14-day preventive isolation and biosecurity protocols required to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 virus. The deployment has no specified duration, and the team will remain with their host units as determined by U.S. and Colombia military leadership assessment.

The SFAB deployment demonstrates SOUTHCOM’s enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with its partners. The U.S. and Colombia have a longstanding history of supporting cooperative solutions and collaborative responses to security challenges and threats of concern in the Western Hemisphere.

The U.S.-Colombia defense partnership reflects the countries’ commitment to regional peace, respect for sovereignty and shared democratic values.

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