Security forces from 21 countries will participate in Fuerzas Comando 2014 in Colombia tomorrow through Aug. 1, Defense Department officials announced today.
Fuerzas Comando is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored exercise that has been conducted in Central and South America and the Caribbean since 2004, officials said.
The Colombian military is hosting the multinational special operations skills competition. About 700 military, law enforcement and civilian personnel from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and Uruguay will participate.
Through friendly competition, officials said, the exercise promotes military-to-military relationships, increases training knowledge and improves regional security. The nine-day event will demonstrate and test participants’ skills through special operations forces competitions, they added, and will include an executive combating terrorism fellowship program focused on topics such as combating terrorism, organized crime and illicit trafficking.
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