| Military Forces of Colombia | |
|---|---|
| Fuerzas Militares de Colombia | |
 The tri-service badge | |
| Founded | 7 August 1819 (206 years, 112 days) |
| Service branches | |
| Headquarters | Ministry of National Defense,Bogota D.C. |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | PresidentGustavo Petro |
| Minister of Defense | Pedro Arnulfo Sànchez |
| General Commander | AdmiralFrancisco Cubides |
| 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 TrillionCOP US$14.37 billion(2025)[2] |
| Percent of GDP | 4.1%(2025)[2] |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers | CIAC COTECMAR INDUMIL |
| Foreign suppliers |  Austria Belgium Brazil Canada France Germany Spain Italy Sweden South Africa Russia Republic of Korea United Kingdom United StatesFormerly:  Israel (Former) |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Colombia |
| Ranks | Military ranks |
TheMilitary Forces of Colombia (Spanish:Fuerzas Militares de Colombia) are the unifiedarmed forces of theRepublic of Colombia. They consist of theColombian Army, theColombian Navy and theColombian Aerospace Force. TheNational Police of Colombia, although technically not part of the military, is controlled and administered by theMinistry of National Defence, and nationalconscription also includes service in the National Police, thus making it ade factogendarmerie and a branch of the military. ThePresident 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.
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 theRevolutionary War against theSpanish Empire. After their triumph in the war, the Army of the Commoners disbanded, and theCongress of Angostura created theGran Colombian Army to replace it, thus establishing the first military service branch of the country.
The Colombian military was operationally involved inWorld War II and was the only Latin American country to send troops to theKorean War. Ever since the advent of theColombian Conflict, the Colombian military has been involved in combat, pacification,counter-insurgency, anddrug interdiction operations all over the country's national territory. Recently it has participated in counter-piracy efforts in theHorn of Africa underOperation Ocean Shield andOperation Atalanta.
The military of Colombia is the third largest in theWestern Hemisphere in terms of active personnel and has the fourth largest expenditure in theAmericas, behind theUnited States Armed Forces, theCanadian Armed Forces and theBrazilian Armed Forces respectively.[3][4]
TheColombian Constitution includes two overlapping definitions of what could be defined as 'armed forces' in English:
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 theColombian 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 theSpanish Civil Guard and theCarabineros de Chile, which maintain military ranks for all police personnel.
The Colombian armed forces consist of:
Military Forces:
And,
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 | |
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 ofPlan Colombia.
_Ram%25C3%25ADrez-1.jpg)
Colombian conflict (1964–present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
