Photo by Severo Medina, 56th Signal Battalion During an office call, Col. Bryant welcomed the Colombian officers to Fort Gordon, encouraged them to learn as much possible about U.S. Army Signal Doctrine and determine the components that might be applied in Colombia, and concluded with a gift exchange.

A small Colombian dignitary group consisting of five officers from the Army, Air Force, and Navy Signal Branches had an exceptionally busy week at Fort Gordon.

These representatives came aboard with the task of gathering information in planning for the restructuring of the Colombian Armed Forces Signal Branch.

From doctrine and equipment to rank structure, this endeavor appears quite daunting.

After a week with our brightest members of the Signal community, these officers were better equipped to make educated decisions regarding the future of their country’s Signal Branch.

The week started with a small cultural awareness trip to the city of Atlanta, in which our visitors enjoyed the famous Atlanta Aquarium and legendary Coca Cola Museum.

On the second and third days, the Colombian officers were met by the Commanding General of Fort Gordon and received a variety of briefings; including a 21st Signal Brigade information briefing, the Army J6 briefing, a walk-through of the T-NOSC with RCERT and S-NOSC briefing, an Information Assurance briefing, and a Future Force Development briefing at the Battle Lab.

These officers were also able to experience the use of communications equipment organic to the 56th Signal Battalion inventory as well as Harris Corp and General Dynamics, both present with communications equipment to provide more expertise.

During the week the 56th Signal Battalion incorporated weapons training using the EST 2000. With the support of Pinetucky Gun Club, they were able to host a variety of weapons lane training.

The 21st Signal Brigade Command Sergeant Major Parisi provided great insight into what a Command Sgt. Maj. represents in the U.S. Army and how he performs his duties.

Parisi, among others, accompanied the Colombian officers throughout the day and offered his insight into the interworking of not only the Signal Branch but the United States Army as a whole.

‘‘In my 15 years working with the 56th Signal Battalion, the visit this year has been the best so far that I have seen,” said Mr. Arturo A. Walters, the 56th Signal Battalion S3 Plans and Operations officer.

‘‘This is the first time I have seen all three Colombian military branches of service participate in the exchange program.

‘‘The Colombian officers were very passionate about the purpose of their visit here. The dedication and enthusiasm for communications equipment knowledge made the officers and civilian personnel from the 56th Signal Battalion and Ft. Gordon go above and beyond the regular communications briefing and training.”

During the briefing, the most senior officer from the Colombian Army, made a statement on BGAN satellite systems.

‘‘We are fighting a war every day in Colombia, the war on drugs, and having the most up to date communications equipment helps us stay ahead of the bad guys.”

‘‘My professional opinion as a communicator, the visit this year was well constructed, informative, and incredibly productive for the Colombian officers and the 56th Signal Battalion staff,” explained Mr. Walters.

Some of the Colombian guests commented on how the two Armed Forces, U.S. and Colombian, are so different.

However, facing many similar challenges, they urged our leadership to share and discuss lessons learned. Their underlying hope was that they might adopt those lessons and apply them to their own needs to overcome the war against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC acronym in Spanish).

FARC was established in the 1960s as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, and thus originated as a guerrilla movement.

The group later became involved with the cocaine trade during the 1980s to finance itself, but remained closely tied to the Communist Party.

Even as it created the Patriotic Union in the early 1980s, it later became a political structure it now calls the Clandestine Colombian Communist Party (PCCC).

FARC remains the largest and oldest insurgent group in the Americas. According to the Colombian government, as of 2008, FARC had estimated 6,000-10,000 members.

This number down from 16,000 in 2001, having lost about half their fighting force after President ¡lvaro Uribe took office in 2002. However, in 2007 FARC Commander Raul Reyes claimed that their force consisted of 18,000 guerrillas.

According to the 56th Signal Battalion S-3, Mr. Mike Roman, ‘‘This has been the most rewarding event the Battalion has been engaged in thus far.

The personal interaction and technical information exchanged between the Colombian officers and this Battalion will pay dividends as we continue to meet our common challenges of counter drug operations.”

The 56th Signal Battalion has established a great reputation for enhancing the relationship with allied nations and greatly supports this type of event. We take pride in promoting the technical and tactical advancement of friendly forces.