On April 10, 2024, in the auditorium of the Higher School of Military Engineers of Colombia (ESING), in the José Caldas Military Complex, the closing ceremony of the I Course of National Monitors in Humanitarian Demining was held, under the coordination of the Inter-American Group of Technical Advisors (GATI-CO) and the Teaching Section of the ESING.
The ceremony was presided over by General Rafael Olaya Quintero, Head of the Implementation and Stabilization Department of the General Command of the Colombian Military Forces, accompanied by Colombian Army Colonel John Mauricio Acuña Aldana, Director of Military Education. The ceremony was also attended by military authorities from Colombia's demining department and relatives of the students.
The event marked the fulfillment of the training objectives of military personnel of the Colombian Military Forces, in accordance with the Cooperation and Technical Assistance Agreement between the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) and the General Command of the Colombian Military Forces, signed on January 7, 2015.
Six students from the Colombian National Army completed the course, held between February 29 and April 10, 2024, through intense theoretical-practical activities and a high level of demand, with the aim of training military personnel to perform the role of National Monitor in External Quality Management and advise military commanders at all levels on issues related to Humanitarian Demining.
As a result of the objectives achieved, the students received certificates, badges from the National Monitor Course and souvenirs from the Group of Inter-American Technical Advisors (GATI-CO), the Higher School of Engineers (ESING) and the Demining and Amphibious Engineers Battalion (BDIAN).
Second Lieutenant of Engineers Luis Alejandro Cantor Rodríguez finished the course in first place and, as a general highlight, Deputy First Sergeant André Vallejo García. In recognition, the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) awarded these soldiers the Humanitarian Demining Expert Badge and presented them with prizes.
Since 2015, the Group of Inter-American Technical Advisors (GATI-CO) has contributed to increasing the Colombian national effort by training 240 (two hundred and forty) monitors who are ready to be used in humanitarian demining operations or in security support sections. decision making.
In this way, the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), through the GATI-CO, cooperates with the countries of the Americas in the fight to ensure that the entire territory is free of Antipersonnel Mines and Improvised Explosive Devices, scourges that They negatively affect the lives of millions of people, both economically and psychosocially.
