Terranova Expedition: Colombian Army Training

Today we did something totally different.

One of Vanessa's friends is dating a First Sargent of the Armed Forces of Colombia.

So he invited us to come to the base and spend the day training with a round of new recruits. We would get a small taste of what army life is like in Colombia.

We got up at 5:00 am, and rode to the base, where we signed in and were met by our friend Rodgrigo Garcia, First Sargent in the Colombian Army. Along with Dominic, Petar and I, we were joined for the day by Vanessa, and her friends Hulya and Maria.

We were led to a barracks where our clothing and boots were neatly laid out for us, and the other 40 members of our training platoon.

Petar had trouble finding boots, as I don't think there is another person in Colombia with size 14 feet. He ended up using his own shoes.

Our Sargent marched us to the front of the barracks, where we organized into formation, and were taught (in Spanish) how to stand at attention and at ease. After drilling this for some time, Petar was then handed the Platoon flag and we right faced and started jogging. We went about 1/3 the way round the base, and were brought to a halt (thankfully, since by this time about 4 or 5 recruits had already dropped out from fatigue) in front of the Colombian flag, where we sang the national anthem. Petar, Dominick and I of course didn't do any singing.

From there, we jogged over to the parade grounds, where we were given our first ration of water. It bears mentioning that by this time. it was clear blue sky, and about 34 degrees Celcius. We were cooking hot.

The girls decided to sit most of this one out, as they were already tired from the jogging in the heavy, hot gear.

Parade Ground: Our time at the parade grounds consisted of three exercises. The first was made up of three positions, one with our hands thrust backwards, 2nd with our hands thrust forwards, and the third with our hands overhead. We transitions between them when our sergeant commanded. Sometimes he would hold us in a position for a period of time, from 10-30 seconds.

After completing this exercise, we were again drilled in standing at attention and at ease again. We didn't do this to the satisfaction of our drill sergeant, so we had to run about 300 yards to some trashcans and back as punishment.

The second was basically a series of "burpees". If you have ever done them, they consist of three positions: squatting with your hands between your feet, feet straight back in a pushup position, and then jumping back to your feet with your arms overhead. We again did this in three steps, and finished with continuous burpees on command.

Again we were drilled in formation, and once more, not to the satisfaction of our instructor, so to the trash cans and back we ran.

The third exercise was running on the spot. Again, there were three steps. One was a slight jog in place, two was faster and higher, and the third was knees up as high as we could, and fast as we could. This seemed to go on forever, but I think it was about 5 minutes. :)

We had our second water break.

Weapons Instruction: We made our way to an introduction of the weapons used by the Colombian Army. Most of the weaponry is either US issued or supplied, except for the main rifle which is made by Galil (Isreal design, Colombian manufacture). We were allowed to view and handle the M-60, M-249, RBG-6 Grenade Launcher, Beretta 92SBF, and Sniper Rifle.

Dog Training: The Colombian Army has a great, and obvious need for a well trained canine force capable of detecting drugs and explosive. We were introduced to the training program, and were able to witness a couple demonstrations.

Lunch: We were taken to a large outdoor pool, where we had a lunch of MRE (Meals ready to Eat or "Rations"). Each packet contained enough food for one soldier for one day (3 meals, about 3800 calories). They were all contained in a bio-degradable bag.

Water Training: After lunch, we were led to the pool, where we were trained to perform three tasks. Task one was to swim the width of the pool, in full gear, underwater. About 65% of recruits could do this. Petar, Dom and I all were able to do it. The girls had a little trouble as they were not strong swimmers, but they sure tried hard.

Our second task was to do some more exercises which include kicking agains the wall and swimming against a partner who was holding your legs.

Our third task was to extract ourselves from a fully loaded backpack, while maintaining control of our rifle, while underwater. This involved holding our rifle at chest level, then being pushed backwards into the water. We then had to put the rifle between our legs, and engage the quick releases to free the backpack from our backs. It wasn't a hard task, but requires you to think and react underwater without panicking. About 7 or 8 of the guys panicked and couldn't complete the task. I was really proud of our girls, as they all performed the task without problem.

Live Fire Exercise: Our last task was to jog (again) over to the firing range, where we were able to fire the Galil Assault Rifle at a target about 50 yards away. This task came with a bit of a "punishment". If you didn't hit the target, you had to do three "front" rolls in the dirt. Of course, we were all still soaking wet from the pool task, so this could get a little muddy.

Petar, Dom and I all had good scores: Dominick (46), Petar (47) and Tim (49) out of a possible 50. I don't know all the other scores, but the vast majority of the recruits were doing forward rolls. :)

The girls all did very well too, with scores in the mid 30's.

By now, it was about 5:30 pm, the sun was setting, and we were hot, dirty and exhausted. We had a nice meal in the Officers mess (compliments of our host) and then made our way back to the hotel, where we dropped into bed and fell asleep.

I would like to extend a sincere thank you for an awesome experience to Sargent Garcia, and the all the wonderful people we met at the Colombian National Army, Second Brigade, Mechanized Infantry Battallon No.4.