Colombian officers visit the US Army Reserve-Puerto Rico

Photo By Carlos Cuebas | Brig. Gen. Fernando Fernandez, 1st Mission Support Command Commanding General, participates in a round table discussion during the Pan-American Union of the Armed Forces Reserve Officers Congress, Aug. 17, 2013, at Bogota, Colombia.  

FORT BUCHANAN, PUERTO RICO

10.01.2013

Story by Maj. Carlos Cuebas 

1st Mission Support Command

FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico - A delegation of five officers’ from the Colombian Army Professional Reserve Corps, visited the 1st Mission Support Command (1st MSC) U.S. Army Reserve-Puerto Rico headquarters, Sept. 26- Oct. 1.

During the visit, Brig. Gen. Fernando Fernandez, senior U.S. Army Reserve officer in the Caribbean, briefed them about the readiness and training level of the troops assigned to the 1st MSC.

“Our purpose with this visit is to get a closer look of the ideas and techniques implemented by the U.S. Army Reserve, and to bring some of those concepts back to Colombia to improve our own reserve forces,” said Colombian Col. Manuel Alberto Orozco Alarcon, commander for Colombian Reserve Forces.

Several soldiers assigned to the 1st MSC had the opportunity of interacting with the visiting delegation, while briefing the foreign officers about the different capabilities of some of the equipment of the U.S. Army Reserve.

“I believe that this visit is very positive because it builds trust and breaks barriers among our nation and its allies,” said Sgt. 1st Class Marcell Poullin, a telecommunications operations chief assigned to the 35th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve Puerto Rico, shortly after showing some of the capabilities of the Tactical SHF Satellite Terminal to the Colombian officers.

“The information we have received is invaluable. We now are better prepared to compare what is the Army Reserve in Colombia and what is the Army Reserve in the United States,” said Colombian Col. Alvaro Jose Aparicio Escallon, chief of staff for Colombian
Reserve Forces.

The other visiting members of the Colombia delegation were Colombian Col. Carlos Sierra Galindo, commander for the Colombian Army Reserve, Capt. Maria Constanza Grosso Cadena, Human Resources Directorate and 1st Lt. Katherine Reyes Rodriguez, Tequendama Mechanized Group.

The initiative of visiting Puerto Rico was the result of Fernandez’ participation in the Pan-American Union of the Armed Forces Reserve Officers Congress in Aug 2013, at Bogota, Colombia, where Fernandez was recognized for his trajectory as a U.S. Army Reserve officer and his mentoring of the development of Latin America military reserves.

Troops from the U.S. Army Reserve – Puerto Rico trained Colombia soldiers in humanitarian demining operations in a joint effort with US Army South, during the year 2012.

These types of visits promote positive military to military relationships with U.S. allies, which can make the difference during Theater Security Cooperation missions.

• Date Taken: 10.01.2013
• Date Posted: 10.04.2013 16:40
• Story ID: 114789
• Location: FORT BUCHANAN, PR
• Hometown: SAN JUAN, PR