THE ANDEAN RIDGE
The Perfect Training Lab for Latin American FAOs

By COL William Spracher

As hot spots around the world increasingly compete for the attention of U.S. newsmakers and the commitment of scarce defense resources, the comparatively tranquil region of Latin America usually is relegated to a back seat. Yet, maintaining alliances with the U.S.'s hemispheric partners, many of which are striving to hold together fragile democracies, is a difficult challenge that tends to go unnoticed in the narrowly focused American lens, and Latin America Foreign Area Officers are at the forefront of that effort. Within the hemisphere, the most problematic region in recent years has tended to be the so-called "Andean Ridge," consisting of the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, all linked by the immense Andes mountain chain.

Personally speaking from the viewpoint of an attach‚ recently departed from that system, I have served tours in two of these Andean countries and have visited the others on several occasions. To one degree or another, virtually all of the Andean Ridge nations are suffering from one or more of the multifaceted threats of drug trafficking, insurgency, paramilitary violence, kidnapping, and common crime. Spillover effects on neighbors are growing, as are expectations of U.S. government (USG) capacity to assist in reversing the negative trends. LATAM FAO's (48B specialty, within the Army) are challenged throughout the region to ply their trade and maintain tight relations with host nation militaries, while at the same time having to be careful not to overstep the bounds of current USG policy regarding the sort of assistance that is authorized.

The term "lab" is used in the title somewhat facetiously, since drug trafficking is what pops into most people's minds whenever the Andean Ridge is mentioned. It is true that it is difficult to discuss the other problems in the region, be they guerrillas, political instability, or economic viability, without taking into consideration the narcotics factor. In a way, that is why the region is so fascinating to follow. The problems of individual countries cannot be studied in isolation since they impact on their neighbors; most of the threats are truly multinational in nature and do not respect national boundaries. This is one region of the world in which the traditional focus of a FAO in political-military issues and security assistance melds extremely well with the role played by intelligence, and especially counterdrug intelligence. I have always felt that being both a FAO and an MI officer was a terrific combination, though there are a few observers who argue that intelligence, representational duties, and security assistance should not be mixed in any way. My personal experience in Peru as the Army Attach‚ and in Colombia as the Defense and Army Attach‚ during extremely difficult periods solidified my admittedly positive opinion. There is probably no better "lab" in the world than the Andean Ridge for a FAO trainee to benefit from the crosswalk of his/her area expertise and the employment of intelligence skills, with an excellent chance to apply some crisis management tools along the way.

Colombia and Peru are two neighboring countries in which the tasks of an intelligence officer and a FAO come together quite nicely. They are also high-priority, high-threat countries in which a FAO can work security assistance with a heavy dose of counternarcotics support mixed into the equation. Some of the offices in which I worked alongside outstanding FAO's (or young officers aspiring to be FAO's) included the DAO, the MILGP (with its Tactical Analysis Team or TAT; Military Information Support Team or MIST; and Joint Planning and Assistance Teams or JPAT, among other elements); and even the Political/Economic Section at the Embassy. For two years running cadets from the U.S. Military Academy served as embassy interns under the daily tutelage of that section's Political/Military Officer but under the overall control of the DATT. In addition, Army FAO's in such positions were exposed to "jointness" through their collaboration with Marine, Air Force, and Army Special Operations elements. Some of these TDYers worked at ground-based radar sites as part of the counterdrug effort while some others were involved in Joint and Combined Exercises for Training (JCETs), working shoulder-to-shoulder with their allies in a real-world conflict training environment.

Even non-DOD uniformed personnel got into the act, creating not only a joint collaborative effort but also an interagency one. DAO Bogota was the first such office anywhere in the world to have assigned an accredited Coast Guard Attach‚ (COGATT), and here again this was due to the heavy counternarcotics/law enforcement nature of his duties. In more recent years, a COGATT position was established in Venezuela, another in Mexico, and a USCG Liaison Officer position (not under the DAO) in Panama. Being dually accredited as Police Attach‚, the COGATT in Colombia is one of the linchpins for fostering armed forces/police cooperation in the counterdrug effort, a crucial U.S. policy objective and criterion for receiving additional security assistance.

Venezuela is the other South American nation having almost as long and uninterrupted a democratic tradition as Colombia. Nevertheless, this country is suffering spillover effects from Colombia, and the government in Bogota has been by and large unsuccessful in convincing its counterpart in Caracas that it can control its borders. Panama has experienced similar effects. Consequently, FAO's in Colombia have been in close contact with their own brethren in neighboring countries trying to get a handle on regional instability. FAO's in Colombia mist routinely collaborate with Joint Interagency Task Forces East, West and South (the JIATFs); DEA; CIA; ONDCP (the Drug Czar's Office); and the State Department's Narcotics Affairs Sections (NASs). High-level visitors within the past couple of years have included such key officials as the DCI, the Drug Czar, DEA Director, the FBI Director, the DIA Director, the SOUTHCOM CINC, and the Chairman of the Inter-American Defense Board, not to mention a steady stream of Congressmen and their staffers. FAO's really earn their pay whenever such an official makes a visit at a critical time and wants to get an unvarnished appraisal of what is going on within the region.

Colombia has received a lot of high-level attention of late, in part because it seems to be in more dire straits than its neighbors, but also because U.S. -- Colombian relations have always been so inextricably linked. What happens in Colombia is often viewed by the region as a bellwether of what might occur in the other countries in the future. Colombia takes on added importance when one considers that it is the fourth largest Latin American nation in terms of population and the fifth largest in terms of land area (while its southern Andean neighbor, Peru, is fifth and fourth respectively in those categories). Bolivia is much smaller and poorer, but it to has garnered considerable attention over the years as one of the principal coca-growing countries of the world. Both Bolivia and Peru have now been surpassed by Colombia on that unenviable score (at least in terms of acreage under cultivation if not in actual yield). Likewise, both Bolivia and Peru have had much more success in establishing alternative development programs and getting control of the security situation in their countryside. Colombia is truly a country in crisis, though it has some success in eradication and aerial interdiction efforts. That country is producing a great deal of concern in Washington (not to mention in Miami at SOUTHCOM Headquarters), since the amounts of both cocaine and heroin ending up on the streets of the U.S. are now at record levels. Preoccupation over the human rights situation in Colombia is also high on the agenda of U.S. lawmakers and certain NGO's.

Not far to the south, the other long-standing Andean problem that still engenders much interest in Washington is the border dispute between Peru and Ecuador. [EDITOR'S NOTE: In the time since this article was written, the two countries in question have settled the border dispute, by treaty and the last FAO is probably now serving in MOMEP mentioned below]. The U.S. as one of the original treaty's guarantor nations has been an active participant in the MOMEP peacekeeping force, which has proven to be another excellent training ground for LATAM FAO's looking for action. Without a doubt, a number of these issues will be discussed in the coming months in Cartagena, a popular tourist attraction and port city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia which will be the site of the third Defense Ministerials of the Americas (DMA).

Also this year in Bolivia is tentatively planned the first-ever in-country seminar of the seminal Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies of the U.S. National Defense University. This institution was founded in 197 as a product of the DMA process and with the stimulus of former Secretary of Defense Perry. The Center was designed to foster mutual understanding and to provide a forum for sharing ideas among Latin Americans involved in the defense sector, the majority of its fellows being civilians, regarding the principles of defense management and resource planning. Several FAO's have been involved in this exciting development, either from the faculty end in Washington or from the participating countries' end by helping to recruit and vet potential fellows in-country. The nearby and decidedly more military Inter-American Defense College is another training "lab" where 48B's over the years have demonstrated their regional skills either as advisors or students (receiving full SSC credit even though the IADC, as part of the IADB, is categorized as a foreign educational institution).

Homing in on the Andean country with which I have the longest and most recent connection, Colombia has proven to be an intriguing, though at times frustrating, place for FAO's to live and work. Within DAO and a large embassy milieu, there were two permanent card-carrying 48B attaches with additional temporary help showing up from time to time, not to mention other FAO's working in the mission as part of the MILGP. The AARMA in DAO was able to focus on the tactical level, quickly becoming the resident expert on ground order of battle, guerrilla strengths and weaknesses, and the associated variables of the paramilitaries and the narcotraffickers. This allowed the DATT to concentrate on the national-level political-military hierarchy, civil-military relations, and the strategic commitment to a multinational, regional collaborative effort in the counternarcotics field.

The DAO has also managed FAO trainees while they were involved in their in-country training and regional orientation travel. Unfortunately, the last such young officer to serve in Bogota suffered the same fate many other FAO's have experienced in recent years; he was passed over for promotion to major while in the midst of his training course with the host nation. It is always difficult trying to explain to foreign officials how a bright young officer who is professional enough to be a successful company commander and bright enough to be selected as a FAO cannot make the cut to field grade officer. This is a U.S. Army personnel malady that needs to receive some high-level attention soon if U.S. credibility with host nations and Army leadership credibility with its own young officers are not to be eroded further. In the interim, host nation officials voice their disappointment with the U.S. Army and indirectly hint that this is just one more example of U.S. policy and practice lacking consistency.

What has been done to many FAO's in recent years, not just in Latin America but in other regions as well, sends the wrong signal to our allies who wish they had even a fraction of the resources and the talented young officers to establish their own cadre of regional specialists. Since the individual mentioned above departed Colombia for civilian life, no more FAO trainees have been assigned to that country, allegedly because of the other countries have passed through Colombia and benefited, if only for a short while, from exposure to this fertile training ground, a veritable laboratory for present and future soldier-statesmen.

In conclusion, young FAO's looking for demanding career opportunities are encouraged to seek out those who have served in the Andean Ridge and pick their brains. Meanwhile, aspirants should focus hard on learning the languages, diverse cultures, and politics of these disparate nations, in addition to studying their current affairs in order to gain an appreciation for the complex dynamics, both international and domestic, that make the Andean Ridge such an intriguing test-bed for the dedicated LATAM FAO.

COL Spracher, a 48B/MI Officer, has returned from back-to-back attach‚ tours in South America (1994-98) and is currently serving as Military Professor and Executive Officer, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, NDU.

1999, Foreign Area Officer Association
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