Dominican and Colombian Joint Air Force Exercises Come to an End

Dominican and Colombian Joint Air Force Exercises Come to an End
Santo Domingo, 11/30/2010

The Dominican Air Force (FAD in Spanish) ended a series of Dominican-Colombian Joint Air Interdiction Exercises. The joint exercises, known as “Caribe I,” were carried out between the Dominican and Colombian Air Forces in an effort to combat aircraft involved in the illegal transport of drugs and organized crime.

“for these delicate missions that demand national security to combat serious threats, to be successful, it is necessary to continue doing joint exercises like we have just finished today…”

The event marking the end of the maneuvers, held in the FAD headquarters where Air Force chief, pilot Major General Israel A. Díaz Peña said he was certain that “for these delicate missions that demand national security to combat serious threats, to be successful, it is necessary to continue doing joint exercises like we have just finished today. The goal of which is to share experience, new tactics and techniques and the application of procedures and, above all, to combat drugs,” according to the Presidential Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

Major General Díaz Peña thanked President Leonel Fernández for the trust he has deposited in the institution which is carrying out these “Caribe I” exercises. He said that the main purpose of “Caribe I” was to strengthen relations, share experiences and to establish common procedures for vigilance and control of planes using airspace above both countries for the purpose of transporting illegal drugs and engaging in other illegal transnational activities.

The Major General said that both countries’ Air Forces showed their ability in operational, logistic, control and coordination aspects. They made common use of A-29B and A-37D, the Super Tucano Airplanes and air and land radar devices.

Chief of Operations of the Colombian Air Force (FAC), Major General Flavio Enrique Ulloa Echeverry, said these exercises have consolidated the links of friendship, have engendered a cultural relationship and have shown the North that we will continue working together.

During the closing ceremony, the Air Forces of both countries exchanged recognition and awards. Receiving the awards for the Dominicans was Major General Nicolás Cabrera Arias . ..

In addition, he reiterated the shared commitment of “not just relying on the necessary tools but also on the talent of the men and woman who make up our Armed Forces to continue to guarantee the safety and defense of the skies that should always remain sovereign,” said Major General Ulloa, adding that he felt the maneuvers achieved their proposed goals.

Ulloa Echeverry explained that the joint Air Interdiction exercises took into account the fact that both countries share a common problem involving illicit air traffic by unregistered planes this generating a need for cooperation between the two countries, in an effort to protect their air space.

Throughout the maneuvers, which took place between November 22nd and 25th in the air space of both countries, the FAC logged 18 flight hours and 8 flights and the FAD logged 12 flight hours and six flights. They made four flights from Barranquilla–San Isidro and San Isidro-Barranquilla.

Operations were held in the maritime border area between the Dominican Republic and Colombia as well as over Dominican air space.

During the closing ceremony, the Air Forces of both countries exchanged recognition and awards. Receiving the awards for the Dominicans was Major General Nicolás Cabrera Arias and from Colombia, Major General Ulloa Echeverry. Cabrera Arias attended the ceremony as a representative of the head of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Joaquín Virgilio Pérez Feliz.
Ulloa Echeverry also received, from the chief of the FAD, a replica of the plane that survived the Panamerican flight that began in 1937.

Others present at the ceremony included the chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Homero Luis Lajara Solá, Colombian Ambassador in the DR, Mario Montoya Uribe and General Manuel Rodríguez Peral of the National Office on Drug Control, among others.