COLUMBIA, S.C. - The South Carolina Army National Guard recently hosted one of the Colombian Army’s top military engineers who observed the South Carolina Army Guard’s first Best Engineer Competition and delivered the keynote speech at their annual Engineer banquet.
Colombian army Maj. Gen. Guillermo Arturo Suarez Ferreira visit was part of the state partnership between the South Carolina and the Republic of Colombia established in 2012. The program is part of the National Guard Bureau’s initiative began in 1992 to form relationships between Guard elements and nations throughout the world.
During the engineer competition, Suarez observed Guard members demonstrating their skills not only as engineers, but with basic infantry skills common to all Soldiers.
“Competition is very good,” said Suarez, who has more than 34 years professional experience in construction management, civil works, maintenance, equipment operation and management systems in engineering, as well as fighting as an infantryman and combat engineer. “We would be very interested in having something like this in Colombia, or even have some of our engineers join in the Best Engineer Competition next year. It promotes team work, and that is very important when working under pressure.”
Competition events were broken down into nine training lanes with various tasks each engineer team had to accomplish. Some skills tested included effectively operating an M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, military operations in urban terrain and land navigation.
“Operating in an urban area can be very difficult. This is good training where the professional non-commissioned officers are so important,” said Suarez.
Suarez later delivered a speech at the annual engineer dining-out banquet, which provided an opportunity for the engineers to gather and recognize unit excellence demonstrated during the competition.
“It is the deepest honor to have Maj. Gen. Suarez join us at the (banquet),” said Army Maj. Gen. Robert E. Livingston Jr., adjutant general of the South Carolina National Guard. “He epitomizes the professional engineer who has that vision and understands the vital impact engineers have to improve the quality of life for the Colombian people as they prepare to transition from more than 50 years of war.”
Suarez highlighted the capabilities of the Colombian army engineers that showcased the importance the Columbian army is placing on transitioning from a wartime mission to improving their country. Some of the elements focused on making areas safe by clearing land mines and expanding road networks to connect remote areas.
“Having Maj. Gen. Suarez speak in a social setting at (the banquet) was an opportunity to expose the engineers and their families to the State Partnership Program, present training ideas and get them excited about our relationship with Colombia,” said Col. Brad Owens, the director of the Joint Staff, South Carolina National Guard, who is also an engineer.
Owens said he hopes the South Carolina Guard and its personnel will serve as a resource for Colombia. Suarez’s visit with the engineers helps foster the relationship and presents the opportunity for future SPP ventures, he said.
A joint engineer mission between the two countries is already in the works with a team of South Carolina Army Guard engineers slated to visit Colombia to study Colombian engineer projects and learn de-mining techniques.
“We’ve been focused on one part of the world for 13 years. We need to expose our Guardsmen to other environments,” said Owens. “Because of their war, the Colombians have a lot we can learn from, including demining and different types of engineering.”
Others agreed.
“As the Colombian government transitions to peace, engineers are going to be critical to expand the confidence of government for the Colombian people in this post conflict period," said Army Lt. Col. Dave King, the State Partnership Program director with the South Carolina Guard. “The South Carolina National Guard wants to be ready to assist the Colombian engineers with whatever they need as they transition to meet these new challenges and continue to demonstrate our commitment to the Colombian military and the citizens they support.”