Escort Colombia

Spray aircraft are accompanied by escort helicopters that carry combined U.S. contractor and Colombian National Police crews, and by search-and-rescue helicopters, which also carry combined crews. On a typical mission, U.S. civilian contractors accompany the spray operation in these helicopters as pilots and medics, but not as gunners. These contractors provide support for Colombian National Police counternarcotics and law enforcement operations and do not have a counterinsurgency role. Currently, there are four U.S. civilian contractors in Colombia working as helicopter pilots. There is one contractor pilot in each escort aircraft and two DynCorp contractor pilots and SAR personnel in the search-and-rescue aircraft. The co-pilots and gunners are members of the Colombian National Police. ... [Read More]

A Report to Congress on United States Policy Towards Colombia and Other Related Issues

However, in conducting counternarcotics aerial spraying, the spray aircraft, piloted by U.S. citizen or third country national contractors, are accompanied by escort helicopters that carry combined U.S. citizen civilian contractor or third country national contractors and Colombian National Police (CNP) crews. On a typical mission, U.S. citizen civilian contractors accompany the spray operations in these helicopters as pilots or medics, but not as gunners. The contractors provide support for CNP antinarcotics and law enforcement operations. U.S. citizen civilian contractors and third country national contractors have occasionally been subject to hostile fire in the course of providing their services, for example, in undertaking search and rescue (SAR) and medical evacuation missions. ... [Read More]

South America

The aerial eradication program will also expand in 2001. The DIRAN, with U.S. support, plans to establish two bases for spray and escort aircraft. The DIRAN also plans to complete the organization, training, and equipping of two more airmobile interdiction companies and establish an Antinarcotics Training Center. The goals for aerial eradication in 2001 are 100,000 hectares of coca and 10,000 hectares of poppy. ... [Read More]

Aerial Eradication of Illicit Crops: Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: The Embassy's NAS Aviation Office supports the Government of Colombia's aerial eradication program with technical and scientific advice, herbicide, fuel, spray aircraft, and a limited number of escort helicopters. The NAS Aviation Office coordinates regular reconnaissance flights piloted by a Department of State contractor that also provides maintenance, technical support, and some pilots. ... [Read More]

Memorandum of Justification Concerning the Aerial Eradication of Coca and Opium Poppy in Colombia

The Andean Counterdrug Initiative section of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, Division E, Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, (P.L. 108-7) (“FOAA”) lays out conditions under which assistance using funds appropriated under the FOAA may be made available for the procurement of chemicals for use in aerial eradication of illicit crops. In particular, the FOAA provides: That not more than 20 percent of the funds appropriated by this Act that are used for the procurement of chemicals for aerial coca and poppy fumigation programs may be made available for such programs unless the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that (1) the herbicide mixture is being used in a ... [Read More]

E) South America

The aerial eradication program will expand in 2002 with the arrival of additional Plan Colombia-funded spray aircraft. The DIRAN, with U.S. support, plans to organize its aerial eradication program into four Task Groups, each comprised of spray aircraft and escort helicopters, air crews, and a security unit. Two Task Groups will normally operate in southern Colombia. The other two will operate against smaller coca cultivations and opium poppy. The DIRAN also plans to complete the forward basing of two airmobile interdiction companies on the Caribbean and Pacific Coasts, and to construct an Antinarcotics Training Center to replace its Jungle School. The goals for aerial eradication in 2002 are 150,000 hectares of coca and 10,000 hectares of opium poppy. The Colombian military’s counternarcotics role will broaden in 2002, as plans to institute a second Counterdrug Brigade progress. ... [Read More]

Updated Report on Chemicals Used in the Colombian Aerial Eradication Program

February 1, 2003149To further address public and Congressional concerns about the possibility of human health and environmental harm potentially caused by spraying, the Department of State is working with the Government of Colombia and Garzon Ingenieros Asociados Ltda, an accredited Colombian laboratory, to analyze water taken from areas where the spray program operates. Technology for monitoring soil is not available in Colombia, so the Department of State is working with the Government of Colombia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service to analyze soil samples at the USDA/ARS laboratory at the University of Mississippi. The Department of State is paying for technicians from two Colombian government laboratories and the Ministry of the Environment to travel to Mississippi in April to learn how ... [Read More]

E) South America

The Air Service fleet includes 62 helicopters (59 supported by NAS) and 23 airplanes (21 supported by NAS). Aircraft are used in a variety of ways: fixed-wing aircraft transport cargo and personnel or perform intelligence and surveillance operations, and helicopters are used for transport and interdiction, or to escort and protect spray aircraft during eradication missions. ... [Read More]