Colombian Naval Infantry
marine force of the Colombian National Navy
The Colombian Naval Infantry, also referred to as Colombian Marines (Spanish: Infantería de Marina Colombiana), is the marine force of the Colombian National Armada. The 53,123-member Colombian Marine Infantry is organized into a single division with four brigades (one amphibious assault brigade and three riverine brigades), each with several battalions plus numerous small security units.
History
The Naval Infantry is a constituent part of the Navy whose origins date back to the wars of independence. Today's Colombian Marines trace their heritage and military traditions from the Gran Colombia Marine Corps raised in 1822, by orders of Major General and Vice-president Francisco de Paula Santander, with Captain Diego Antonio García, who was appointed commander of the 6th Marine Company raised that year, being appointed Commandant that October.
Reactivated by an order from President Dr. Alfonso López Pumarejo on January 12, 1937, The Colombian Marines started out as a 120-strong Marine Company, located at the Cartagena Naval Base.
On March 8, 1940, the 1st Marine Battalion was raised, with three companies to cover Bolivar, Putumayo and the San Andres Islands, then in 1943 was assigned to Buenaventura, Barranquilla, Puerto Leguizamo and the eastern plains.
In 1944, a heavy weapons company was raised and the battalion was moved to facilities adjacent to the San Pedro Claver convent in Cartagena. With the advent of La Violencia, in 1952 the Marines were reassigned to the Eastern Naval Force due to the appearance of subversives in this area, and in a year, with the transfer of personnel from the National Army of Colombia, the number of personnel serving increased.
In July 1955, thanks to the instruction of officers and NCOs in the United States in the United States Naval Academy, The Basic School of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Marine Corps School of Infantry and the U.S. mission of the United States Marine Corps aimed for this effort, the Naval Infantry began training and forming its personnel for amphibious warfare operations.
“Colombian Naval Infantry” enters the record as marine force of the Colombian National Navy. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Colombian, Naval and Infantry can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Colombian Naval Infantry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.