Air Assault Division
División de Aviación Asalto Aéreo

The Colombian Army Aviation is the most powerful of its type in Latin America, with a huge force of helicopters and a small but growing fixed-wing fleet. Having seen combat since its creation, it’s also extremely experienced. This Major Operational Unit is conceived as a support and maneuvering unit for the men that make up the ground force and is made up of the Aviation Brigade No. 25 for maneuvering, with a command post at the Tolemaida Military Fort; the 32nd Aviation Brigade based in the city of Bogotá, the Special Forces Brigade, the Special Brigade Against Drug Trafficking, the Aviation Special Operations Battalion and the Army Special Command. On December 14, 2012, the Aviation Maintenance Operational Command was activated by Provision 0030 of November 1, 2012.

The Mission of the División de Aviación Asalto Aéreo is to conduct efficient and safe Aviation operations and special operations, providing timely and permanent support to surface units and the civilian population, contributing to an environment of peace, security and development, through a sustainable organization. Also as a strategic reserve of the Army, on command, it executes special operations and air assault, taking advantage of its high tactical mobility.

Taking into account the need to continue supporting the troops, the Army Command according to Disposition 00I9 of August 30, 2007, ordered the reorganization of the Twenty-Fifth Brigade of the National Army by creating and activating the Army Aviation Operational Command, conforming by BAAV2, BAAV3, BAAV4 and BAAV5, in addition to the activation of BASPA No.25, BETRA and BAMAV No.6 that will depend directly on the Aviation Brigade, all for the purpose of conducting combat missions, combat support , support and services for combat and cooperation missions, thus giving the Minor Tactical Unit more flexibility and forcefulness in the Operations carried out in the national territory.

At the Tolemaida Military Fort, through Provision No. 0024 of May 28, 2010, General Oscar Gonzales Peña delivered the War flag of the Air Assault Aviation Division to Brigadier General Javier Enrique Rey Navas, symbol of command of this Operational Unit Mayor with its operations center in Bogotá and its main mission, the directing of air support throughout the National territory.

By 2010, in addition to its operations becoming more complex, thetactical units of the Colombian Army Aviation were too many to beassigned to a single Brigade. Therefore, a new restructuring was carried out.On May 28, 2010, through Resolution No. 0024, the division ofAir Assault Aviation, based in Bogotá, with the main mission of directing theair support throughout the national territory – being the first commander the Briga-dier General Javier Enrique Rey Navas.

In addition, the Air Assault Aviation division is conceived as a unitsupport and maneuvering for the ground force. Continuing with the evolutionary process of the Colombian Army Aviation. On December 18, 2009, five Mobility battalions were created and activated.and Aviation Maneuver, an Aviation Special Operations battalion and aAviation Supply Battalion. It is worth noting that each of the battalions welcomed a specific type of aircraft for administrative purposes, for instruction and maintenance, while the mobility and maneuver battalions areunits deployed in different regions that host a number of variable and heterogeneous of aircraft to support surface units in their operations.

At the beginning of the XXI century, Army Aviation consolidated itself as the key maneuvering weapon in the development and success of total-aspect operations, providing mobility, versatility and speed to the troops; as a component of the combined arms team thanks to the strengths of its officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers, who by their operational experience on the ground know and understand the needs of the soldiers in the combat field, facilitating decision-making by all the commanders of the component land thus guaranteed the obtaining of forceful operational results in defense of democracy. In 2014, the Aviation Brigade No. 33 for Mobility and Maneuvering was activated. Unit in charge of carrying out all aviation operations throughout the national territory.

During these 20 years of history, this elite Unit of the National Army has obtained operational results that have strategically hit the narco-terrorist groups; Among them are the operation Camaleón, Sodoma, Fénix, Jaque and Operation Marcial, where the death of 28 terrorists who belonged to the FARC was achieved during military operations, among them Pedro Nel Daza Narváez, alias Jairo Martínez, ideologue of the South Bloc of the farc and negotiator of this group in the dialogues in Havana.