AIR BRIDGE DENIAL: MARCH 2009 PROGRAM UPDATE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001379 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR INL/LP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PREL MOPS MASS PGOV CO SUBJECT: AIR BRIDGE DENIAL: MARCH 2009 PROGRAM UPDATE REF: 2003 STATE 265910 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. This is the monthly Air Bridge Denial (ABD) activity report for March, 2009, as required by Reftel. The Government of Colombia (GOC) sorted 4,698 tracks during December. Six were declared Unknown, Assumed Suspect (UAS). One resulted in a Phase I event with the event ending when the aircraft entered Venezuelan Territory. Another ended in a law enforcement end game, but no illegal items were found. END SUMMARY. -------------- Tracks -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In March, 2009, there were 4,698 air tracks over Colombia of which six were declared Unknown, Assumed Suspect (UAS). Host Nation responded to all. Three were not located. On March 12, one crossed the Guajira Peninsula returning from Central America to Venezuela. It entered into Venezuela shortly after Phase I was started. The aircraft, a Centurion II, was impounded by Venezuelan authorities later that day and two crewmembers were arrested. On 20 March, another was visually identified over the Caribbean Sea by a P-3 and the information was passed on to Central American and Caribbean Law Enforcement Agencies. The aircraft was later impounded in Guatemala with weapons and computers being loaded onto the aircraft. Another UAS was searched after it landed in a Colombian airfield, but no illegal substances were found. -------------- Flight Operations -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In March 2009, the Citations flew 197 hours in 86 sorties with a 79% OR rate. Of the 86 sorties, 16 were for GOC ABD intelligence gathering and patrolling; 25 for training; 24 were for maritime patrolling, 13 were in reaction to GOC-provided information, four for operational support, and four were non-ABD missions. -------------- Nationalization -------------- ¶4. The intermediate goal of reaching 50% of maintenance training by the end of March 2009 has been reached. We expect no problems in training of Colombian Air Force (COLAF) Technicians that will assume the Citation SR-560 maintenance role Jan 1, 2010. Discussions with the COLAF SR-26 unit that nationalized the maintenance and logistics Jan 1, 2009, have showed them ready to continue their own maintenance. BROWNFIELD