Colombian Air Force FLO honored for service, strengthening air force partnership
A Colombian Foreign Liaison Officer (FLO) received the Meritorious Service Medal during a ceremony at 12th Air Force, Air Forces Southern (AFSOUTH) headquarters Sept. 18, 2026, for strengthening cooperation between the United States and Colombia across exercises, operational planning and future missions.
Maj. Gen. David Mineau, commander of AFSOUTH, presented the medal to Colombian Aerospace Force (COLAF) Col. Yesid Suarez Santos, who served as a foreign liaison officer at AFSOUTH from April 25, 2025, to Sept. 30, 2026.
For Suarez, the most meaningful result of his assignment was the trust built between the people doing the work.
“The accomplishment I am most proud of is not a single exercise or project but helping to build a stronger human bridge between our Air Forces,” Suarez said. “During my 18 months at AFSOUTH, working alongside Airmen, we strengthened cooperation, information sharing, and interoperability for hemispheric security. The trust is the true partnership between the COLAF and U.S. Air Force.”
AFSOUTH FLOs serve as a direct link between their nation’s air force and the U.S. Air Force. They bring their service’s perspective into planning and help both organizations share information, coordinate exercises and identify opportunities to work together. For Suarez, the role meant turning those conversations into working relationships across the command.
During his assignment, Suarez supported 18 bilateral engagements, two national air shows and three multinational exercises, according to his award citation. He facilitated Colombia’s participation in U.S. Southern Command’s PANAMAX exercise, where a Colombian officer served as deputy coalition forces air component commander.
Suarez also helped establish the first Colombian FLO position at U.S. Space Forces Southern. During planning for Exercise Brother’s Shield, he connected the COLAF with the 612th Air Operations Center, helping the two organizations coordinate efforts and identify priorities for future cooperation.
“Col. Suarez strengthened our partnership by making it work at the operational level,” Mineau said. “He connected the right people, helped our forces plan and exercise together, and expanded cooperation into the space domain. The trust he built with our team will continue to serve both air forces after his assignment ends.”
His time at AFSOUTH changed how Suarez viewed cooperation between the two air forces.
“Serving at AFSOUTH changed my view from a bilateral cooperation concept to an operational necessity,” Suarez said. “I learned that hemispheric security cannot be achieved alone; it requires a planned, coordinated, and trusted operational relationship based on interoperability.”
“Before AFSOUTH, I saw partnership as coordination. Now I see it as combined strength,” he added.
Suarez said he will carry that understanding into his next assignment in Colombia as chief of special operations.
“I will carry forward the understanding that the work we do here;building mutual trust, sharing intelligence, coordinated response, air domain awareness and ensuring our forces can operate together seamlessly, is crucial for neutralize threats and maintain the stability of the region,” said Suarez.
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