Colonel James actually had ample reason to be arrogant.
They were none other than the famous "Green Berets," members of the Army Special Forces.
The ODA team he led consisted of 12 servicemen, including seasoned non-commissioned officers skilled in everything from combat to communications and medical care.
Since the purpose of their visit to Colombia was to engage in joint and training missions, most of the team were experts in jungle warfare and guerrilla tactics. Originally, they were instructors tasked with training Colombian Special Forces to undertake missions against the anti-government armed forces. Thus, in James's view, with the extensive cooperation of the Colombian military personnel, capturing merely two fugitives ought to be a piece of cake, right?