Ruinas cuartel militar COE81, O Cumial (Ourense)

Detachment located on the outskirts of Orense, in the El Cumial mountain. The COE 81 was located there, today only the ruins of the Company remain but it is certainly still firmly in the memory of the majority of those who served there.

It was close to the San Ciprián industrial estate and surrounded by mountains, within its perimeter there was a shooting track, a fire track, Conguito (a labyrinth located one and a half metres below ground made up of concrete tubes of about 50 cm in diameter), an American track, a landing net, etc.

The history of the COEs began in 1957 in Jaca when the first course began to obtain the qualification for command of Guerrilla Units, which lasted 10 months and was taught to officers and non-commissioned officers at the Military Mountain and Special Operations School (EMMOE). The Military Mountain School, which had already been the training centre since 1945 for commanders in mountain specialties (skiers, climbers, mountain combat, climbing...) created the Skiers and Climbers Company in Candanchú in 1946. It would consolidate operations training during the 60s and in 1981 it would have its own COE. In 2008, in coordination with the Special Operations Command, the first Basic Aptitude course in Special Operations was taught in Alicante for troops.

After the fourth course in the EMMOE was completed, the first two Special Operations Units were created in 1962: one in the 7th Military Region, which was called UOE 71, and was attached to the Milan Infantry Regiment based in Oviedo, and a second in the 8th Region, which was called UEO 81, and was attached to the Zamora Infantry Regiment based in Orense. The Units were made up of 113 members under the command of a captain, and their personal weapons were the CETME assault rifle, a semi-automatic pistol and a special knife, initially manufactured by the FN of Toledo and later by Aitor Oso Negro. Their members were awarded the characteristic green beret once they had passed the various tests required for their training as guerrilla fighters. The first to be awarded were those of December 8, 1962, the day of the Immaculate Conception, to the members of the UOE71.