[1] He served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Colombian Armed Forces for a period of four years (1998–2002) during the presidential term of president Andres Pastrana.
General Tapias served as CEO for Zehirut Group from 2011 to 2015, an organization that specializes in security services and consulting for governments, companies and institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He was the commander of the Colombian Armed Forces in one of its most difficult moments ever: the ¨clearance zone¨ (demilitarized zone) in Caguan in 1998 during the peace negotiations between Andres Pastrana's government and the narco-guerrilla FARC.
Tapias had to develop a strategic plan to restructure the armed forces to face the specific crisis and frictions the army had while at war in the middle of peace negotiations.
General Fernando Tapias, alongside President Andres Pastrana, were part of the representation committee that travelled to the United States in order to present the projection and development of the Plan Colombia to the members of the U.S. Congress.
The military exchange between Colombia and the United States was increased from that moment on, going from the exclusive cooperation that was given to the National Police to all the components of the Colombian Armed Forces.
This agreement created a binational work team between the armed forces of both countries and started the specialization of "antinarcotics battalions" in the Colombian army under the direction of General Fernando Tapias.
During his administration in this ministry, General Tapias developed a great deal of work which featured efficiency and transparency in the use of public resources, which was then 2.09% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Colombia.