Colombia’s search for peace to end a protracted social conflict that has mired the country in violence for decades reached a climax the fall of 2016 with the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the country’s largest armed opposition group. However, violence levels continue to be high, a fact that directs attention to the future role of one of the main actors in the conflict: the country's military forces. How security issues are addressed from here on will greatly affect Colombia’s future development. This study looks at the military's difficult transformation from a wartime to a peacetime institution, its role in peacebuilding and its relationship to the civilian state actors, its aspirations, strategies and visions for the future as well as its efforts to re-invent its own identity in an environment that is marked by continued violence. It is based on interviews conducted in the country between 2015 and 2018 with members of the Colombian military at both national and regional levels, the police, the Ministry of Defense and members of civil society organizations. The findings underline that the military's vision of its future role poses considerable challenges for the civilian government actors and Colombian civil society.