southcomA Half-Century of Service southcom50 Former SOUTHCOM

Commanders Gen. Andrew P. O’Meara Gen. Robert W. Porter, Jr. USA, June 1963 – Feb. 1965 USA, Feb. 1965 – Feb. 1969​

Gen. George R. Mather Gen. George V. Underwood Gen. William B. Rosson Lt. Gen. Dennis P. McAuliffe Lt. Gen. Wallace H. Nutting USA, Feb. 1969 – Sept. 1971 USA, Sept. 1971 – Jan. 1973 USA, Jan. 1973 – July 1975​ USA, Aug. 1975 – Sept. 1979 USA, Oct. 1979 – May 1983

Gen. Paul F. Gorman Gen. John R. Galvin Gen. Frederick F. Woerner Gen. Maxwell R. Thurman Gen. George A. Joulwan USA, May 1983 – March 1985​ USA, March 1985 – June 1987 USA, June 1987 – July 1989 USA, Sept. 1989 – Nov. 1990 USA, Nov. 1990 – Nov. 1993

Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey Gen. Wesley K. Clark Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm Gen. Peter Pace Maj. Gen. Gary D. Speer USA, Feb. 1994 – Feb. 1996 USA, July 1996 – July 1997​ USMC, Sept. 1997 – Sept. 2000 USMC, Sept. 2000 – Sept. 2001 (Acting), USA, Oct. 2001 – Aug. 2002

Gen. James T. Hill Gen. Bantz J. Craddock Adm. James G. Stavridis Gen. Douglas M. Fraser

USA, Aug. 2002 – Nov. 2004 USA, Nov. 2004 – Oct. 2006 USN, Oct. 2006 – June 2009 USAF, Oct. 2009 – Nov. 2012 southcom all photos courtesy southcom50

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE UNITED STATES SOUTHERN COMMAND OFFICE OF THE COMMANDER 9301 NW 33RD STREET DORAL, FL 33172-1202

I am honored to serve as Combatant Commander as U.S. Southern Command celebrates its 50th anniversary. I hope you enjoy reading about the command’s accomplishments, which are a reflection of the outstanding service members and civilian employees who work tirelessly to support our mission.

A descendent of U.S. military units dispatched to in the early 20th Century, U.S. Southern Command’s history as a unified military headquarters began during World War II, when U.S. planners established the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command. During the 1950s, the command’s responsibility shifted from U.S. military missions in the Caribbean basin to operations focused in Central and South America. On June 11, 1963, the command was formally designated by its current name: U.S. Southern Command.

U.S. Southern Command’s mission has evolved over the ensuing decades. Originally established to defend the Panama Canal and surrounding areas during WWII, today U.S. Southern Command is responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Now headquartered in Miami, Florida, U.S. Southern Command focuses on building bilateral and multilateral security relationships that enhance the defense of the United States and the security of the region.

The nations of Latin America and the Caribbean have also undergone a profound transformation over the past 50 years, with the past decade of globalization bringing deeper integration between the nations in our hemisphere. Today, the United States is more economically and culturally connected to Latin America and the Caribbean than ever before.

Geographic proximity and the economic, cultural, and social interconnections of the region to the United States also mean we share many of the same challenges. U.S. Southern Command engages with regional security and defense forces to address an array of issues, including drug and other illicit trafficking, disaster response, terrorism, and the security of the global commons. We are committed to working with our partners, both in the region and in the U.S. government, to build a strong, secure, integrated system of defense cooperation based on shared values, respect for human rights, and effective, accountable, democratic governance.

As we look ahead to the next 50 years, I believe we have a unique and exciting opportunity: to begin a new era of engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean, to reinvigorate our relationships, and to begin a new phase in our partnership—a Partnership with the Americas.

John F. Kelly General, U.S. Marine Corps

1 www.defensemedianetwork.com southcom50 SOUTHCOM History

By John D. Gresham

Beginnings into arbitration with Venezuela and and implemented a regional defense declared that the United States would program that included antisubmarine For centuries, strategists and intervene, as a last resort, to ensure and counterespionage operations merchants in America, Great Britain, that other nations in the Western and established U.S. military training and elsewhere had dreamed of a canal Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to missions throughout Latin America. It joining the Atlantic and Pacific across international creditors. The following also distributed military equipment to the narrow land bridge of the Isthmus two decades saw Marine landings and regional partners through the Lend- of Panama. In the 1880s, a French U.S. occupation in (1909- Lease program, and opened U.S. service company began construction, but tech- 1933), (1912), Haiti (1915- schools to Latin American soldiers, nical problems and epidemic tropical 1934), and the Dominican Republic sailors, and aviators. At the height of disease left it bankrupt. Panama was (1916-1924) for a variety of reasons. World War II, the United States had then a province of Colombia, wracked In addition, in 1916, Denmark sold the assigned 135,000 uniformed personnel by chronic unrest and rebellion; in islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. to duty stations in Latin America and 1885, a battalion of U.S. Marines landed Croix to the United States, adding to the Caribbean, approximately half of at Colón to restore order after rebels American interests in the Caribbean. whom were under the direct control of burned the town and took Americans The years between World War I and the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command. hostage. In 1903, Panama declared World War II did little to change U.S. independence, with U.S. backing. The relations with Latin America. Along United States recognized Panamanian with continued interventions in the U.S. submarines, with tender ship independence on Nov. 6, and a treaty region, American business interests USS Severn, pass through the Panama with the new government was signed continued to grow. Just before World Canal’s Gatun Locks April 15, 1914. A on Nov. 18, giving the United States War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt major engineering achievement, the sovereignty over a Canal Zone 10 miles established the U.S. Caribbean Defense construction of the Panama Canal, wide. Eleven years later, on Aug. 15, Command (1941-1947), an early which opened in 1914, created new 1914, the canal officially opened to version of a unified military organiza- lines of commerce, communication, traffic, reshaping American maritime tion designed to defend the Panama and defense. It occupied a central strategy and endowing the region with Canal and surrounding areas. Based place in U.S. global strategy during a much greater strategic value. in Panama, the command organized the 20th century. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt had added his own corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. He asserted that the United States would enforce order in a troubled hemisphere to “exercise international police power in flagrant cases of … wrongdoing or impotence.” European banks commonly extended unrealistic loans to regional leaders, expecting their own governments to enforce repayment through “gunboat

diplomacy.” When Venezuela defaulted NARA any, p

on German loans and ignored a German om ultimatum demanding payment, the German navy blockaded the country, C anal sank Venezuelan ships, shelled forts along its coastline, and landed troops. Roosevelt, worried that economic debt could become a pretext for the establishment of European bases in

the Americas, pushed the Germans C Panama of courtesy Photos

2 www.defensemedianetwork.com During the war, Latin American relief supplies to Haiti after Hurricane nations not only provided the U.S. Hazel. The following year, CARIBCOM military bases, both to hunt German coordinated an airlift of relief supplies U-boats and provide transport links to to after heavy flooding, West Africa, but a number also joined as it did in Colombia in November the Allied war effort. The Brazilian 1955. In January 1956, the command Expeditionary Force of more than 25,000 airlifted several tons of medicine and troops, for example, fought alongside medical equipment to aid Argentina U.S. forces in Italy during 1944-1945. during a polio epidemic. In 1960, CARIBCOM went to the aid of The Cold War and (earthquake), Brazil (flooding), and Expanded Responsibilities Chile (earthquake). The first UNITAS (United International After World War II, U.S. strategy in Anti-submarine) exercise, initially coor- the region evolved beyond defense of dinated by LANTCOM, was also held in the Panama Canal to embrace broader 1960. This cooperative annual exercise security responsibilities in Central U.S. infantrymen carry joining the navies of the Americas and and South America. U.S. Caribbean ammunition to a machine gun the Caribbean has continued ever since. Defense Command therefore became position, Panama, October 1942. The initial intent of UNITAS – training U.S. Caribbean Command (CARIBCOM) to better defend the hemisphere against in 1947. With the name change came the Soviet threat – has changed over the an expansion of the command’s area between the country’s two major cities, intervening years to an exercise based of responsibility (AOR) to include Quito and Guayaquil. The command on training together to counter the chal- (excluding Mexico), airlifted 657 tons of relief supplies from lenges of today. South America, the Caribbean Sea the Canal Zone to Ecuador, and estab- The arrival of President John F. and islands, and a portion of the Pacific lished an air bridge between the two Kennedy in the White House in 1961 from the Mexico- border to cities until U.S. Army combat engineers forever changed American relations the Peru-Ecuador border. CARIBCOM’s could clear roadways and repair rail with Latin America. The abortive Bay mission set included the security of lines. Nearly a year and a half later, in of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile U.S. forces in Panama and the region, September 1954, CARIBCOM evacuated Crisis focused American attention on along with defense of the Panama victims and coordinated delivery and the proximity of a socialist Cuba in the Canal and its maritime approaches, distribution of 50 tons of relief supplies Caribbean, and the administration’s but also reflected the beginning of and water purification equipment after Alliance for Progress program sought the Cold War and growing threat of flooding from Tropical Storm Gilda to aid development in Latin America in communist-backed insurgencies in destroyed thousands of acres of banana order to begin to remedy widespread the region. Under the U.S. govern- plantations and left 3,000 homeless. poverty and income inequality that could ment’s Military Assistance Program, In October 1954, the command, coor- inflame pro-communist movements. begun in 1951, military ties between dinating with LANTCOM, delivered In an attempt to better coordinate the United States and nations of the military operations in Latin America, the region were strengthened to improve Kennedy administration decided to make readiness. CARIBCOM only rarely In 1904, President CARIBCOM into a unified command had to respond to military threats focused on protecting U.S. interests in during this period, especially after the Theodore Roosevelt the region. The CARIBCOM designa- Pentagon handed over responsibility had added his own tion improperly identified a command for much of the Caribbean to the U.S. corollary to the Monroe whose Caribbean responsibility had Atlantic Command (LANTCOM) in 1956. been handed to LANTCOM and whose However, the region continued to be Doctrine. He asserted dominant concerns now rested with prone to natural disasters, and disaster that the United States Central and South America. On June 11, relief – a secondary CARIBCOM mission would enforce order in a 1963, the administration redesignated – came to the fore. In 1949, Ecuador CARIBCOM as U.S. Southern Command suffered a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, troubled hemisphere to (SOUTHCOM). Concurrently, Secretary of and the command coordinated an airlift “exercise international Defense Robert S. McNamara elevated of 41 tons of relief supplies to affected police power in flagrant SOUTHCOM to a four-star command. areas. In March 1953, CARIBCOM Defense of the Panama Canal (where returned to Ecuador after severe cases of … wrongdoing the command was based) remained flooding severed road and rail links or impotence.” SOUTHCOM’s top priority, but the

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1963-1965 SOUTHCOM established 1965-1969 Intervention in Dominican Republic

A U.S. military adviser instructs policy advisers. On April 28, 1965, Honduran soldiers arrive in the students on the use of engineering elements of XVIII Airborne Corps, Dominican Republic, 1965. equipment in Bolivia, July 1963. During including units of the 82nd Airborne World War II and the early years of the Division and 7th Special Forces Group, Cold War, U.S. military efforts in Latin began a yearlong occupation of the A Cemented Role Amid America concentrated on conventional Dominican Republic under Operation Latin American Unrest security matters. In the 1960s, the U.S. Power Pack. Following negotiation of a military focus shifted toward civic action peace settlement between the opposing Despite SOUTHCOM’s elevation of and counterinsurgency programs. parties, the last U.S. personnel left status under the Kennedy adminis- the country in 1966. A multinational tration, over the next decade, senior peacekeeping force, drawn from administration and military leaders, command’s mission set expanded to member states of the Organization of including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, include contingency planning for Cold American States (OAS), replaced them. considered disestablishing SOUTHCOM War activities, administering the U.S. The peacekeeping operation, known as in an effort to reduce America’s military foreign Military Assistance Program in Operation Push Ahead, included troops footprint around the globe. At one point, Latin America, and undertaking civic from Brazil, Honduras, Paraguay, El SOUTHCOM was downgraded to a three- action projects with partner-nation Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. star command status, and its various personnel to aid regional development Disaster relief operations continued service component commands were elim- under the Alliance for Progress initiative. as always. SOUTHCOM responded inated. By the mid-1970s, SOUTHCOM’s From the early 1960s, military to fires in Brazil in 1963; returned mission set was being rapidly drawn assistance evolved from preparing for with food and medical supplies after down, limited mostly to defense of the conventional warfare to concentrating flooding in 1964; airlifted medical Panama Canal, humanitarian assis- on civic action and counterinsurgency. teams and supplies to Bolivia in 1964 tance and disaster relief, and contin- One of the first flashpoints occurred in during an epidemic of hemorrhagic gency planning. Actual forces assigned the Dominican Republic in the early fever; and responded at “home” when to the command were always limited, 1960s, a result of the disputed national Panama was lashed by a tropical storm. and personnel and assets frequently elections following the assassination of From 1965-1968, SOUTHCOM provided had to be borrowed from other regional dictator Rafael Trujillo. By early 1965, assistance following earthquakes commands to fulfill specific missions. the constitutional government faction that struck Chile, , Peru, Despite this, SOUTHCOM was a busy and had requested U.S. military assistance, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Throughout vital place to be assigned during the Cold which President Lyndon B. Johnson the decade, the command responded to War, especially with regard to the threat approved over the objections of virtually flooding, drought, volcanic eruptions, of national or regional insurgencies in ational archives and records administration records and archives N ational of courtesy hotos all of his civilian and military foreign and other natural disasters. civil wars. p

4 www.defensemedianetwork.com 1965-1969 Intervention in Dominican Republic 1970-1974 A reduced mission 1975-1979 New Panama Canal treaty

A U.S. medic examines a Panamanian influence in the region, and in October President James E. “Jimmy” Carter, boy during a medical training 1983, the Joint Chiefs of Staff promul- Organization of American States exercise in Panama, April 1974. gated a new Unified Command Plan Secretary General Alejandro Orfila, and that restored SOUTHCOM to a four- Gen. Omar Torrijos (far right) sign the star billet. They further enhanced Panama Canal Treaties in Washington, For Panama, the most notable event of the command’s authority by restoring D.C., September 1977. the ’70s was the signing of the Panama responsibility for contingency plan- Canal Treaties by U.S. President James ning of Cold War operations in Latin E. “Jimmy” Carter and Panamanian America. The Joint Chiefs also added participated in 13 joint training Chief of Government Gen. Omar a new mission of conducting contin- exercises with Latin American mili- Torrijos in 1977, which arranged for gency planning for counternarcotics taries. Highlighting the move toward the handover of the canal to Panama in activities, and humanitarian assis- counterinsurgency in 1986, the United 2000. Implementation began in October tance/disaster relief was reduced to a States activated Special Operations 1979, but elsewhere in the region, less secondary mission. Finally, the service Command South (SOCSOUTH) to peaceful events were taking place. In chiefs also reactivated major subor- organize and conduct special opera- Nicaragua, the Sandinista uprising dinate commands as SOUTHCOM tions in the theater. U.S. troops also began in July 1979, and in October, a components. It was an important acted as peacekeepers in the region as civil war began in El Salvador between restoration of prestige, responsibility, Nicaragua’s civil war spilled over into the civil-military government backed and authority for the command. Along Honduras, and in March 1987, 3,200 by the United States and a coalition of with an increase in military assis- U.S. troops were deployed to stabilize five leftist guerrilla groups. Around tance, training and exercises accel- the border between the two countries. the same time, cocaine cartels began erated. In 1985 alone, SOUTHCOM While SOUTHCOM was not tested with their rise in Colombia as well as in any large contingency operations in the the mountainous regions of Peru and early 1980s, it was not immune from Bolivia. Peru was also combating the At one point, SOUTHCOM those operations run by other regional rise of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining was downgraded commands. In particular, LANTCOM Path) communist insurgency. had run Operation Urgent Fury into By the early 1980s, the combined to a three-star Grenada in 1983. The operation was importance of these developments command status, and significant in that it exposed a number removed any remaining thoughts its various service of weaknesses in the existing Unified of standing down SOUTHCOM. The Command Plan as well as multiservice Reagan administration, in fact, component commands (“joint”) command, control, communica- decided early on to revitalize military were eliminated. tions, and intelligence operations.

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1980-1984 Intervention in Grenada 1985-1989 Toppling the Noriega regime

82nd Airborne artillery personnel corrupt and supportive of the narcotics Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 509th load and fire M102 105 mm trade moving up from South America. He Infantry, parachute from a C-130E howitzers during Operation also had become quite hostile toward the Hercules aircraft into a drop Urgent Fury in Grenada. United States, requesting and receiving zone outside the city to conduct military aid from Cuba, Nicaragua, and operations in support of Operation Libya. In light of the upcoming transfer Just Cause in Panama in 1989. Taken together with failed missions of the Panama Canal to Panamanian such as Operation Eagle Claw (Iran, control, the U.S. government began to 1980) and the casualties taken from the view Noriega as both a criminal and U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Army rapidly barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon a threat to American interests. When took over Panama. Though initially the (1982 to 1984), these issues began by the he was indicted by the U.S. Justice fighting was intense, overall casualties mid-1980s to drive a movement in the Department for narcotics trafficking, on both sides were light. Noriega was Congress for reform of the Department of the already sour relationship between taken into custody for trial and eventual Defense (DoD) and the military. The result America and Panama became hostile. incarceration for his drug trafficking. was the Goldwater-Nichols Department In 1989, Noriega began to actively Just Cause was the largest operation of Defense Reform Act (1986) and the harass U.S. military and civilian to date by SOUTHCOM, in the first test Nunn-Cohen Amendment (1987), which personnel in the Canal Zone, causing of the new operational rules set down reorganized the way America would go the new American president, George by Goldwater-Nichols. It provided to war into the next century. H.W. Bush, and his administration to important lessons for future operations, As part of the defense reforms enacted develop contingency plans for a possible including operations by U.S. Central by Congress, SOUTHCOM was redefined invasion of Panama and the removal of Command (CENTCOM) against Iraq in as a Unified Combatant Command Noriega from office. A new SOUTHCOM Southwest Asia. SOUTHCOM now was (UCC), which enhanced operational commander, Gen. Maxwell R. Thurman, an equal to the other U.S. combatant flexibility and the ability to influence U.S. Army, was assigned to complete the commands in standing, if not in funding, regional policy in Latin America, as planning and execute the operation if ready to take its place in future post- well as granting more autonomy in required. During 1989, the command Cold War military operations. new systems procurements by the DoD. expanded its counterdrug operations hotos These reforms came at an opportune throughout the region, but the situation The 1990s: Haiti, time, as a problem in Central America in Panama only worsened. By late 1989, Colombia, and the Growing reached crisis proportions: Gen. Manuel conditions had grown so dire that Bush Pains of Democracy Noriega in Panama. Once a strong ally finally ordered the execution of Operation of the United States in the region, by the Just Cause, and on Dec. 20, 1989, combat Following the first round of U.S. outhern command p . S S . late 1980s Noriega had become deeply forces of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, post-Cold War military operations, U

6 www.defensemedianetwork.com 1990-1994 Post-Cold War mission 1995-1999 Headquarters moves to Miami-Doral, Fla.

A Super Étendard aircraft of the Operation Uphold Democracy, a multi- U.S. Southern Command Argentine navy takes part in touch-and- national intervention in Haiti in 1994 Headquarters moved into the go landings on the flight deck of the to remove a military regime that had Maxwell R. Thurman Building, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS ousted the democratically elected Miami-Doral, Fla., in September 1997. Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in 1990. government, which stepped down Thurman served as commander, peacefully. Follow-on peacekeeping, U.S. Southern Command, during relief, and infrastructure-building Operation Just Cause. such as Just Cause and Desert Shield/ operations lasted through March Storm, the combatant commands 1995. In addition, SOUTHCOM ran a spent the next decade participating in vast array of multinational training and problem and a genuine threat to the a variety of small but significant mili- assistance operations in Latin America regional security of northern South tary operations across the globe. For throughout the 1990s. Some of these, America, Central America, and nations SOUTHCOM, this meant a change in like UNITAS, were continuations of of the Caribbean. Every year, hundreds focus away from Cold War contingency annual exercises dating back to the Cold of tons of refined cocaine made their way operations to becoming a partner with War, and have continued to the present north into the United States and Canada, other U.S. government agencies and day. Other missions, like those run generating billions of dollars in profits departments to undo the tangle of under the Joint Combined Exchange for drug producers and traffickers along American policy initiatives dating to Training (JCET) program funded by the with untold woe and violence in North the end of World War II. The emphasis Joint Chiefs of Staff, though small in America. Beginning in the late 1980s, on counterdrug efforts continued, and size and manpower footprint, greatly the Reagan and Bush administrations the command implemented a multi- improve the professionalism and skills made interdicting narcotics traffic a national initiative to synchronize of a number of Latin American mili- major priority for a variety of govern- Bolivian, Colombian, Ecuadorian, tary and internal security forces. But mental agencies and departments. Peruvian, and U.S. counterdrug oper- SOUTHCOM would face a long and Included in this effort was SOUTHCOM. ations. In 1994, Joint Interagency Task tough, though ultimately worthwhile, Late in 1988, the U.S. military’s active Force-South (a two-star intelligence fight alongside Colombia as it fought its participation was expanded by the Bush fusion and planning operation located war against the drug cartels and FARC administration through Public Law in Key West, Fla.) was stood up to plan, (translates as the Revolutionary Army 100-456, which amended USC Title conduct, and direct interagency coun- Forces of Colombia) insurgency. 10, Chapter 18. The changes required terdrug operations in Latin America. Ever since the days of the “Cocaine DoD “to serve as the lead agency for the Other operations included human- Cowboys” of the 1980s, narcotics traf- detection and monitoring of aerial and itarian assistance and disaster relief ficking to the United States from South maritime transit of illegal drugs into the as well as peacekeeping, including America had become a greater national United States.” The Secretary of Defense

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2000-2004 Supporting Colombia 2005-Present Interagency cooperation

Colombian riverine operations, 1999. dispatched a joint task force (JTF) Marines and sailors of Combat The U.S. government supported along with personnel from the Drug Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Colombian state-building efforts Enforcement Administration and other Expeditionary Unit, offload three through Plan Colombia. departments, to help the Colombians Haitian patients from an MH-60 hunt down and (hopefully) capture helicopter, Feb. 5, 2010. The patients Escobar. The JTF faced an uphill were transported from USNS Comfort. was now authorized not only to make battle against corruption, bribery, available military equipment and facili- and the very real threat of violence ties for law enforcement authorities, but from Escobar and his organization. Escobar ended neither the insurgency also to train equipment maintenance Escobar had no scruples regarding nor the drug trade in Colombia, and and operation personnel. violence to protect his drug empire, it would take another decade to get Because the majority of the produc- including blowing up an airliner and control over both of those problems. tion and transport of illegal drugs took the Colombian Supreme Court, along Meanwhile, on Jan. 1, 1996, the place in the SOUTHCOM AOR, the with killing a presidential candidate. first part of a two-phased transition command took on the lion’s share of Much of the U.S. effort centered for SOUTHCOM began under a new the mission, partnering with nations around training and supporting a unit Unified Command Plan laid out by the in the region like Colombia to aid its of the Colombian National Police force Joint Chiefs of Staff. Under this plan, internal efforts, as well as stepping up known as Search Bloc. Search Bloc had SOUTHCOM assumed responsibility and interdiction of drugs in transit on the a single mission – the elimination of control for maritime waters around high seas and in the air. Escobar and his organization – and it Central and South America out to the Colombia had been ravaged by an would be a long and bloody task to bring 12-mile limit. For the first time since ongoing rural insurgency, which had Escobar to justice. Specialized signals the 1950s, SOUTHCOM had a maritime been further complicated by the rise intelligence units from both the United role in the Latin American AOR. On June of a number of cocaine-producing States and Colombia had to be brought 1, 1997, the second part of the new cartels. In the early 1990s, the worst in to help hunt down Escobar, who, Unified Command Plan’s transition gave hoto of these, the so-called “Medellín Cartel” by this time, was on the run and only SOUTHCOM operational responsibility headed by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, communicating via radiotelephone. On for the Caribbean islands and waters – a hoto / dodhoto p was in virtual control of the country, Dec. 2, 1993, Search Bloc finally ran region highly prone to natural disasters. and Colombia was on the verge of down Escobar in a suburb of Medellín. This required the command to elevate becoming a failed state. Following In the gun battle that followed, Search humanitarian assistance and disaster ommand p a request from the government of Bloc killed Escobar and a bodyguard, relief to a primary mission, a task Colombia, in 1992 SOUTHCOM and U.S. bringing his bloody reign of terror to made easier by the relatively low level . southern C S .

Special Operations Command (SOCOM) an end. Sadly, however, the death of of conflict in the region. SOUTHCOM U

8 www.defensemedianetwork.com headquarters also began relocation from drug cartels – so much so that efforts Unified Response delivered a vast Panama to Miami, Fla., a move that was to transport drugs and other illegal stream of relief supplies and evacu- completed on Sept. 26, 1997. After two items directly to U.S. shores have been ated hundreds of injured Haitians to particularly severe storms struck the virtually eliminated, and now occur in medical care overseas. In addition, Caribbean and Central America in 1998, Central America and Mexico. SOUTHCOM helped nongovernmental SOUTHCOM responded with a massive Along with making a significant dent organizations gain access to the transnational aid effort and coordi- in the flow of illicit drugs and goods disaster area and supported them and nated more than 20,000 personnel toward North America, SOUTHCOM their lifesaving/rebuilding efforts. carrying out disaster relief operations. has also conducted some of the most Along with these large and very public One positive outgrowth of the disasters important and far-reaching human- operations, SOUTHCOM continues to was renewed relations with Nicaragua, itarian/disaster relief efforts of the this day to run hundreds of different which had been strained at best. new millennium. While Latin America training, partnering, and multinational The coming of the 21st century began has always been a region prone to exercises throughout Latin America and a new era for SOUTHCOM, as American natural disasters (volcanoes, earth- the Caribbean. This includes everything attention focused across the oceans quakes, hurricanes, etc.), SOUTHCOM from medical civic action programs following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. has consistently made itself ready to (MEDCAPs), including visits by U.S. However, just because the command respond, even in the worst and most Navy hospital ships, to multinational did not have a primary mission in the unexpected of circumstances. Perhaps exercises to help build relationships, Global War on Terrorism (Operation the most impressive example of this capacity, and operational experience Enduring Freedom) or the invasion with partner nations throughout the of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) did region. And while SOUTHCOM currently not mean that SOUTHCOM was not has no real areas of conventional mili- a busy place in the early days of the Along with making a tary conflict, the command remains new millennium. On the contrary, the significant dent in the functionally and structurally ready to continuing war against narcotics traf- deal with any contingency that might ficking, one element of “transnational flow of illicit drugs and arise within its AOR. organized crime,” became even fiercer, goods toward North with SOUTHCOM gaining real traction America, SOUTHCOM Conclusion against the cartels but also shifting the fight elsewhere as a result of its success. has also conducted some Over the decades, U.S. SOUTHCOM Unveiled by Colombian President of the most important has, with its various names and Andrés Pastrana in 1999, Plan and far-reaching missions, provided the United States Colombia was a multinational effort and Latin America with strong, central to not only choke off the drug trade to humanitarian/disaster military leadership around which the North America and Europe, but also to relief efforts of the region can rally in times of war and deal with the long-term civil war that new millennium. trouble. And while for much of its history had been going on for decades between SOUTHCOM was viewed as something the government and the FARC, a leftist of a “backwater” command, the end rebel insurgency group. This combined of the Cold War in 1989 destroyed any U.S./Colombian effort was designed, came in 2010, when on Jan. 12, a notion that Latin America is anything much like the effort with Search Bloc a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck but an area of critical U.S. interest. decade earlier, to improve the capabili- the Haitian capital city of Port-au- The Americas constitute a region with ties and capacity of Colombian military Prince, destroying many parts of the as much or more promise econom- and security forces, while at the same city along with most of the country’s ically and socially as any other. As time providing sustained planning and infrastructure. All ports and airfields SOUTHCOM moves into the middle support to help defeat both the FARC were severely damaged or destroyed, of the 21st century, it does so as the and the drug cartels. While much of and initially, there was no way for relief only combatant command not facing a this has taken place in Colombia itself, and aid to reach the shattered country. major conflict, and, with one notable improved interdiction efforts thanks to SOUTHCOM quickly dispatched an exception (Cuba), virtually every nation Joint Interagency Task Force – South aerial task force, drawn from Air within its sphere of influence has some resulted in intercepts approaching Force Special Operations Command form of democratic government. Its 50 percent of the refined cocaine (AFSOC), to reopen the airport at key role of facilitating partnership and other illicit cargo moving toward Port-au-Prince, and organized a naval among nations of the Americas today North America and Europe, driving task force to move to Haiti and provide places U.S. SOUTHCOM among the the FARC to the negotiation tables and relief to the thousands of survivors. most successful regional combatant imposing a significant imposition on the What became known as Operation commands in the U.S. military. n

9 www.defensemedianetwork.com southcom50 U.S. Southern Command Today

By John D. Gresham

Introduction professionals lead America’s efforts security concerns in the region can to promote stability and peaceful quickly become security concerns in For much of American history, Latin engagement between the nations of the homeland.” USSOUTHCOM’s efforts America and the Caribbean were seen the region, helping to meet some of the are focused upon three strategic objec- as areas to be overseen and protected. critical needs of governments of coun- tives: to defend the United States and Under the Monroe Doctrine, the region tries with vibrant futures but faced its interests, foster regional security, was seen as vulnerable to the colonial with sometimes daunting challenges. and serve as an enduring partner of intentions of European monarchies. In fact, SOUTHCOM is unique among choice in support of a peaceful and During the Cold War, the Soviet Union the unified combatant commands of prosperous region. became the primary concern, and the U.S. military these days, in that it the United States actively aided Latin does not face any obvious emerging The SOUTHCOM Area American governments that appeared conventional military threats, though of Responsibility: Latin to be threatened by communist subver- there are other, dangerous threats America Today sion. However, the end of the Cold War beyond those conventional military in 1989 led to a wave of new Latin ones. “These challenges are non-tra- SOUTHCOM’s geographic responsi- American democracies, along with ditional in nature, networked in bility covers fully one-sixth of the globe some of the strongest economic growth design, and transnational in scope, – 16 million square miles – including anywhere in the world. And while requiring constant vigilance, regional large parts of the Atlantic and Pacific the region continues to suffer large- cooperation, and collective action,” oceans, along with 31 independent scale poverty and requires continued Kelly told Congress. “When it comes countries and 15 “areas of special investment to realize its potential, Latin to South America, Central America, sovereignty” (mainly territories of America is today on a path to become and the Caribbean, I cannot overstate Great Britain, the Netherlands, and an economic and political powerhouse the importance of awareness, access, France). Living in SOUTHCOM’s area by the middle of the 21st century. and the enormous return on invest- of responsibility (AOR) are more than “It is a region of enormous promise ment from personal, on-the-ground 486 million people. Some 200 million and exciting opportunities, but it is security relationships. As the United of them speak Portuguese, and the also one of persistent challenges States turns its attention to the home rest Spanish, with some English, and complex threats,” SOUTHCOM front to address domestic economic French, and Dutch speakers, mainly Commander Gen. John F. Kelly, and budget issues, I firmly believe we in the Caribbean. About 45 million are USMC, told Congress in March 2013. must remain engaged with the nations considered “indigenous” – native tribes “It is a region of relative peace, low in our shared home, the Western that have often been targets of discrim- likelihood of interstate conflicts, and Hemisphere, for one very simple ination by their own governments. overall economic growth, yet is also reason: proximity. Left unaddressed, The region is rich in minerals, which home to corrosive criminal violence, historically have attracted the interests permissive environments for illicit of more powerful nations. Mexican and activities, and episodic political and Bolivian silver accounted for 20 percent social protests.” “When it comes to of Spain’s total budget by the end of the The United States’ links with Latin South America, Central 16th century, and it is estimated that American and Caribbean countries the world’s stock of precious metals ff have become increasingly dynamic America, and the was more than doubled by silver from and multivariate over the past few Caribbean, I cannot the Americas. This historical richness rockho decades, with many actors, from the in mineral wealth has continued to the tin B

overstate the importance us federal down to the state and local present day. Mining of precious metals pt. J pt. levels, having a part to play. Over the of awareness, access, is once again on the increase, and again past five decades, however, one of the and the enormous return has aroused the interests of powerful dominant influences in the region on investment from nations. China, for example, has a joint has been U.S. Southern Command agreement with Venezuela to develop (SOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Fla. personal, on-the-ground the Las Cristinas gold mine, one of the

SOUTHCOM’s military and civilian security relationships.” largest gold reserves in the world, and U.S. Air Force Ca photo by

10 www.defensemedianetwork.com The 612th U.S. Air and Space Operations criminal traffickers. Human trafficking the countries of Central America and Center provides command and is a growing concern in the region. the Caribbean are considered transit control of U.S. air and space power According to a Congressional Research countries. in U.S. Southern Command's area of Service report, “Trafficking in Persons Though blessed with natural responsibility, to include 31 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean,” resources, the region is also afflicted covering one-sixth of the world's land internal trafficking of human beings is with frequent natural disasters: trop- mass. The $55 million facility, which widespread among many countries of ical storms, earthquakes, and volcanic spans 26,750 square feet, operates the region for forced and child labor. activity. Of even greater impact have 24 hours a day to support joint and The International Organization for been the man-made disasters of coalition efforts in the Caribbean, Migration (IOM) has estimated that racism, military dictatorship, and Central America, and South America. sex trafficking in Latin America alone pervasive corruption; long night- generates some $16 billion annually. mares from which the region has been In addition, the State Department slowly awakening. Today, except for has also invested $1.4 billion in copper has identified several countries in Communist Cuba, all the nations of the mines in Ecuador. Venezuela’s petro- Latin America and the Caribbean as region have some form of democratic leum reserves are possibly the largest major source, transit, and destination governance. Economic growth has also in the world, and Brazil continues to countries for victims of transnational been robust. In the past decade, the make vast offshore oil discoveries. human trafficking. region has averaged a remarkable 3.5 The area is also rich in agriculture, Source countries identified include percent growth in GDP, despite global exporting much of the world’s coffee, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, financial crises. Per capita income sugar, and bananas. Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, is up 57 percent, and 12 percent of High birth rates and persistent Nicaragua, and Paraguay. Destination the population has been lifted from poverty also make the region a countries include Argentina, Bahamas, poverty, notably in Brazil. During major exporter of people, an inter- Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, this period U.S. exports to the region national problem when these people Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, increased by 72 percent, while U.S. are smuggled and victimized by St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. All imports have increased 114 percent.

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Panamanian security forces perform personnel recovery land navigation training in Metetí, Panama, April 3, 2013, while participating in Beyond the Horizon – Panama 2013. Beyond the Horizon is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored, Army South-led joint foreign military interaction and humanitarian exercise that began in Panama in late March and was to run through late June 2013.

Lt. Gen. Robin Rand leads 12th Air Force as its commander, Col. John R. Gordy II serves as AFSOUTH vice commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Calvin D. Williams is the command chief master sergeant. • U.S. Naval Forces, Southern Command; 4th Fleet (COMUSNAVSO/ COMFOURTHFLT – Mayport Naval Base, Fla.) – COMUSNAVSO/ COMFOURTHFLT employs maritime SOUTHCOM: Structure ARSOUTH conducted 31 security forces in cooperative maritime secu- and Forces cooperation events – engagement rity operations in order to maintain and partner-nation capability access, enhance interoperability, and The U.S. Department of Defense building with other militaries – in build enduring partnerships that foster (DoD) divides the globe into six joint 13 countries in the SOUTHCOM regional security in the SOUTHCOM geographic combatant commands. AOR. ARSOUTH comprises 10 units, AOR. Operation Martillo, Southern Among these, SOUTHCOM is the located in Arizona, Louisiana, Partnership Station 2012, UNITAS smallest, in terms of manpower and Texas, Cuba, and Honduras, and 2012 (both Pacific and Atlantic), and force structure. Kelly took command is led by Maj. Gen. Frederick S. PANAMAX 2012 were key activi- of SOUTHCOM in 2012. His deputy Rudesheim, who took command in ties in 2012. Rear Adm. Sinclair M. commander is Navy Vice Adm. Joseph 2012. Brig. Gen. Orlando Salinas Harris, USN, a surface warfare officer, D. Kernan. SOUTHCOM’s Chief of Staff is deputy commanding general, took command of COMUSNAVSO/ is Army Maj. Gen. Joseph P. DiSalvo, with Command Sgt. Maj. Dennis COMFOURTHFLT in June 2012. and the command sergeant major Zavodsky as senior enlisted adviser. Deputy commander since September is William B. Zaiser. Ambassador • 12th Air Force, U.S. Air Forces 2012 is Rear Adm. Jon G. Matheson, Carmen Martinez, a State Department Southern (AFSOUTH – Davis- a naval aviator. Capt. John C. Nygaard Foreign Service officer, serves as the Monthan Air Force Base, near is chief of staff, Capt. Patrick Shea is civilian deputy to the commander and Tucson, Ariz.) – AFSOUTH is respon- director of the Maritime Operations foreign policy adviser. sible for the combat readiness of 10 Center, and Master Chief David Tellez SOUTHCOM has five major compo- active-duty wings and one direct serves as command master chief. nents from which it can draw forces as reporting unit. These units operate • U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South required, as well as three task forces more than 520 aircraft, with more (MARFORSOUTH – Miami, Fla.) and a direct reporting unit: than 42,000 airmen. The command – MARFORSOUTH is the Marine • U.S. Army South (ARSOUTH – Fort is also responsible for the operational Corps Service Component Command

Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas) readiness of 13 wings and other units for SOUTHCOM. MARFORSOUTH ll on ei – As the U.S. Army component of of the Air Force Reserve and Air commands all Marine forces assigned SOUTHCOM, ARSOUTH conducts and National Guard, with more than 220 to SOUTHCOM and advises the . Loren S. T supports multinational operations aircraft and 18,900 airmen. In 2012, commander of SOUTHCOM on the T t L and security cooperation in the U.S. AFSOUTH conducted 21 security proper employment and support s Southern Command AOR in order to cooperation events in 13 countries in of those forces. MARFORSOUTH counter transnational threats and the SOUTHCOM AOR, as well as intel- conducted 67 security cooperation strengthen regional security in ligence, surveillance, and reconnais- events in 27 countries in SOUTHCOM’s

defense of the homeland. In 2012, sance; airlift; and training missions. AOR and took part in training U.S. Army 1 photo by

12 www.defensemedianetwork.com C-5-capable air base, organizes multilateral exercises, and supports, in cooperation with partner nations, humanitarian and civic assistance, counter-drug, contingency, and disaster relief operations in Central America. 228 air movements were conducted in 2012 in support of counter transnational organized crime operations, medical readiness training exercises, medical evacuations, and official visitor move- ments in Central America. JTF-Bravo is commanded by Col. Guy A. LaMire. • Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-Guantanamo – U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) – JTF-Guantanamo conducts deten- tion and interrogation operations in support of the war on terrorism, coordinates and implements detainee exercises and counter-drug operations Security personnel from the Panamanian screening operations, and supports in 2012. Brig. Gen. W. “Blake” Crowe State Border Service and Joint Task Force- law enforcement and war crimes took command of MARFORSOUTH Bravo (JTF-Bravo) personnel transport investigations as well as military in December 2012. Col. Michael R. medical supplies to the site of a Medical commissions for detained enemy Ramos is chief of staff, and enlisted Readiness Training Exercise in Marraganti, combatants (eight such hearings leadership is provided by Sgt. Maj. Panama, March 1, 2013. JTF-Bravo were held in 2012). The International James N. Calbough. partnered with Panamanian government Committee of the Red Cross conducts • Special Operations Command-South organizations to bring basic medical assessments six times a year to verify (SOCSOUTH – Homestead Air Reserve and dental care to the residents of Uala Guantanamo’s compliance with Base, Fla.) – SOCSOUTH provides and Marraganti in the Darien region in international standards of custody. SOUTHCOM with its primary theater order to exercise their ability to execute JTF-Guantanamo is also prepared contingency response force, along expeditionary medical and mission- to support mass migration opera- with planning and conducting special control operations. tions at Naval Station Guantanamo. operations forces (SOF) missions. JTF-Guantanamo is commanded by SOCSOUTH also controls all SOF units Rear Adm. John Smith, Jr., USN. in the region and establishes Joint in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, • Perry Center for Hemispheric Special Operations Task Forces when and the eastern Pacific. JIATF-South Defense Studies (PCHS – Washington, required. 2012 efforts concentrated also collects, processes, and dissem- D.C.) The PCHS provides education on building partner-nation capacity – inates counter-drug information for and conducts outreach, research, especially intelligence collection and interagency operations. The majority and knowledge-sharing activities on analysis as well as logistics capabil- of the task force’s 2012 success in defense and international security poli- ities – and countering transnational its counter-drug mission was due to cy-making with military and civilian organized crime. Brig. Gen. Sean P. JIATF-South leadership and coordi- leaders of the Western Hemisphere. Mulholland, USA, assumed command nation of Operation Martillo, which of SOCSOUTH in October. The deputy resulted in the seizure of 152 metric Focus: SOUTHCOM commander is Col. John E. Poast III, tons of cocaine, $7.2 million in cash, Roles and Missions e s USAF, and senior enlisted adviser is and 101 vessels and eight aircraft. An ey

a H Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas E. Wall. increase in partner-nation support by For every element of the U.S. mili- • Joint Interagency Task Force-South nearly two-thirds from 2011 to 2012 tary, the primary objective remains ebecc (JIATF-South – Key West, Fla.) – JIATF- contributed to these achievements. the same: to defend the United States pt. R pt. South is an interagency task force that Rear Adm. Charles D. Michel, USCG, and its interests. Military thought serves as the catalyst for integrated is director of JIATF-South. emphasizes the importance of “forward and synchronized interagency count- • Joint Task Force-Bravo defense”: to neutralize or intercept er-drug operations and is responsible (JTF-Bravo – Soto Cano Air Base, threats before they reach the borders for the detection and monitoring of Honduras) – JTF-Bravo operates of the homeland. For SOUTHCOM,

U.S. Air Force Ca photo by suspect air and maritime drug activity a forward, all-weather, day/night facing no immediate military threats,

13 www.defensemedianetwork.com southcom50 that primary mission of defending the southern approaches into the United States is accompanied by a number of secondary objectives, which might be considered “soft power,” to foster regional security and to be an enduring partner. These missions include: • Countering Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) – International crim- inal cartels engaged in narcotics, human smuggling, arms trafficking, and many other illegal activities have garnered so much wealth and power across the region that they represent a threat to the social and political stability of nations – notably those of Central America – but many others as well. Because the problem is international in scope, countering it demands a high degree of coopera- tion and mutual trust among military, intelligence, law enforcement, diplo- Honduran sailors tackle the tides during benefits partnership and cooperation matic, fiscal, and other agencies of an over-the-beach surf passage training can provide. governments. Developing that kind of exercise as part of two eight-week Basic • Enabling Partner Capabilities/ trust and cooperation takes patience Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S)- Capacity – As the most combat-expe- and determined effort over decades. style selection courses conducted by rienced professional military forces • Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster members of U.S. Naval Special Warfare in the world, U.S. soldiers, sailors, Relief (HA/DR) – Natural disasters Task Element-Alpha (NSWTE-A) in order airmen, and Marines enjoy the respect can easily overwhelm the resources to help their Honduran counterparts of their peers. Building partner-nation of an affected area, nation, or establish the Honduran Fuerza Especiales capacity and enhancing interopera- region. To save lives, there is often Naval (FEN) division within the Honduran bility is a core mission for SOUTHCOM. a narrow window of time; assistance military. NSWTE-A was deployed to Much of this mission is enabled that takes more than 48 hours to Honduras for six months in support of through the series of training exer- arrive may be too late to help. In Special Operations Command-South cises conducted by SOUTHCOM every responding to natural disasters, (SOCSOUTH). With the assistance of year, but the command also conducts military forces have unique capa- SOCSOUTH and Naval Special Warfare military-to-military exchanges and bilities: prepackaged field hospitals, Unit-FOUR, the Honduran military has seminars throughout its area of oper- helicopters that can deliver people stepped up its efforts to secure its borders ations with partner-nation militaries to and supplies when airfields and in order to deter illicit activities entering further the professional development ports are destroyed, and heavy engi- the country through its waterways. of foreign military officers and senior neering equipment that can clear enlisted personnel. The International R

rubble to rescue survivors. Above Military Education and Training U O all, military forces bring trained and forces, but it requires careful program helps send more than 2,000

disciplined people who are ready to training. SOUTHCOM executes the students from the region annually to Unit-F re fa r

deploy on short notice. U.S. Department of State’s Global attend U.S. military training programs a

• Peace Support Operations (PSO) Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) across DoD, including the Western al W – The SOUTHCOM region has been to build the peacekeeping capacity Hemisphere Institute for Security al Speci

relatively free of international of 11 partner nations. Cooperation (WHINSEC), the Perry v conflict and civil war in recent Center for Hemispheric Defense years. Countries in the SOUTHCOM SOUTHCOM Theater Studies, the Inter-American Defense region are contributing more than Engagement Strategy College, and the Inter-American Air 8,000 troops and police to U.N. Forces Academy. Crucially, these peacekeeping operations in places A theater engagement strategy training programs stress respect for

like Haiti, Lebanon, and Sudan. translates essentially to the fact human rights and the role of a profes- ITC Gino by hoto Rull Nao, This valuable experience builds that there is no substitute for “being sional military in the context of a demo- vy P

the professionalism of participating there.” It is a plan to demonstrate the cratic society. U.S. Na

14 www.defensemedianetwork.com Crew members aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant transfer bales of contraband to a Coast Guard Station Miami 45-foot response boat-medium crew during an at-sea transfer Feb. 19, 2013. In total, the interdiction prevented 935 pounds of cocaine with an estimated wholesale value of more than $11 million from making it to the United States.

for first-response scenarios. In addi- tion, operations and exercises such as Operation Martillo and Fuerzas Comando demand regular coordina- tion. As experience has shown, good peacetime relations often require more and better communications than those between wartime allies. • Building Relationships – Friendship between nations is ultimately based • Joint Training/Exercises – Training provide training for service members on friendship between people, and exercises provide unique opportuni- while performing services for U.S. military personnel are excellent ties to “put all the pieces together” communities throughout the region. ambassadors because their compas- – to drive the vehicles and shoot the U.S. forces, along with partner-na- sion, professionalism, and basic weapons, use the communications tion personnel, build schools, water decency speak a universal language. gear, employ the sensors, and direct wells, clinics, community centers, At a deeper level, America remains a all the moving parts to execute and other projects as well as carry melting pot; for example, it comprises a complex plan. Multinational out medical readiness exercises. the second-largest Spanish-speaking exercises are even more valuable, • Joint Planning/Information Sharing population in the world. For the mili- because they are an opportunity to – The creation of operational plans taries of our partner nations, U.S. see how other militaries perform for various contingencies is hardly a personnel are role models. By force similar missions. SOUTHCOM spon- new idea for command organizations of personal example, they can posi- sors the UNITAS series of annual like SOUTHCOM. However, given the tively influence those who will shape naval exercises, which, since 1960, relatively peaceful nature of Latin the future of their societies. This is have brought together the naval America these days, SOUTHCOM and particularly important in the area of forces of Latin America and the its partner nations have been making civil-military relations, rule of law, Caribbean. Another series of exer- plans of a much more constructive and respect for human rights, where cises is PANAMAX, designed to and positive nature in recent years. our traditions may be very different improve the interoperability of the Since natural disasters (hurricanes, from the historical experience of our military and civil forces of concerned earthquakes, etc.) are prevalent in partners.

s nations to assist Panama to protect the region, SOUTHCOM makes contin- io and guarantee safe passage through gency plans with nations in the region SOUTHCOM Success Stories

R Paul the canal and ensure its neutrality. The Tradewinds exercises address The quarter-century since the end transnational security threats in the of the Cold War has given SOUTHCOM Caribbean. The Fuerzas Comando For the militaries of many chances to exercise its unique

icer 3rd Class Jon- exercises bring together SOF units our partner nations, approach to Latin America. A few of from throughout the hemisphere in U.S. personnel are role the command’s success stories include: etty Off a demanding counterterrorism and • Operation Unified Response (Haiti) special operations skills competition. models. By force of – On the morning of Jan. 12, 2010, Other exercises focus on peace- personal example, they Haiti was struck by a devastating rd photo by P photo by rd keeping, humanitarian assistance 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Centered

ua can positively influence

t G and disaster relief, and medical read- near the capital of Port-au-Prince, the as those who will shape the o iness. The Beyond the Horizon (BTH) quake destroyed virtually all of Haiti’s

U.S. C and New Horizons (NH) programs future of their societies. transportation, communications,

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the most competitive of military personnel. So the idea of pitting the skills of SOF operators from different nations against each other in a regional competition seemed only natural. What that notion has become over the past decade is Fuerzas Comando, arguably the best SOF skills competition in the world today. In 2012, 21 countries from around the Americas sent military and police SOF assault and sniper teams to compete, with Colombia coming out on top. These three activities are just a sampling of the dozens of daily efforts being executed by SOUTHCOM in Latin America and the Caribbean today.

Conclusion

and public utilities infrastructure. Air Force Capt. Alicia Catherine Prescott, If America is to continue to fulfill its Realizing that the first task was 959th Medical Group pediatrician, promise, it will need to do so in part- to reopen Toussaint Louverture Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, nership with nations having similar International Airport, SOUTHCOM Texas, examines a young child during intentions and objectives. Nowhere dispatched the 1st Special Operations a medical clinic April 15, 2013, during in the world does such a collection Wing from U.S. Air Force Special Beyond the Horizon – El Salvador. of countries exist with qualities so Operations Command to attend to Capt. Karoline Martin (top), Canadian suited to partnership with the United that task. In the days and weeks Armed Forces Health Services Center States as Latin America. Already, that followed, what became known nurse, Army Maj. Leslie McInally (right), the United States has built strong as Operation Unified Response grew Medical Detachment case manager, New regional partnerships with nations to a force of 23 warships, 57 heli- Hampshire National Guard, and Spc. like Colombia and Panama, and their copters, 264 fixed-wing aircraft, Taylor Armstrong (bottom left), Medical neighbors are obvious candidates for and more than 22,000 U.S. military Detachment medic, New Hampshire stronger regional ties. personnel. By Feb. 18, 2010, the Air National Guard, were in El Salvador Celebrating its 50-year anniversary Force alone had delivered nearly treating Salvadorans during a five- this year, SOUTHCOM is one of America’s 6,000 personnel, 19 million pounds day medical clinic in Caluco. Medical strongest and most effective tools in of cargo and supplies, and evacuated professionals from Canada, Colombia, building partnership with the United 223 critical Haitian national patients and the United States worked together States and an economic zone through s

for stateside care. March 24, 2010, to treat patients with a variety of almost 180 degrees of latitude. This ir

marked the end of the mission. illnesses and ailments. partnership is a vital one, not only for ffa ic A l

• Operation Martillo – One of security but also for economic reasons b

SOUTHCOM’s main CTOC efforts, – nearly 40 percent of American trade r Pu

Operation Martillo is an “end-to-end” seizures are usually quite large, as moves north and south on the continent, agua intelligence and maritime inter- shown by a recent confiscation by and the United States imports more oil

diction effort run by SOUTHCOM, USS Gary (FFG 51) of more than 1,100 from Latin America and the Caribbean k Force J along with U.S. and partner-nation pounds (500 kilograms) of cocaine on than from the Middle East. law enforcement agencies. Martillo Feb. 23, 2013. From the beginning of “We are uniquely poised as an integral tt, Jointtt, Tas engagements normally begin with an the operation in 2012 through the early partner with the nations of our region,” a

intelligence/operations plan created part of 2013, more than 153 metric Kelly said. “The United States, Latin Wyrk by JIATF-South, a two-star U.S. Coast tons of cocaine have been intercepted, America, and the Caribbean remain t. Ma t. Guard command based in Key West, along with almost 30,000 pounds of connected by geography, culture, and g

Fla. From there, available resources marijuana, more than $7 million in family – all of which are so valuable to ech. S (warships, planes, law enforcement cash, and a few hundred drug runners. our shared success. We are committed to personnel, etc.) are assembled, and • Fuerzas Comando – It goes without maintaining – and constantly improving photo by T D photo by o

interdictions are executed. Martillo saying that SOF warriors are among – these vital relationships.” n D

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