Category: Southern Command

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

CENTAM Guardian 2025, an annual exercise co-sponsored by U.S. Southern Command and Guatemala’s Ministry of Defense, neared its conclusion with a culminating event held May 22 at Mariscal Zavala military base here. Attended by Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander of U.S. Southern Command; Gen. Hermelindo Choz Soc, Guatemala’s chief of national defense; and other senior leaders, the culminating event demonstrated the capacities developed by exercise participants as they responded – with Guatemala in the lead – to a notional security crisis compounded by a notional natural disaster.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

A group of enlisted leaders from the United States Army kicked off a subject matter expert exchange with fellow enlisted leaders from the Dominican Republic’s military just outside of the Caribbean nation’s capital in Santo Domingo – further progressing the professional development of noncommissioned officers in the Dominican armed services.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

More than 60 Arkansas National Guardsmen are participating in CENTAM Guardian 2025 in Guatemala. CENTAM Guardian 2025 is an annual multi-national exercise designed to strengthen interoperability, information sharing and counter-threat capabilities between the United States and participating Central American and Caribbean partner nations.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

The U.S. Navy Mercy-class hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) will deploy this June-August to the U.S. Southern Command area of operations as part of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet’s Continuing Promise 2025 mission. After several months of detailed planning, USNS Comfort is scheduled to visit Grenada, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic during the nearly three month-long mission.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

The littoral combat ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) interdicted a suspected drug smuggling vessel May 1 while supporting Joint Interagency Task Force South. This is the ship’s third successful interdiction during its maiden deployment. In mid-April, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul interdicted two vessels, confiscating 580 kilograms (1,279 pounds) of cocaine valued at $9,463,860 and 1,125 kilograms (2,480 pounds) of marijuana valued at $2,807,360.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

A team from the U.S. Army’s 553rd Forward Engineer Support Team-Advance (FEST-A) drove around important parts of the city of Colón, Panama, surveying the stormwater and wastewater systems on May 13, 2025. The survey was designed to find ways to bolster the ongoing partnership between the United States and Panama while addressing one of Panama’s largest city’s long-standing infrastructure issues.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

Multi-capable Airmen assigned to the 137th Special Operations Wing mission sustainment team of the Oklahoma Air National Guard strengthened critical self-sustaining skills and assessed their ability to operate in multiple expeditionary environments across the Caribbean during TRADEWINDS25, April 21-May 5.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

U.S. and Partner nation forces concluded participation in Southern Defender (SD) 2025 May 9. SD25 is a defensive cyber operations exercise designed to enhance cybersecurity capabilities across the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility. Approximately 320 participants from 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries engaged in intensive training and practical exercises across 15 locations focused on mitigating cyber threats.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

There are 2,160 hours in 90 days — that’s exactly how long Joint Task Force Southern Guard has been active. In that time, more than 2,500 Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, interagency civilians and contractors answered a short-notice tasking to deploy to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s Illegal Alien Holding Operations.

Source: United States SOUTHERN COMMAND

A strong military operation relies on layers of support, each one reinforcing the next to keep the mission standing. The Joint Task Force Southern Guard medical team serves as the reinforced foundation, ensuring that service members remain fit for duty and that illegal aliens temporarily held at the Department of Homeland Security-led migrant operations center receive essential care.