U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)

OVERVIEW:

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is the unified command responsible for all U.S. military activities in South America and Central America. Its area of responsibility encompasses 19 countries, represents about one-sixth of the world's land mass and covers about seven million square miles, stretching 6,000 miles from Mexico's southern border to Cape Horn. The command supports U.S. interests in the southern theater by establishing and implementing plans, programs and policies that contribute to the defense of the U.S. and its allies.

The command's theater strategic objectives are to:

strengthen democratic institutions;
assist host nations in eliminating threats to their security;
support continued economic and social progress;
assist host nations and U.S. agencies in attacking drug production and agencies;
with the Government of Panama, ensure an open and neutral Panama Canal; and
enhance military professionalism.

SOUTHCOM's resources are primarily focused on its current key mission areas which include drug suppression, counterinsurgency, nation assistance, military professionalism, and treaty implementation programs. The commander in chief for the Southern Command has established the following priorities:

supporting drug suppression efforts;
sustaining the negotiated peace settlement in El Salvador;
promoting liberty in Panama; and
enhancing professionalism in the military forces of Central and South America.

The command carries out its missions and objectives through several means: security assistance programs (for training and equipment, including mobile training teams), combined training exercises with host nation forces, deployments for training, planning and intelligence exchanges, humanitarian assistance and civic action, personal exchange programs, military dialogue and other politico-military methods. The command works closely with the U.S. ambassadors in the region and their staffs.

The Southern Command carries out its missions and objectives through its joint-service headquarters staff (390 military and 120 civilian employees) at Quarry Heights, Panama, and its component commands. SOUTHCOM consists of a small force that is based in Panama, composed of combat and support elements of all four military services. Primary elements are an Army light infantry brigade, an Army aviation brigade with helicopters and fixed-wing air- craft, a Navy special warfare unit, an Army landing craft mechanized boat company, Air Force medium airlift and tactical aircraft on rotation duty, military/ security police, and Army combat engineer, medical, and signal battalions. The command's assigned forces number approximately 10,000 U.S. military personnel and 7,500 civilians, three-fourths of them Panamanian.

SOUTHCOM's components are:

U.S. Army South, a major Army command headquartered at Fort Clayton, Panama;
Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet, at Norfolk, Va., and the fleet's Detachment South at Fort Amador, Panama;
12th Air Force, at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, and under it, 24th Wing at Howard Air Force Base, Panama;
Special Operations Command South, a sub-unified command at Albrook Air Force Station, Panama, that controls all special operations forces within SOUTHCOM's area;
Joint Task Force Bravo, a temporary organization at the Honduran Air Force's Sono Cano Air Base near Comayagua. The force is manned by about 1,200 U.S. military personnel from U.S. units on temporary duty, and supports U.S. exercises and deployments in Honduras; and
Security Assistance Organizations, which serve as the U.S. military representatives to the U.S. embassies. There are 17 of these groups (100 military and 100 civilians total personnel) throughout the region. SOUTHCOM also has responsibility for security assistance in Mexico, even though it is outside of the command's area of responsibility.

SOUTHCOM makes extensive use of Army, Air Force and Navy reserve components deployed on temporary duty throughout the region primarily for civic actions and training exercises and deployments.

POINT OF CONTACT:

SOUTHCOM Public Affairs, Quarry Heights, Panama, APO Miami FL 34003, Tel. #011-507-82-4255