Colonel Luis Guimpel is the Cyber Defense director for the Argentine Army and served as head of the cyber defense cell for the Multinational Force Command during PANAMAX 2022. Diálogo spoke with Col. Guimpel about his participation in this exercise that brought together 19 countries.
Diálogo: In what capacity did the exercise take place in the cyber defense domain?
Argentine Army Colonel Luis Guimpel, Cyber Defense director: Basically, the General Staff Department in PANAMAX 2022 coordinates all the actions for detecting and responding to cyberattacks on the military forces and infrastructure of New Centralia [a fictitious country created for the exercise].
Diálogo: How does this compare to a real situation?
Col. Guimpel: It’s exactly the same. We practice situations here as we would in real life.
Diálogo: Is there a real cyber defense exchange in an exercise like this, like PANAMAX?
Col. Guimpel: Yes. In fact, a U.S. major and a U.S. noncommissioned officer, who are here working with me, were in Argentina in May [2022] visiting our Cyber Defense Directorate, of which I’m the director.
Diálogo: And how is Argentina doing in the area of cyber defense?
Col. Guimpel: Thank God we’re doing very well, despite budgetary restrictions at this moment. But we’re organized and we’re generating material at the strategic level as well as at the operational and tactical levels.
Diálogo: What was the main lesson learned at PANAMAX 2022?
Col. Guimpel: The main lesson is interoperability, which is an easy word to say but difficult to achieve. The only way to achieve interoperability is to work together and practice together to achieve a common language, common procedures and common working systems, which in the event of a real situation, may not happen. As far as cyber defense is concerned, which is my specific line of work, we belong to the Ibero-American Defense Forum. We are 10 countries that meet every year, share experiences, doctrine, and work methodologies. Argentina is trying to make progress in this area with our own doctrine and our own material. We are generating cyber defense tactical material, and this type of exercise is good to share knowledge and ideas. That’s what’s important: The most important thing one takes away from this kind of exercise is interoperability.