The Brazilian Navy and 32 countries from the American, African, and European continents participated in the 12th iteration of Obangame Express, the largest multinational maritime exercise in West and Central Africa, conducted by U.S. Naval Forces in Africa (NAVAF), and sponsored by U.S. Africa Command. Nigeria hosted the January 23-February [ … ]
Capacity Building


US Donates Cessna Caravan Aircraft to Belize
The U.S. government donated a Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft to Belize’s Ministry of National Defence and Border Security at a handover ceremony March 2 at the Williamson Hanger Complex in Ladyville. U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) donated the aircraft through the U.S. Foreign Military Financing program. The handover ceremony included remarks [ … ]

Brazil’s Space Operations Center in Orbit to the Future
The Space Operations Center (COPE) is a unit under the Brazilian Air Force’s Aerospace Operations Command (COMAE), with facilities in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. COPE monitors all military satellite operations. The center’s operations are conducted jointly with the Brazilian Army and Navy through a multidisciplinary team. Its commander, Brazilian [ … ]

Colombian Navy’s Demining Work Brings Hope
The Colombian Navy closed 2022 with good news for the inhabitants of the department of Sucre on the Caribbean coast, declaring it free of antipersonnel mines. The efforts of the Humanitarian Demining Company, which cleared nearly 13,000 square meters of land, allowed the inhabitants to return to the fields to [ … ]

US Announces Humanitarian Assistance for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on February 15 an additional $42.5 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The sum “will help enable our United Nations (U.N.) and NGO partners to reach an additional 182,000 people across the region with [ … ]

‘We Are Often Right Beside Them and Assisting with Whatever Challenges They Face’
The 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (1st SFAB) is a specialized unit which has for core mission to conduct training, advise, assist, liaise, and support operations with partner nations in U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR). This is how its commander, U.S. Army Colonel Christopher Landers, describes his [ … ]

CENTSEC Discusses Collaboration Opportunities to Address 21st Century Challenges
“Collaboration opportunities to address 21st century challenges” was the theme that gathered military and security leaders at the Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC) 2023, a U.S. Southern Command- (SOUTHCOM) sponsored event co-hosted by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security, in San José, Costa Rica, February 6-8. “We gather here at [ … ]

Joint Task Force Bravo Conducts Medical Engagement in Olancho, Honduras
Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) received a unique request during U.S. Southern Command’s Health Engagements Assistance Response Team (HEART) 2022 mission to work alongside partner nation medical professionals to provide surgical and medical services to communities in Guatemala and Honduras. The request was to come to Olancho, Honduras to perform [ … ]

Jamaica Fights Crime with US Help
The Jamaican government, with the support of the United States, is seeking to identify criminals who orchestrate crimes in the country despite residing abroad. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement in December 2022, stating that he considered this a key point in his strategy to combat crime and [ … ]

1st Security Force Assistance Brigade Advisors Exchange Best Practices with Honduran Military
U.S. Army advisors assigned to 4th Battalion, 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) facilitated an information exchange on the U.S. Army’s Artillery targeting process with Honduran military counterparts on October 31, 2022. The information exchange was designed to improve interoperability between the two militaries. Such exchanges are part of the [ … ]

Colombian Security Forces Dismantle Illegal Mine in the Amazon
The Colombian security forces closed 2022 dealing a major blow to illegal mining and the activities of transnational criminal organizations in the jungles of the department of Guainía, in the Colombian Amazon, after finding a large illicit gold mining area. Authorities estimated that the quantity of gold obtained from this [ … ]

Colombian Army Has First female Huey II Helicopter Pilot
At just 26 years old, Colombian Army First Lieutenant Katherine Romero is the first female Huey II helicopter pilot and one of the first women pilot in the institution. A native of Ibagué in western Colombia, 1st Lt. Romero, from Aviation Battalion No. 5 of the Air Assault Aviation Division, [ … ]