Nearly 1,200 military personnel from the Chilean Army’s Special Operations Forces and the U.S. Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH) met in the Magallanes region, the southernmost part of the American continent, June 24-28, to take part in combined bilateral exercise Pacific Dagger 2024.
The main objective was for Chilean and U.S. troops to train and evaluate their capabilities in extreme cold scenarios, and improve interoperability, while strengthening combat skills in various tactical situations.
Pacific Dagger is a U.S. Southern Command- (SOUTHCOM) led exercise, focused on countering threats in the region. It is designed to execute contingency operations in a framework of multinational cooperation, trust and confidence, and security, in addition to increasing readiness, interoperability, and capabilities of Special Operations Forces, SOUTHCOM said via X.
The Combined Joint Task Force command post was set up in the Colina district of Santiago, headquarters of the Chilean Army’s Lautaro Special Operations Brigade (BOE), a component of the Special Operations Command (COPE).
The exercise contemplated day and night fictitious incursions in continental and insular spaces executed simultaneously, subjecting the joint forces to operate at a high pace, in extreme weather conditions to carry out intelligence tasks, infiltration, and execute direct actions, the COPE indicated. All of this, in a scenario where freedom of navigation across key maritime spaces needed to be maintained, SOCSOUTH added.
“What made Pacific Dagger unique was the large number of troops operating in extreme weather, in the harshest period climatically in the Magallanes region of Chile, and on days that featured an unusual cold front,” Chilean Army Captain Jonathan Arevalo, BOE Lautaro’s communications officer, told Diálogo on July 15.
“Another aspect was the challenging logistics, which included the transfer of means from the Metropolitan region to the Magallanes region, in the midst of a major frontal system with snow and wind, in addition to the landings and the transfer of personnel across the Strait of Magellan,” Capt. Arevalo said. “Despite the high level of risk, we did not have any accidents.”
“The U.S. military and their Special Forces are always [operating] at very high maintenance and operability level”, Chilean Army Colonel Davor Versalovic, of COPE and one of the directors of the exercise, told the press. “This allows us, through this exchange of experiences and combined work, to update our units on the latest in terms of procedures, technologies, and use of special operations forces.”
Pacific Dagger became a turning point in the development of interoperability between Chilean and U.S. Special Forces by moving operations historically conducted in desert and high-altitude areas of northern Chile, such as Antofagasta and Colchane, to the frigid south of Chile in the Magallanes region.
“The United States, through SOCSOUTH, always gives us its experience and its capability, so that we as Chilean Special Forces can increase our level of training, although in some ways in this exercise the roles were reversed,” Capt. Arévalo told Diálogo. “Here, SOCSOUTH was able to see how the Chilean Army faced this exercise in an area that requires specific capabilities and adaptation, which is not common for them. It was very interesting to see how a Chilean soldier who, one day could be operating in the desert, after a few days of preparation could already be operating in a climate as different as that of Patagonia.”
“Planning processes take on an even higher level when the risks are so high, often incalculable, such as changes in weather or working in such low temperatures where everything was freezing,” added Capt. Arevalo. “To carry out an exercise without accidents or without inconveniences, requires that the level of planning and risk mitigation is quite advanced. We all delivered successfully.”
A key aspect that facilitated the smooth running of the exercise was, in addition to the readiness of the troops, the state-of-the-art equipment, weaponry, and technology used. In Chile’s case, this modernization is part of Plan Lautaro II, a project to acquire amphibious, mountain, and optical-optronic equipment, including the replacement of parachute systems, among others.
“Today, thanks to this plan, we have one of the highest standards in terms of equipment,” Capt. Arevalo said. “This allowed us to have no accidents, injuries, or hypothermia problems, for example.”
“U.S. Southern Command consolidated, through Pacific Dagger, a level of preparedness of the Chilean Army, which is relevant not only for the number of troops, but also for the capabilities installed for their coordination,” Guillermo Holzmann, defense analyst and academic at the University of Valparaíso, Chile, told Diálogo. “In addition, this exercise deepens, broadens, and consolidates operations under NATO standards, which is very important for Chile to continue.”
The Chilean Army said that it is currently working together with SOCSOUTH in the preparation of another exercise on Chilean soil in 2024. In addition, they project the planning of the exercise Southern Star 2025, the largest training in terms of special operations.
