Nearly 1,700 participants from Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Panama, and the United Kingdom came together for the combined military interoperability and humanitarian assistance exercise Resolute Sentinel 2023 (RS23), from June through July, hosted by Peru.
The participants’ focus is to achieve a joint and combined doctrine and interoperability in combat operations and in emergencies arising from natural disasters, especially aeromedical evacuations in support of the civilian population and civil construction projects.
U.S. Air Force Colonel Matt McKinney, commander of Combined Joint Task Force RS23, spoke with Diálogo about the exercise.
Diálogo: What is Resolute Sentinel 2023 (RS23)?
U.S. Air Force Colonel Matt McKinney, commander of Combined Joint Task Force RS23: RS23 is a relatively new exercise that began in 2021. It is a [U.S. Southern Command] SOUTHCOM exercise that is planned and executed primarily by U.S. Air Forces Southern/12th Air Force, but the history of this exercise stemmed from a couple of older exercises that we carried out in the Caribbean and Latin America called New Horizons and Beyond New Horizons. It has now shifted to bringing more partners over time. RS23 is about building partnerships, camaraderie, working on interoperability side-by-side, solving challenges, and getting ready for any potential security or humanitarian missions as a result of overcoming the challenges the exercises presents. It will also help us get prepared for Resolute Sentinel 2024.
Diálogo: What is your focus as commander of RS23?
Col. McKinney: My main focus is to be successful. We have a solid plan with our Peruvian partners to bring all our forces here in Peru to successfully execute everything we planned. But at the end of the day, it’s really getting everybody here and getting everyone home safely, so safety is my number one concern. Secondly, it would be to respect the nations that are here as it is their exercise; it’s not a U.S. exercise. The United States plays a major role, but it is really what I can do for Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, or any of the participant nations. I want them to be able finish this exercise with what they need, but also on the U.S. side, there are things we can learn.
Diálogo: Why is it important to have this type of exercise in support of partner nations?
Col. McKinney: Together we’re stronger. We’re working on problems and situations right now that will prepare us for the future no matter what it is or where we have to go, so that we always know that we have a friend in all these nations that we can reach to and say, “we need your help in this situation” or vice versa, or that they can rely on each other.
Diálogo: One of the main objectives of RS23 is to increase regional interoperability. How is this accomplished?
Col. McKinney: Interoperability is key. We have an understanding of the capabilities that Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and any of the participant nations have as well as ours, so we can understand what each country brings to a crisis or to any situation that we encounter; and if they don’t have it, how do we get better or use something they have in the future? Interoperability is important but it’s more important to have a partnership. Everyone always kind of goes for interoperability or for instance systems and capability, airplanes and boats, but it’s the people, the interoperability of guys like Peruvian Air Force Colonel Fidel Castro [RS23 Combined Joint Task Force Deputy Commander], and me; we know now that we can run a joint task force together and that he can go and run it on his own and train his troops to do this. The interoperability goes for me, well beyond the systems and capability; it begins with people.
Diálogo: Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are taking part in RS23. What are some of the unique aspects of the exercise for each of the participating nations?
Col. McKinney: There are great nations with great capabilities. In Colombia, we focused primarily on legal engagements and space engagements. A unique thing with Colombia is that they’re actually moving our people and our equipment around Colombia using their aircraft and they are sending people to other engagements. In Ecuador, we are focusing on cyber training and we built several engineering projects, which will help their forces train for domestic challenges and civil support missions. Peru is the exercises’ biggest footprint of assets and people right now as they have every joint services participating in RS23.
Diálogo: What military personnel make up RS23 and what kind of capabilities do they have?
Col. McKinney: We have a lot of capabilities that we’re bringing down here. We have every joint command, a joint service, and the Coast Guard. Some of those capabilities range everywhere from aircraft to space teams working with the Coast Guard. For example, a big piece of this is they’re working on training with pollution mitigation techniques and helping partner nations learn about illegal fishing operations and how to combat that in the future.
Diálogo: What do you view as the biggest challenge for this iteration of Resolute Sentinel?
Col. McKinney: The biggest challenge is bringing all these capabilities down here from the U.S., but we have been able to solve and come up with great solutions with our partners. The challenge will be to walk away from this and not necessarily get every engagement complete, not get all training objectives done, and so on. The good news is that we do have RS24 to capture some of those things that we didn’t get in 23. I wouldn’t be able to solve half of the challenges if I wasn’t sitting here with Col. Castro and his team and I’m confident we’re going to be able to get everything done.
Diálogo: How do local populations benefit from RS23? How important is it to have their support?
Col. McKinney: My goal walking away from the exercise is that our partners in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador trust that the U.S. is here to help, to do good, to build partnership together to help in security and humanitarian and other issues, which also help the local economy as there will be about an average of $3.8 million that’s being pushed into the exercise. If we finish the exercise and I feel like the Peruvian people see good in us being here, I think that’s where we move forward into RS24 with a good footing into the next year.