U.S. Southern command- (SOUTHCOM) sponsored exercise PANAMAX 24 not only represented an opportunity for participants to develop skills and strengthen interoperability, but also to reinforce strong bonds of friendship, united under the same cause. As part of the biennial multinational exercise, held in mid-August, Diálogo spoke with Peruvian Army Colonel Óscar Edwin Iglesias Quilca, head of the Press and Institutional Image Office of the Peruvian Armed Forces’ Joint Command, who served as Information coordinator of PANAMAX’s Multinational Force South. Col. Iglesias stressed the importance of unity and cooperation in safeguarding freedom, among other topics.
Diálogo: What does it mean for the Peruvian Army to participate in a multinational exercise like PANAMAX, which this year brings together 20 partner countries from the region?
Peruvian Army Colonel Óscar Edwin Iglesias Quilca, Information coordinator of PANAMAX’s Multinational Force South: For the Peruvian delegation and for the Peruvian Armed Forces this exercise is one of the most important ones being carried out in the Americas. It allows us to connect with our sister countries, with our partner countries to face current challenges and threats, which implies that we are interoperable and have the capacity to react. It represents the evolution of doctrines, techniques, and tactics that are used today, under the leadership of the United States and with the participation of many Latin American countries.
Diálogo: What challenges did you encounter and what tools did you implement to resolve them?
Col. Iglesias: It’s definitely a challenge to bring together a multinational force to confront a threat quickly. The first challenge we faced has been the language issue and its differences. The cultural issue was also another challenge and at the beginning there was some resistance. Another challenge was also the doctrine, because not all countries have similar doctrines, similar techniques, execution planning activities, and combined with the ranks, which are also different among organizations, it has been a big challenge at the beginning. However, all the armed forces have the flexibility capacity, which is the ability to adapt quickly to changing situations, and this has allowed the machine to start running much faster as days went by. There were no longer these differences, we already understood the positions that we had to fulfill, we understood the coordination that we had to carry out, and with a battle rhythm that was quite dynamic, quite intense, this allowed us to have an important execution, to be able to fulfill the mission that was entrusted to the multinational force.
Diálogo: On a personal note, what did you taken away from these two weeks of exchanges, learning, and lessons learned in PANAMAX 24?
Col. Iglesias: This exercise is the greatest satisfaction I’ve had on behalf of my country. Being able to be the head of the Information Operations Cell was a great challenge for me.
I take with me a lot of lessons to learn. First of all, to see the leadership of the organization, the ability of [participants] to set up in a short time, and the implementation of complex structured system. I take with me the satisfaction of having met an important multinational force and, above all, of having been able to interact with personnel from the multinational force which, in these almost two weeks, allowed us to get to know each other and to strengthen those very important bonds of trust today.
We know that security risks are multidimensional, and that also requires a joint multinational force to face these challenges. We are no longer talking about borders. We’re talking about safeguarding two important aspects that I’m also taking away from PANAMAX: unity and freedom.
Diálogo: What will be the most important lesson to take back to Peru?
Col. Iglesias: I’m taking with me the active participation of all the members. Above all, the strategic conception of an exercise like this gives you the possibility and the flexibility to take on new challenges in the future. The Peruvian participation in this opportunity has been quite numerous, we were also able to count on female personnel and I am sure that, when we return, we will be able to give back a drop to Peru and to the organization.
