Photo By Cpl. Madisyn Paschal | Brazilian Marine Corps Lt. Col. Fernando Bellard (center), a Brazilian foreign liaison...... read more read more
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NEW ORLEANS – Marines with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South participated in Exercise PANAMAX 2024 at the Marine Corps Support Facility here, Aug. 5-14, 2024.
PANAMAX is a multinational exercise sponsored by U.S. Southern Command that emphasizes military training and collaboration among partner nation militaries in the Western Hemisphere. This year’s scenario simulated security and stability operations to ensure the uninterrupted flow of commerce through the Panama Canal.
The focus of PANAMAX 2024 was to respond to a request for assistance from the Panamanian government to protect safe passage through the canal, uphold its neutrality and respect national sovereignty.
“PANAMAX provided a priceless opportunity for the MARFORSOUTH team to exercise its crisis action team in conjunction with time-compressed planning requirements,” said Col. Jason Borovies, MARFORSOUTH assistant chief of staff for Operations. “The exercise also allowed us to validate the refinements made to our Combat Operations Center’s manning and systems, ensuring that we can effectively exercise command and control over Marine Forces during contingency operations.”
PANAMAX began in 2003 with only Chile, Panama and the United States participating, and originally focused solely on the maritime security of the Panama Canal. Since that time, the exercise has grown to become the region’s largest coalition Command Post Exercise, ensuring the unified defense of the Panama Canal.
This year, PANAMAX saw participation from 18 nations that included more than 1,500 personnel from Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the United States.
"During PANAMAX, the Brazilian Marine Corps contributed significantly to strengthening interoperability among partner nations through effective staff coordination,” said Lt. Col. Fernando Bellard, Brazilian Marine Corps liaison officer to MARFORSOUTH. “Ultimately, it's not just about interoperability, but also a valuable opportunity to build strong relationships through teamwork and collaboration. Our involvement underscored the importance of collaborative planning in multinational defense efforts.”
U.S. Southern Command components and partners were tasked with responding as a cohesive team to a wide array of mission demands across air, land, maritime, space, cyber, and information domains.
The exercise scenario simulated security and stability operations aimed at safeguarding the flow of commerce through the Panama Canal, testing participants’ ability to work together, seamlessly, amid emerging challenges.
“As a liaison officer to MARFORSOUTH, I’m very glad to have participated in this exercise. PANAMAX was a great opportunity to provide planning support to the multinational force,” said Cmdr. Carlos Walters, Peruvian Marine Corps liaison officer to MARFORSOUTH. “It has been valuable to experience the interoperability and commitment among nations and the different staffs in order to accomplish a shared goal.”
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U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South is the U.S. Marine Corps component of U.S. Southern Command, responsible for building and maintaining relationships with our allies and partner nations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. MARFORSOUTH builds capabilities and capacity with like-minded democratic nations through a range of military engagements and other security cooperation events to demonstrate the value and utility of the Navy and Marine Corps team through joint and mutually supporting operations and engagements. MARFORSOUTH cultivates partnerships across the region to promote the rule of law, which is essential for security, stability, economic prosperity, and personal liberty. Additionally, strong partnerships, shared knowledge, and joint and multinational interoperability enables burden sharing and crisis response while strengthening the common defense, fostering stability and defeating threats.
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2024 18:37 |
| Story ID: | 478760 |
| Location: | NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 275 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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