Fuerzas Comando exercise begins in Santo Domingo

Photo By Sgt. Maj. Alejandro Licea | A Special Operations officer from the Dominican Republic briefs judges on what a proper push-up should look like during the validation of the Physical Fitness event, June 12, at the 1st Infantry Brigade military base. Judges representing 19 countries across the Caribbean, Central and South America gathered to validate various events for the 7th annual Fuerzas Comando 2010 military exercise. Fuerzas Comando is a Special Operations skills competition and senior leader seminar hosted by the Dominican Republic and sponsored by the United States Southern Command.  

SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

06.16.2010

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Alejandro Licea 

Special Operations Command South

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Security forces from 19 countries will participate in Fuerzas Comando 2010 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from June 16- 24. This multi-national Special Operations skills competition and senior leader seminar is being hosted by the Dominican military.

Special operations military and police forces from Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and Uruguay will participate in the exercise. About 500 military, law enforcement and civilian personnel from the participating nations will be taking part at the peak of the exercise.

Exercise Fuerzas Comando 2010 will begin on Wednesday with an opening ceremony, which will be held at the 1st Dominican Infantry Brigade’s “August 16” military compound.

In preparation for the military exercise, participating countries are validating this year’s events during a four-day period, which ends Tuesday.

From course familiarization and weapons marksmanship, competitors got a first-hand look at what to expect in this year’s event. Sniper and assault teams had the opportunity to test-fire their rifles and 9 mm pistols in order to hone their skills in preparation for the competition.
In addition, the event’s judges, who come from each of the participating nations, received several procedural briefings and evaluated each event site to ensure scoring and safety standards are maintained throughout the competition.

The Special Operations skills competition will test each team on its physical fitness, weapons marksmanship, aquatic skills, and tactical capabilities. The exercise will conclude with an airborne operation, or “friendship jump,” June 23, and closing ceremony, June 24.

The senior leader seminar, which is designed to improve political and military relations and multi-national military cooperation, will take place, June 21 - 24, 2010 in Santo Domingo. Each participating nation will send a senior Special Operations officer and a ministerial level policy maker to discuss security challenges and possible solutions. The senior leader seminar provides a collaborative, cooperative, and innovative environment for regional security policy makers.

The competition and seminar is designed to improve regional cooperation, enhance mutual trust, increase military interoperability and advance the counter-terrorism training and readiness of participating special operations forces.

The Dominican Republic is the host of this competition and seminar and the United States Southern Command is the sponsor of this event. SOCSOUTH is the lead U.S. military organization for coordination and this is the seventh consecutive year Fuerzas Comando has taken place in the western hemisphere.

• Date Taken: 06.16.2010
• Date Posted: 06.16.2010 06:28
• Story ID: 51458
• Location: SANTO DOMINGO, DO