The U.S. Army plans to reorient its U.S. Southern Command exercises toward counter-cartel operations, Gen. Joe Ryan, head of U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command, announced Monday at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
The shift reflects the nascent command’s mandate to build a “theater Army” capable of more than the partner training and disaster response missions historically managed by its predecessors, U.S. Army North and South.
“Future multinational training events will shift away from strictly relationship-building engagements toward operations directly targeting drug cartels and designated terrorist organizations,” Ryan stated.
Ryan said the review was directed by SOUTHCOM commander Marine Gen. Frank Donovan to better align with current federal priorities and strategy. Those priorities include the latest National Defense Strategy’s emphasis on homeland defense, designating the Western Hemisphere as the Pentagon’s priority theater—a concept referred to as the “Donroe Doctrine.”
This focus has already spurred administration action, including strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the operation to apprehend Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“Make no mistake, these designated terrorist organizations operate as global financial networks, utilizing a resilient business model built to endure over decades unless targeted interventions actively disrupt their economic base,” Ryan said.
Simultaneously, the Army is enhancing its capacity for its legacy crisis-response mission in the region. The service recently received approval to deploy additional aviation assets and personnel to SOUTHCOM to improve the movement of people and supplies.
“We’re going to grow that footprint down there, where it’s really a relatively modest footprint to date, given the responsibilities it’s attended to, and we’re gonna give them more aircraft, more crews, more maintainers here over the next couple of fiscal years to help them address some of the natural disasters and threats in the region,” Ryan added.
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