FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — PANAMAX24 concluded, Aug. 14, 2024, wrapping up a week of intensive military training and collaboration among Western Hemisphere partner nations.
The U.S. Southern Command-sponsored exercise, held across various U.S. locations Aug. 9-14, 2024, aimed to enhance regional security and interoperability, bringing together multiple joint and multinational forces to tackle realistic scenarios and strengthen their abilities to plan and execute complex multinational operations.
Exercise PANAMAX24 honed the collective ability to defeat a simulated adversary, but it also created a collaborative environment where multiple militaries could share perspectives on mutual interests and defeating shared threats — ultimately preparing a unified multinational force to effectively respond to real-world challenges.
“We know that democracy is under attack across the globe, and we know that our military-to-military relationships and teamwork is what withstands everything,” said USSOUTHCOM Gen. Laura Richardson, senior commander of PANAMAX24, as she spoke to exercise participants during a closing ceremony held in San Antonio, Texas. “I hope we never have to do this for real, but if we do, I have confidence in all of you that we can crush the enemy like we did during PANAMAX 2024.”
Richardson explained that security threats such as transnational criminal organizations, malign state actors and cybercrime, as well as natural disasters and environmental degradation remain pervasive, affecting all who reside within the shared Western Hemisphere neighborhood.
“We all have the same challenges, and we’re all in the same hemisphere,” she said, emphasizing that those challenges are not confined to the region’s largest command post exercise and that the trust and cooperation built during PANAMAX24 enables a unified ability to respond to the evolving crises in today’s dynamic security environment.
At Fort Sam Houston, U.S. Army South enhanced such regional preparedness and response capabilities, hosting 12 partner nations from Central and South America and the Caribbean, as well as representatives from multiple branches of services and all components within the U.S. military for the exercise. As part of a diverse group of hundreds of personnel training in Texas, Florida, Arizona and Virginia, PANAMAX24 participants were tasked to respond 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 uninterrupted flow of commerce through the Panama Canal, testing participants’ ability to work together, seamlessly, amid multifaceted challenges.
Maj. Gen. Phil Ryan, USARSOUTH commander and leader of Multinational Forces-South during the exercise, offered a broader perspective on PANAMAX, highlighting its importance as a catalyst for building trust, strengthening partnerships and promoting regional security.
“PANAMAX is not just an exercise,” said Ryan. “It is key to leveraging all of our capabilities of like-minded countries to reach common goals and strengthen our regional stability. Our partnerships are built on trust and understanding to provide a safe and secure environment for our shared neighborhood. Just our presence together during PANAMAX24 was a demonstration of our enduring relationship and commitment to regional security within the Western Hemisphere.”
Chilean army Maj. Gen. Eduardo Valdivia shared similar sentiments stating that PANAMAX24 demonstrated participating nations’ shared commitment to cooperation and relationship development.
“We were able to build bonds and friendships among all of the partner nations,” said Valdivia, who led the Combined Forces Land Component Command during PANAMAX. “We removed borders between our countries for a common idea of liberty, peace and stability.”
Valdivia said exercise PANAMAX24 validated the multinational force’s ability to overcome notional and real-world challenges.
“PANAMAX obligated us to fight two battles; We faced a difficult (notional) enemy in a high operational tempo, but remained victorious,” he said. “The second battle was much tougher - breaking cultural barriers, integrating military doctrine, and establishing common tactics, techniques and procedures.
“We were challenged with integrating three languages, 12 accents as well as cultural differences,” Valdivia continued. “In a short amount of time, however, with a lot of patience, hard work and dedication, we reached a common understanding. We gained knowledge and built a new vision to confront real world challenges.”
Panamax began in 2003 with just three countries — Chile, Panama and the United States — originally focused solely on maritime security of the Panama Canal. Twenty-one years later, PANAMAX24 saw participation from 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.
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