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POPTUN, Guatemala —The Guatemalan army band could be heard playing patriotic music under the warmth of Central America’s sun as Fuerzas Comando 2015, a nine-day test of endurance, strength and mental fortitude, came to an end July 23 among the rolling hills of northern Guatemala.
The special operations competition concluded with the Colombian team hoisting the trophy for the third time in a row. Colombia, which has won the competition seven times since it began in 2004, will not be the only country leaving with more than what they arrived with. The U.S. team, which takes home second place overall, demonstrated their strength in the sniper and assault team events, finishing fifth and second, respectively. El Salvador, on the strength of its performance in the sniper team events, earned third place overall.
Sponsored by U.S. Southern Command, the competition brought together special operations teams from across the Western Hemisphere to compete. Nineteen countries competed in 17 events to determine the best special operations team from countries within the USSOUTHCOM area of operations.
“Fuerzas Comando promotes regional security and cooperation, improving our capabilities, increasing interoperability, and sharing ideas on facing common threats between participating countries,” said U.S. Army Col. John Wilt, commander of Special Operations Detachment-South.
Other awards presented included: Jamaica winning the assault team category, Honduras winning the sniper team title, and Guatemala winning the combined team/physical fitness category.
Though the competition provided every competitor involved the opportunity to learn from one another by sharing strategies and tactics, some learned completely new techniques and weapons systems.
“The competition is good for the whole continent,” said Gordon Surpris, a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team leader from Haiti and a participant in this year’s competition. “(During the competition) the countries’ representatives get to know each other, bringing (all of the) Americas together.”
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2015 23:41 |
| Story ID: | 170991 |
| Location: | POPTUN, GT |
| Web Views: | 640 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fuerzas Comando ’15 strengthens military partnerships, interoperability: Team Colombia wins third title in row; United States second; El Salvador third, by PFC Christine Lorenz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
