Photo By Master Sgt. Angelita Lawrence | U.S. Special Operations Command hosted Sovereign Challenge 14, April 5-8, in...... read more read more
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MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) hosted Sovereign Challenge 14 with the theme “Identity, Independence and Institutions,” in Philadelphia, PA., April 5-8.
USSOCOM hosts Sovereign Challenge as part of its international engagement program. The program focuses on defending the security of sovereign nations against threats associated with extremism. This event provided a venue for 90 representatives from 40 participating countries to build relationships and share national policies, positions, and ideas related to these issues, as well as the capabilities to battle these threats, which are often exacerbated as a nation comes out of conflict.
Stanley Schrager, Sovereign Challenge coordinator, began Sovereign Challenge in 2004, when he suggested to the USSOCOM commander, to host a group of defense attaches from Washington D.C. in Tampa to discuss major concerns to their respective nations.
“SOCOM is a global command and it needed a way to find a global audience,” said Schrager, who has 32 years of experience as a diplomat. “I know defense attaches are the highest ranking military members of their Armed Forces. Attaches have direct access to their ministers of defense who are very powerful people in their own country and can influence change.”
Sovereign Challenge was held in the birthplace of America, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which directly tied into the theme of the conference “Identity, Independence, and Institutions.”
“We look for places that have historical and contemporary meaning to our audience and then we develop a theme because our venues and speakers are intricately tied to the topic,” said Schrager.
All participates were able to visit different historical sites such as the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the Constitution Center to see how the United States began and how it has overcome and continues to overcome major conflicts and civil issues.
“As a former diplomat, it has always been my point-of-view that the more a person understands the country in which he lives and works, the better he is able to interpret it to his government. So, if we want these diplomats and attaches to accurately reflect the United States to their home government, it’s important they understand as much as possible about the United States which includes its creation and that is what we touched on in this conference,” said Schrager.
Discussion groups during Sovereign Challenge allowed participants to have open and frank discussions about international problems while exchanging ideas.
“This conference is a great opportunity and the best platform for communicating and reaching out to friends and allies,” said a conference attendee from Afghanistan who requested not to be identified by name. “This conference gives us the right people internationally, who can communicate with us. We can then educate our teams at the embassies and brief the ambassadors on solutions and ideas we have learned from these conferences.”
The next Sovereign Challenge is scheduled to take place later this year.
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.19.2016 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 195809 |
| Location: | FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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