PANAMAX exercise participants receive special visitors

Photo By Miguel Negron | Lt. Col. Christopher Synowiez, executive officer to the commanding general, describes the PANAMAX base camp set up for family members who visited the exercise on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Aug. 2, 2016. Panamax is an annual U.S. Southern Command-sponsored joint exercise series that focuses on ensuring the defense of Panama through live and simulated training scenarios off the coast of Panama and locations in the United States. (U.S. Army photo by Miguel Negron, U.S. Army South Visual Information)  

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, UNITED STATES

08.05.2016

Story by Lt. Col. Carol McClelland 

U.S. Army South

For the past week, service members from all branches of the military in the U.S. and partner nations from the Western Hemisphere have been working side-by-side inside a catacomb of tents on a dusty field on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. In addition to continual exercise scenario injects that compelled teamwork like: recovering a downed F-16 pilot, dealing with a mass casualty event, countering enemy propaganda, fixing a destroyed bridge or finding solutions to infrastructure problems, exercise participants coped with physical challenges too. While those issues were solved notionally, others were reality. Communicating in multiple languages, long hours, fatigue, loud generators with intermittent air conditioning from the sweltering Texas summer, and using chemical toilets for bathroom breaks are just a few of the formidable features participants dealt with during the multi-national exercise.

However during a few hours on two occasions, exercise participants received some respite from the hectic pace and arduous conditions.

Nearly 80 family members visited the simulation exercise Aug. 2 and more than 30 members of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee called on PANAMAX participants Aug. 3 and received an insider’s look into what goes on during an exercise of this magnitude.

For teenagers Wyatt Yingst, 18, and Javier Santiago, 16, it was a chance to see what their dads do. They were impressed.

“I was surprised at how they were able to have all those electronics in those tents,” said Santiago, whose dad, Maj. Eric Lightfoot works in G7 - Information Operations. Yingst agreed and said, “It was cool seeing all the soldiers from other countries and having them all working together.” His father, Sgt. Maj. Paul Yingst, is Army South’s senior enlisted Army Reserve advisor.

Both groups received a presentation in the headquarters building that explained the command’s capabilities, the concept of the operation and an exercise update before they “deployed” to the base camp. There, they were greeted by Maj. Gen. K.K. Chinn, Army South’s commanding general and met his Chilean deputy commanding general. Two additional deputy commanding generals were from Brazil and Peru, and a chief of staff from Peru. For the Fort Sam Houston portion of the exercise, 12 countries participated in addition to the United States, with 19 countries participating over all. Other exercise locations included Miami and Jacksonville, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; Tucson, Az. and for the first time, Chile.

Chamber member Chuck Bunch, who works as a USO site manager in San Antonio, said he appreciated the trust Army South has in the community to show them the exercise.

“I enjoyed Army South opening its doors to us and letting us get a snapshot of what it is doing. The critical mission Army South provides internationally and locally, allows us to enjoy the freedoms we have,” Bunch said.

Fellow chamber member Mike Rowland, the vice president market manager, military liaison at Broadway Bank, like some of the other military affairs committee visitors, has prior military service so he already had knowledge of these types of exercises but said not everyone in the community does.

“There is so much going on in San Antonio,” Rowland remarked. “No one has a clue about exercises such as these. We’ve been able to witness first-hand how long it takes to deploy, to set up communications...”

For family member Patricia Lamberson, wife of the G2 – Intelligence Deputy, Eric Lamberson, she too was impressed with all the planning necessary for such a large event and of how many people are involved. But after visiting the tents during the family day, her understanding of the exercise was of a different kind.

“My husband comes home musty smelling and I thought I’d check it out to find out why. Now I know,” she smiled.

• Date Taken: 08.05.2016
• Date Posted: 08.05.2016 13:37
• Story ID: 206210
• Location: SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US