Photo By Master Sgt. Kevin Doheny | Gen. Douglas Fraser, commanding general, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), speaks to...... read more read more
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Less than a week after a brief trip to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, during the annual PANAMAX exercise, Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), returned to address the entire U.S. Army South command during a town hall briefing Aug. 22.
Hundreds of soldiers and civilians gathered inside Evans Theater to listen to Fraser discuss key topics affecting SOUTHCOM and Army South.
Fraser began his meeting by talking about his appreciation for Army South’s effort in assisting with security and stability within the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility, which includes Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
Army South, as the Army component command to SOUTHCOM, focuses on the 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in these areas.
“What you do day in and day out to sustain the security in the region is very important,” said Fraser. “Our country is very connected to this hemisphere, and we need to continue to engage with our partner nations to keep connected and to understand how each other operate.”
Fraser then took the opportunity to applaud the Army South effort during their portion of the recent PANAMAX exercise, which took place at Fort Sam Houston, Aug 6-17.
PANAMAX is an annual SOUTHCOM –sponsored, multinational exercise series that is focused on ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal. Personnel from 17 nations, including the United States, participate in simulated training scenarios from various U.S. locations.
“I’m proud of the work you all did supporting and assisting Colombia and other partner nations during PANAMAX,” he said.
He also discussed the benefits of such training exercises for the future and the importance of continuing to work alongside everyone in the joint and multinational environment.
Fraser said that Army South needs to be comfortable going outside Army lanes conducting interagency operations and working closely with our other service components, partner nations and agencies.
Fraser emphasized the importance of continuing the command’s efforts to counter transnational crimes and to support partner nations within the region in combating illicit trafficking.
“A key issue for our security is countering transnational organized crime…it impacts our nation and our partner nations,” he said.
He made it a point, while wrapping up the town hall briefing, to re-enforce his belief that the joint and interagency environment is the way of the future and that everyone should get on board for it to be successful.
“Haiti was a big wake-up call for us and we’ve come a long way with working with interagencies, the U.N., and partner nations, and being able to respond effectively to natural disasters,” said Fraser. “We sustain our successes with partner nations with both building partner nation capacity, but also military to military engagement.”
Fraser was referring to the Army South deployment to Haiti in 2010 where the command provided security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief following the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck that country, Jan. 12. The major earthquake was considered Haiti’s most severe natural disaster in more than 200 years.
Fraser congratulated Army South and SOUTHCOM on the deployment and the success in building partner capacity during his tenure as the SOUTHCOM commander; however, he wants to see more military to military engagements. He also mentioned that when the command conducts activities that build capacity in the future, we should also look at ways to sustain that capacity with partner nations.
“We need to build capacity and sustain capacity with partner nations,” Fraser said.
Fraser closed the meeting by thanking Army South personnel for the hard work during his time as commander. Fraser is slated to relinquish his command later this year to Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly, who has been nominated for a fourth star and is currently serving as the Senior Military Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
Fraser wanted to take the opportunity to show his gratitude for the hard work and dedication of the hundreds of soldiers and civilians within Army South.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to be associated with Army South and each and every one of you.”
| Date Taken: | 08.22.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.07.2012 16:11 |
| Story ID: | 94382 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 395 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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