United States Southern Command ( Southcom ) Essay - 930 Words

United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has been working to build regional and interagency partnerships to ensure the continued stability of the Western Hemisphere and the forward defense of the U.S. homeland for more than fifty years. U.S. Southern Command is responsible to the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States for national security interests through roughly one half of this hemisphere – 31 countries, 16 dependencies and areas of special sovereignty, and approximately four hundred and sixty million people. SOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility includes the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico; the waters adjacent to Central and South America; and the Caribbean Sea. (United States Southern Commamd n.d.) SOUTHCOM priorities are: (1) Countering Transnational Organized Crime; (2) Counterterrorism; (3) Building Partner Capacity; (4) Contingency Response; (5) Detainee Operations. SOUTHCOM missions are carried out by its component commands: (1) U.S. Army South; (2) 12th Air Force (AF South); (3) U.S. Marine Corps Forces South; (4) U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command; (5) Special Operations Command South; (6) Joint Task Force Bravo, Soto Cano Air Base; (7) Joint Task Force Guantanamo; and (8) Joint Interagency Task Force South. (114th Congress Senate Armed Services Committee 2016) While SOUTHCOM and local counties working towards cooperating on an equal basis, sharing best practices in the region can produce much greater transitory effects inShow MoreRelatedNur Misuari – Founding Leader and Chairman of the Central Committee of the Moro National Liberation Front (Mnlf)5464 Words   |  22 PagesMuslim (which later was changed to Mindanao) Independence Movement (MIM), that sought to form a state comprising the contiguous southern portion of the Philippine Archipelago. Its manifesto accused the Philippine government of pursuing a policy of â€Å"extermination† of the Muslims and made â€Å"manifest to the whole world its desire to secede from the Republic of the Philippines, in order to establish an Islamic State.† Nur Misuari, who was then an organizer and moving spirit of the Philippine Muslim NationalistRead MoreRp-Us Visiting Forces Agreement12890 Words   |  52 PagesINTRODUCTION The United States and the Republic of the Philippines maintain close ties based upon the U.S.- Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, the period of U.S. colonization, common strategic and economic interests, and shared democratic values. The United States long maintained sizable naval and air forces bases in the country. Although the Philippine Senate voted against U.S. wishes to close American military installations in 1992, bilateral security cooperation resumed following territorial