U.S. Soldiers conduct disaster response exercise with Mexican military partners

THE WATCH STAFF

A contingent of U.S. forces traveled to Juarez, Mexico, in June 2024 to train with their Mexican counterparts in the latest iteration of Fuerzas Amigas, a natural-disaster response exercise. The five-day exercise provided training in disaster response operations and performed the equally important tasks of fostering closer ties to a critical partner at the U.S. southern border and developing greater communications and operational compatibility between our two nations’ militaries.

The U.S. personnel were driven across the U.S. border and met up with a caravan of Mexican Army trucks and Juarez police on motorcycles. Also crossing into Mexican airspace for the exercise were three U.S. helicopters: Chinook and two Blackhawks, according to Border Report, a news website focusing on border issues. The caravan then proceeded to the Mexican Army’s 20th Motorized Cavalry Regiment headquarters in South Juarez for the kickoff of Fuerzas Amigas 2024.

Over the next week, the militaries cooperated on a host of drills, including the hypothetical collapse of a stadium, a chemical wastewater spill at a treatment plant, a train derailment involving hazardous materials, and the collapse of an airport terminal, according to a statement from the Mexican army to Border Report. SEDENA, the Mexican National Defense Secretariat, said the June 24 to June 28 exercise took place at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium, just a few hundred yards south of the U.S. border. The 500 U.S. and Mexican troops also built up a mobile field hospital, the statement read.

“This training represents an opportunity so that both armies interact in binational-type scenarios. They will share experiences, procedures and operational tactics when it comes to assisting the civil population. This will allow us to improve our immediate response capacity,” SEDENA said.

Approximately 220 U.S. service members took part in Fuerzas Amigas 2024. “The purpose of this exercise is to improve readiness and strengthen the two nations’ cooperative relationship,” the U.S. Department of Defense said in an online news release. “JTF-CS will serve as the command-and-control element, directing U.S. troops conducting natural disaster response exercises alongside Mexican military forces.” Participating with the U.S. forces were Mexican soldiers from the 5th Military Region based in Coahuila and Jalisco, according to SEDENA.

Fuerzas Amigas won’t be the only summer interaction between the U.S. and Mexican militaries. A specialized joint training exercise from July 15 to August 3 will involve approximately 160 U.S. service members from U.S. Army North traveling  to Mexico’s military’s national training center in Santa Gertrudis, Chihuahua, located nearly 100 miles south of Chihuahua City. And a dozen members of the U.S. military are also conducting special forces training for Mexican Marines in June 2024 in Puerto Chiapas in the southernmost state of Chiapas. Similarly, Mexican troops will travel to Fort Johnson, Louisianna and participate in one of the U.S. Army’s most advanced training and exercise locations known as the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) from August 5 to September 3 in Fort Johnson, Louisiana, according to the El Paso Times.