Building Capacity

U.S. Marines exit a Mexican military helicopter during Exercise Phoenix/Aztec Alligator in July 2023. The exercise demonstrates the increasing interoperability between the Mexican and U.S. militaries. CPL. WILLOW MARSHALL/U.S. MARINE CORPS

CAMRYN HOELLE/U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND

The Mexican Armed Forces and United States military participated in the seventh Bilateral Military Cooperation Roundtable in August 2023 to fine-tune their strategic vision and enhance cooperation between the militaries. Lt. Gen. A.C. Roper and Rear Adm. Scott Robertson of U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) hosted two delegations of members of the Mexican Armed Forces in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the executive session.

The roundtable is a bilateral event involving USNORTHCOM, the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) and the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR) of the United Mexican States. It provides a forum to establish military cooperation and formulate a common strategic vision. The tri-chairs validate the Annual Plan of Activities (APA) to strengthen the bilateral partnership and advance cooperation to achieve greater operational compatibility. Through the roundtable, senior leaders guide bilateral security cooperation and produce military training and exchanges throughout the year. 

The roundtable, first instituted in 2016, brings together the chiefs of staff of SEDENA, SEMAR and the deputy commander of USNORTHCOM to establish the goals of bilateral security cooperation and programs. The roundtable began with a focus on setting mutual strategic priorities while increasing the effectiveness of coordination and cooperation through combined training and combined exercises. Throughout the seven years of meetings, delegates have established service staff talks (SST), integration boards (IB) and working groups (WG) to facilitate cooperation among SEDENA, SEMAR and USNORTHCOM. These binational groups meet throughout the year to ensure steady communication between the Mexican and U.S. militaries. The SSTs, IBs and WGs establish short-term, mid-term and long-term goals to guarantee that collaboration efforts are progressing.

The tri-chairs, Lt. Gen. Roper, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo of SEDENA and Adm. José Barradas Cobos of SEMAR, along with senior officers from each of their respective delegations attended the seventh roundtable. The meeting was guided by the mutual strategic vision to “achieve greater operational compatibility as defense partners, enhance cooperation in protecting North America, and promote regional security and leadership.” To do so, resources are focused on three lines of effort: domain awareness, domain control and institutional strengthening. During the executive session, the generals and admirals received briefings covering the work that each of the SSTs, IBs and WGs accomplished in the previous year and their plans going forward. Some of the topics included command and control interoperability, information sharing, logistics coordination, military education and training, and strategic communications.

The roundtable framework includes an assessment, monitoring and evaluation group that provides feedback to the roundtable’s leaders on the value and effectiveness of the objectives.

The seventh roundtable established that operational compatibility among the U.S. military, SEDENA and SEMAR is paramount. The countries continue to improve upon our operational compatibility in the maritime, air and land domains and have demonstrated an increased ability to communicate and work together. Moreover, the defense cooperation exposes the Mexican Armed Forces to USNORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command strategic principles of global integration, all-domain awareness, information dominance and decision superiority. Such collaboration greatly advances regional security and helps build a robust partnership to enhance the layered defense of North America. “It is already apparent the military-to-military relationship between the United States and Mexico is robust and expanding as both nations address the challenges posed by common threats to our citizens and shared interests,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of USNORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said in March 2024 congressional testimony.

Another major development resulting from the seventh roundtable was to change the cycle of activities from 12 to 24 months, which will allow for further collaboration and progression of the security cooperation. The original 12-month cycle consisted of an annual executive level meeting; in the future, the 24-month cycle will include one executive level meeting in the first 12 months, followed by a visit the subsequent year to a joint exercise or training that lets the leaders observe the progress of roundtable objectives. A group visit to a combined exercise, training or other roundtable-related activity will let leadership observe the Mexican and U.S. militaries’ operational compatibility and preparedness to respond to diverse situations. This is a significant change that demonstrates the dynamism of the military relationship and commitment to the defense of North America. 

The latest roundtable concluded with each of the tri-chairs expressing gratitude and commitment to the bilateral defense relationship. Participants from each delegation highlighted that the roundtable showed clear and identifiable steps toward progress and communicated their intent for expanding cooperation in domains such as cyber and space. The roundtable is central to strengthening this longstanding defense relationship and is critical to a globally integrated cooperative defense.