U.S. and partner nations participating in PANAMAX 2024 tour the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Minneapolis-Saint at the conclusion of PANAMAX 2024 on August 14, 2024, at Naval Station Mayport. PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS JACOB SIPPEL/U.S. NAVY
THE WATCH STAFF
When it debuted in 2003, the biennial PANAMAX exercise had three nations participating, including the United States. Fast forward 21 years, and the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)-led operation — which took place August 5-14 at locations across the U.S. — brought together 500 military members from 11 nations and their U.S. counterparts to conduct a simulated response to a crisis at the Panama Canal. “Collectively, we will go through the next eight days together and make our area of responsibility, our region, stronger and better with what we all are going to bring to this exercise,” said Maj. Gen. Phil Ryan, U.S. Army South (USARSOUTH) commander, as he welcomed hundreds of joint and multinational participants to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. “All of us bring a wealth of information and experience to this AOR [Area of Responsibility] and to what we are doing here.”
The PANAMAX 24 scenario involved security and stability operations and focused on a multinational and whole-of-government response under a fictitious U.N. Security Council resolution to counter security threats and ensure a free flow of commerce through the canal, according to a USSOUTHCOM news release. Since its 2003 inception with Chile, Panama and the U.S., the exercise has evolved to become the region’s largest coalition command post exercise, the release stated.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was one of several locations where the multinational forces tested their capabilities to respond as a unified force to a wide variety of mission demands across air, land, sea, space, cyber and information domains. “Not only is it about getting better, it’s about building our relationships with one another,” said Maj. Gen. Evan Pettus, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) commander. “I think that’s ultimately the biggest takeaway that you’ll take out of this is our ability to work together as partners in this region to counter threats to our nations, together.”
This year, USSOUTHCOM partners Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay and El Salvador took part. More than 1,450 U.S. forces — including staff elements from USSOUTHCOM, USARSOUTH, U.S. Marine Forces South, Special Operations Command South, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet and other joint force enablers, along with 350 participants from partner nations — participated. Florida and Virginia also hosted training scenarios and tours of U.S. ships such as the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the Minneapolis-St. Paul in Mayport, Florida.
Ryan, the USARSOUTH commander, said the purpose of the exercise, aside from the obvious benefits of the U.S. increasing interoperability with Caribbean and Latin America militaries, is the greater cross-cultural understanding and valuable learning exchanges offered by PANAMAX. “Just meeting each other makes a big step forward. Over the next week, we will be sharing meals together, and sharing time in our operations center,” he said at the opening ceremony in Texas. “We share common interests and regional challenges. We are all in the same region together, and we have common goals to continue with peaceful operations and ensure that all of our nations can continue to prosper in the future.”