SF Troops Train With S. American Units

LITTLE CREEK, Va. -- Navy SEALS and Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewman operators trained with partner nations from South American special operations forces Aug. 16-30 as part of the U.S. Southern Command-sponsored exercise series, PANAMAX 2010.

The partner nations included Brazil's Grupamento de Mergulhadores de Combate, Colombia's Batallon de Fuerzas Especiales de Infanteria de Marina, Peru's Fuerza de Operaciones Especiales (FOE), Panama's National Sea and Air Service and National Police of Panama.

The exercise, which featured defense forces from 18 nations throughout the Americas, focuses on the security of the Panama Canal and Central American region while emphasizing interoperability of a multinational combined/joint task force.

Naval Special Warfare's role during PANAMAX was to stand up a special operations task unit and conduct exercises that simulate responses to real-world events while operating in a joint warfare environment.

"Each nation has a strategic interest in protecting the Panama Canal," said the Naval Special Warfare Detachment South officer in charge. "This exercise gives a comprehensive view of the abilities of each of our partner nations and allows us to engage in very productive training at both the tactical and operational level."

The NSW personnel and partner forces worked closely in multiple scenarios, which required an established proficiency from each operator to incorporate a multitude of special tactics, including properly patrolling in urban environments, inserting and extracting by way of helicopter, and boarding vessels at sea.

"This exercise also gave the NSW personnel the unique opportunity to gain experience conducting foreign internal defense training, which is a real skill that will be applicable in many theaters and is difficult to replicate without working with partner nations in this capacity," said the NSW Detachment South OIC.

According to a lieutenant from Peru's FOE, this exercise presents a unique opportunity for multiple special operations forces to get together and communicate tactically and accomplish a common goal.