It has been a busy time at the Command.  In the past two weeks, I have hosted two conferences with Southern Command’s senior leaders – our Component Commanders and the Commanders of our Security Cooperation Offices (SCO).  These two groups are the central elements of the SOUTHCOM organization in executing our mission and activities on a daily basis.

Twice a year, we host meetings with our Component Commanders, in addition to personally visiting each of them during the year.  These are our senior leaders from US Army South, US Air Forces Southern, US Naval Forces Southern Command, US Marine Corps Forces South, and US Special Operations Command South, the Commanders of our Joint Task Forces – Joint Task Force – Bravo, Joint Task Force – Guantanamo, and Joint Interagency Task Force – South.  The Director of SOUTHCOM’s education arm, the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS), and the Commander of our close partner in Miami, U.S. Coast Guard District 7, also participated in these important meetings and offered their thoughts on the key issues discussed.  As always, it was wonderful to spend time with the Commanders, their spouses, and Senior Enlisted Advisers for two days here in Miami.  We covered a large range of topics, had a wonderful exchange of ideas and were able to – in a face-to-face forum – discuss the strategic way ahead in facing the challenges and embracing the opportunities available to us in this region in the coming years.

This past week, we hosted a week-long annual conference with the Senior Defense Officials and Commanders of our SCOs.  You may know the SCOs as Military Groups (MILGPs), Offices of Defense Cooperation (ODCs), or Military Liaison Offices (MLOs).  Mostly co-located in our US Embassies throughout the region, the 24 SCOs are staffed by representatives of all 5 uniformed services – Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard – as well as Department of Defense civilians and host nation nationals.  As integral members of the Ambassadors’ Country Teams, the SCOs are critical in supporting and conducting US military engagement with armed forces in our partner nations.  The SCOs are “the leading edge” of the organization, facilitating information exchanges and security cooperation between US and partner nations’ armed forces.  The SCOs also support educational and training exchanges, working in cooperation and coordination with our partner nations and US military training facilities and academic institutions to provide opportunities that meet the capabilities needs of all of our armed forces.  This SCO Conference provided a great opportunity to discuss a variety of key topics with the Commanders and other US Government agencies, from strategic regional approaches in engaging with our partner nations to how to better support these vital offices.

I came away from both conferences grateful for the direct and honest feedback, thrilled by the quality of leadership present here in the Southern Command enterprise, and enthusiastic about the future.  I am proud to serve with all of you!