U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Training and Readiness Command co-hosted the inaugural Latin America Space Doctrine Conference, in Miami, FL, June 27-29, bringing together Air Force leaders from six South American countries as well as their U.S Air Force and Space Force counterparts.
Partner nations in attendance, in-person and virtually, included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay. The goal of this conference was to showcase current Space Force doctrine development and where they plan to go in the future, while concurrently showcasing partner nations’ development in the hopes of aligning common standards and procedures to create a more inclusive doctrine throughout Latin America.
Recognizing the vital importance of creating a stronger, more stable Western Hemisphere now and in the future, especially as nations look to Space, this conference was extremely important for everyone to be on the same page, said Colonel Bobby Schmitt, Director of the Joint Integrated Space Team at U.S. Southern Command.
“This conference will help lay the foundation for space that will enable us to work together across the Western Hemisphere more effectively. The hope is that, eventually, we will be able to mutually support each other using space capabilities to address common challenges, both in the space domain and on earth,” he added.
Throughout the conference, participants shared ideas, best practices, and briefs on how space is used for civil and military defensive purposes as well what their vision was for expanding space to other civil and military areas. They collaborated on common interests and engaged in meaningful dialogue in establishing doctrine, strengthening coordination, and the sharing of joint capabilities.
“This is the first time that Space Force has, in coordination with Southern Command, come in and asked all the space leading nations in Latin America to get together and talk about doctrine,” said Lt. Col. Jaime Zambrano of the South Carolina Air National Guard. He went on to add that the Space Force is looking at how to transition from an Air Force driven doctrine and create a separate one for Space Force with this conference providing the opportunity to see where everyone was at presently. “This is the first act and [we will] then see where we are next year and how we can help each other out to create a more inclusive doctrine throughout Latin America and the Western Hemisphere.”
The conference wrapped with plans to hold a follow-up conference next May gauging how lessons learned were possibly applied to existing partner nation doctrines.