United States Southern Command

The United States Southern Command ('''USSOUTHCOM''', or informally: '''SOUTHCOM''') is a Unified Combatant Command responsible for all United States military activities in Central America , South America , and the Caribbean basin. Its headquarters is in Miami , Florida , but it also has operations in Fort Buchanan, in San Juan , Puerto Rico , and Fort Bravo in Soto Cano, Honduras . In addition, it has Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) in Comalapa, El Salvador , Manta, Ecuador , and the islands of Aruba and Curaçao ( Netherlands Antilles ).

USSOUTHCOM is a joint command comprised of Army , Navy , Air Force , and Marine Corps components.

For many years, USSOUTHCOM was located in Panama , at an Army installation located at the Pacific opening of the Panama Canal , which served as the base for the largest number of U.S. military and civilian personnel in Latin America. On 26 September 1997, it was moved to Miami. Of the five American regional unified commands, USSOUTHCOM is one of the two whose headquarters are not within its area of operations. (The other such regional unified command is United States Central Command , currently based in Tampa, Florida .

In the War Against Drugs , USSOUTHCOM provides logistical support to other U.S. agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration , Department Of Justice , Immigration And Customs Enforcement , To interdict the flow of drugs from these areas, SOUTHCOM conducts surveillance of the air and maritime routes to the United States and other countries. For this reason, it receives approximately one percent of the total Federal counterdrug budget ($17.8 billion for FY2000).

USSOUTHCOM forms part of the Unified Command System that was created in 1947 .

SEE ALSO

Manta Air Base

EXTERNAL LINKS

United States Southern Command website

Southern Command (entry at globalsecurity.org)

Information About

United States Southern Command