US Army South
U.S. Army South, USARSO, is the Major Army Command (MACOM) with Central and South America and the Caribbean as its Area of Responsibility (AOR). It is the Army component of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), and is one of five components of the command, which when combined, work together as a team to accomplish USSOUTHCOM's theater engagement missions.
Consequently, USARSO is in charge of all Army operations within USSOUTHCOM twelve million square mile AOR.
With its headquarters located at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, USARSO is strategically located and culturally identified with its AOR.
To better understand the USARSO mission, it first needs to be placed within the perspective of the USSOUTHCOM mission. USSOUTHCOM provides strategic and operational command and control of assigned U.S. land, sea and air forces within its AOR, defends U.S. interests and assists friendly nations within its AOR in the development of their militaries. USSOUTHCOM shapes the environment within its AOR by conducting theater engagement counter drug activities, and is postured for contingency operations if called upon. USSOUTHCOM is engaged in promoting democracy and stability while fostering collective approaches to regional threats, and providing the vitality, integrity and strength to our military allies and their support for democracy and their institutions . Furthermore, when required, it responds unilaterally or multilaterally to crises that threaten regional stability or national interests and constantly prepares to meet future challenges in the region.
The USARSO Commander has responsibility for all Army forces within USSOUTHCOM AOR. To that end, USARSO headquarters plans, programs, supports, and executes a wide variety of tasks in support of the USSOUTHCOM Commander in Chief (CINC). (continuation)
As one of 17 Major Army Commands, USARSO communicates directly with the Department of Army staff in Washington, D.C. However, as the theater Army component, USARSO also directly supports the USSOUTHCOM CINC's strategy and programs.
With an operating strength of less than 1800 personnel, USARSO operates in an AOR that contains one-sixth of the world's land mass and represents the United States' fastest growing trade partner. Because of its size and the unique training opportunities that the region offers, USARSO has enjoyed extensive Reserve Component support. Nearly 100,000 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers helped USARSO realize its regional engagement program over the last four years, while at the same time receiving invaluable training through medical, civic-action and humanitarian assistance exercises.
One of the benefits to USARSO's location in Puerto Rico is the ability to readily acquire and leverage support from the Puerto Rico Reserve Component which offers a unique and valuable bilingual tool for regional engagement.
The majority of USARSO personnel are stationed at Fort Buchanan. However, USARSO also maintains an important and versatile force, consisting primarily of the 1-228th Aviation Battalion at Soto Cano Air Base in Palmerola, Honduras. As the Army AOR Executive Agent USARSO also support base operations (BASOPS) Miami, Special Operations Command South (SOCSO) Army troops, and military groups (MILGRPS) in 26 countries and 11 territories.
USARSO is actively employed throughout the area implementing the Commander in Chief 's (CINC) strategy. Building regional cooperative security is the major theme guiding our activities. USARSO contributes to increasing hemispheric cooperation by planning and executing multilateral exercises fostering military-to-military engagement, distinguished visitor program, and promoting conferences that from a USARSO strategic vision. and conferences.
USARSO also stands ready to respond to a full spectrum of operations, from natural disaster contingencies, to humanitarian assistance, to combat. For instance, USARSO modified the New Horizon exercises to focus them on the Central American nations devastated by Hurricane Mitch. These activities are the tools USARSO uses to implement the Commander in Chief's strategy. They include medical assistance and engineering construction exercises, platoon training exchanges, multinational humanitarian and peace keeping exercises, communications conferences, subject matter expert and technical exchanges, and a robust program of distinguished visitor and Commanding General trips.
In this manner, USARSO productively engages the armies of USARSO's Area Of Responsibility, from the Ministry of Defense and CINC level to the soldier in the field. USARSO also receives invaluable training for US forces, while demonstrating to the people of this area the benefits that accrue from having a professional, disciplined military subordinate to democratically elected government.
One of the newest and most promising tools in USARSO's operations tool box is the UDCP [the USARSO Deployable Command Package]. This contingency focused, task oriented organization provides us with the ability to rapidly deploy a C4I package anywhere in our area of responsibility within 24 hours in response to a wide array of natural and manmade disasters. Once on site, the UDCP works closely with US and regional military, interagency, governmental and non-governmental organizations to resolve the problem. A demonstration of the UDCP's capabilities involved planning and site surveys for the volcanic disturbances in Ecuador and support for SOUTHCOM's Special Operations Command's Venezuelan disaster relief effort, an effort that saved thousands of lives and helped pave the way for future reconstruction programs.
Another important engagement tool is the U.S. Army School of the Americas located at Ft Benning Georgia. While this does not fall under USARSO's Command it is worth mentioning because of its importance in establishing military to military contacts and promotingconfidence-building measures between USARSO countries.
And from the new headquarters in Puerto Rico, USARSO also reaches out to the Caribbean Basin region. The Commander in Chief, US SOUTHCOM has geographically positioned the Command to continue the program of regional engagement. USARSO, the Army Component Command, maintains a deployable headquarters at Ft Buchanan Puerto Rico, from where USARSO conducts strategic and operational planning. The majority of USARSO's support comes from CONUS-based forces.
Puerto Rico Army National Guard and Reserve units support USARSO's many multilateral exercises and programs. It is through this integration of our Active Army, National Guard, and Reserves that USARSO can maximize resources to carry out missions. Fort Buchanan and the other national guard sites on the island have excellent facilities to support not only soldiers, but families as well. In fact, Fort Buchanan is investing millions of dollars to improve many of its facilities.
USARSO'S Area of Responsibility (AOR), Central and South America and the Caribbean, is vitally important to the U.S. economy, our national security and our culture. The area is huge - 32 countries and over one-sixth of the world's surface area. For perspective, the entire continental United States fits inside just Brazil. Over one third of U.S. petroleum comes from Latin America. Venezuela alone provides us with more crude oil than all of the Middle East nations combined. Today the US sells more within this region than to the European Union. With 20% of U.S. exports, it is the fastest growing market. Of every dollar spent in the area, nearly half of it is spent on U.S. goods and services. At this rate, by the year 2020, the US will trade more with the area than with both Europe and Japan combined.
The U.S. has the fifth largest Spanish speaking population in the world. By the year 2010 the Hispanic community will represent the largest minority group in the United States. However, it is an enormously diverse group, as diverse as our AOR, which includes snow-capped mountains, steamy jungles and swamps, unrelenting deserts, broad savannas and lush rain forests, all combined with an amazingly wide array of ethnic communities.
The Andean ridge nations of South America present an example of related but distinctly different challenges. Illegal drug-financed insurgency and paramilitary activity threaten the democratic and economic underpinnings of the area. Natural disasters, coupled with wide scale corruption and antiquated economic systems leave countries floundering in the world wide business community. Gross disparities of wealth and disenfranchised minorities, often comprised of ethnic Indian populations, pressure the seams of the areas' democratic institutions. Even the traditionally more stable and economically robust nations of the Southern Cone are experiencing increasing pressure on their political and economic establishment.
U.S. Army South will move its headquarters from Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, during the 2003 Fiscal Year. The move is a result of an overall headquarters realignment assessment that aims to provide the Army with greater efficiency and personnel savings. Upon completion of the move, USARSO will become a major subordinate command of U.S. Army Forces Command. This will allow USARSO to reduce its number of personnel from 400 to 300 as well as much of its headquarters overhead.
