US Army to stage counter-drug training exercises in South America

The Army is reviewing exercises conducted through U.S. Southern Command and redirecting some of them toward counter-cartel operations. General Joe Ryan said the goal is to address designated terrorist organizations and cartel threats, rather than focusing mainly on relationship-building with regional partners. This matters because the Western Hemisphere is now the Pentagon’s priority theater for homeland defense.

Ryan said exercises will increasingly support efforts against organizations he described as global economic syndicates. The practical emphasis is disrupting the groups’ operations and economic model. The article does not provide a detailed exercise schedule or identify specific countries where the training will occur.

The shift does not eliminate the Army’s crisis-response role. The service is also moving more aviation assets and personnel south, including aircraft, crews, and maintainers. Those forces will help respond to natural disasters, move supplies and people, and assess emergencies over the next couple of fiscal years.

Counter-cartel operations are military activities intended to help disrupt cartel organizations and their trafficking networks. They may involve intelligence, coordination, mobility, and support for actions against the groups’ operations. The article describes the targeted organizations as designated terrorist organizations and global economic syndicates. It does not list every task these exercises will include.

Ordinary military training can build partner relationships, improve general readiness, or practice disaster response. Ryan said some earlier exercises mainly served relationship-building purposes. The planned exercises would instead focus more directly on the cartel threat and on countering designated terrorist organizations. Their purpose is therefore tied to a defined adversary and mission.

This change reflects a strategic priority, not the end of broader training. The Army is still strengthening crisis response in the region. It plans to add aircraft, crews, and maintainers to help move people and supplies during natural disasters and other threats.

U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, is the broader combatant command directing military priorities in the region. Army Western Hemisphere Command is the Army command led by General Joe Ryan. The article also identifies U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South as predecessor organizations whose missions largely centered on partner training and disaster response.

A “theater Army” is the Army’s regional headquarters and coordinating structure for major operations. In this case, Ryan says the new command is building one to do more than maintain relationships or support disasters. It would align Army exercises, forces, and capabilities with the region’s counter-cartel and counter-designated-terrorist-organization requirements.

The command is still developing. Ryan described the theater Army as a mission beyond the predecessors’ largely traditional roles. At the same time, the Army is expanding aviation forces in the south. More aircraft, crews, and maintainers will support both military operations and emergency movement of people and supplies.

The article gives no estimate of the number of cartels, people involved, countries affected, or money generated. It therefore cannot establish the threat’s exact scale across the Western Hemisphere. What it does establish is the U.S. military’s characterization of the problem as regional and persistent.

Ryan calls the targeted groups designated terrorist organizations and global economic syndicates. He says their business model has survived for decades and will continue unless the economic side is disrupted. That description points to organizations with durable finances and networks, rather than a short-lived local threat. The article also mentions suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean.

The strategic response suggests the threat is important enough to reshape exercises under SOUTHCOM. The Army is directing more training toward cartel operations while expanding aviation support in the region. Still, the article provides no troop totals, operational map, or other measurement that would show how large the threat is.

A stronger cartel focus could change which missions receive the most exercise time, planning attention, and available forces. Earlier exercises often emphasized relationship-building with regional partners. If counter-cartel operations become the priority, partners could see fewer exercises centered mainly on cooperation or general engagement. The article does not state that such training will end.

Disaster relief could also face pressure if the same units must support security missions. That is a possible tradeoff, not a reported decision. In fact, the Army says it is increasing its ability to conduct the legacy crisis-response mission. More aircraft, crews, and maintainers are planned for the region.

The current plan therefore combines a sharper security focus with more emergency capacity. Those added forces are intended to move people and supplies, respond to natural disasters, and make assessments. The forward implication is a broader mission set, rather than a confirmed replacement of relief work with counter-cartel training.

The article says cartels function as global economic syndicates with a business model that has survived for decades. In general, criminal networks endure when they can replace personnel, move money through connected channels, and keep earning from illicit markets. Those details are not explained in the article, but they help clarify why the Army is looking beyond isolated seizures or arrests.

The key mechanism is financial disruption. Cutting revenue, access to funds, or the ability to invest can reduce a cartel’s capacity to recruit, transport goods, corrupt institutions, and recover from losses. The article does not identify particular financial channels or methods. Ryan’s central point is that the organizations will continue surviving unless their economic side is disrupted.

That logic is shaping the exercise review under SOUTHCOM. Training is expected to contribute to countering designated terrorist organizations and cartel threats. The broader implication is a campaign aimed at weakening the business system that sustains these groups over time.

The latest National Defense Strategy shifts homeland defense to the top of the priority list. It also identifies the Western Hemisphere as the Pentagon’s priority theater, a concept the article calls the “Donroe Doctrine.” That strategic direction is why SOUTHCOM is reviewing its exercises and why Army Western Hemisphere Command is building a theater Army.

Military exercises are being refocused toward cartel and designated-terrorist threats. The article connects that emphasis with administration strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and a raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. At the same time, crisis response remains part of defense planning because disasters and other regional threats require forces able to move people and supplies.

The Army’s next steps combine both missions. It plans more counter-cartel-focused exercises and a larger aviation footprint, including aircraft, crews, and maintainers. Those forces will support emergency assessments and movement while helping the United States respond to security threats closer to the homeland.