2023-04-26 12:14:18
The Special Operations Command of the Chilean Army (Cope), together with soldiers from the Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH) of the United States, carried out a telecommunications exercise (COMEX), with the aim of developing capacities and integrating means of communications, Cope reported on its social networks.
“This COMEX is the first telecommunications exercise between the Lautaro Special Operations Brigade (BOE) and SOCSOUTH, with exclusively telecommunications personnel,” he said on March 25 to Dialogue Chilean Army Captain Juan Pablo Pérez, telecommunications commander of the BOE del Cope. “There was a mutual validation between our forces.”
The combined joint exercise was conducted at the BOE headquarters in Colina, in central Chile. It involved 10 telecommunications officers from SOCSOUTH J6 and the US Army’s 112th Signal Battalion, the BOE reported to Dialogue.
The exercise achieved the exchange of technical and operational experiences, between February 13 and 17, in addition to testing the communications knowledge of the respective task units, in aspects such as tactical radio interoperability, and virtual accompaniment kit for advice and remote assistance, SOCSOUTH said in Facebook. For these purposes, a communications laboratory was created at the BOE Lautaro, seeking to simulate the actual deployment of a telecommunications team with command and control equipment, using the situational cartography of the Colina terrain, where the Brigade is located.
“Whoever has the best development, knowledge of the command and control systems, is the one who will have the superiority on the scene, both in combat and in operations other than war, such as in support of disasters, peacekeeping missions and combined joint exercises” said Capt. Perez. “Everything we do comes together to obtain an optimal flow of information to the command posts, to allow commanders of the different command levels to make optimal decisions, and thus reduce collateral damage and errors in any operation. ”.
“In telecommunications, it is essential to have an interoperability capacity, not only in the execution of operations between the armed forces, but also with other civil entities in their emergency capacities,” he told Dialogue Guillermo Holzmann, Chilean defense analyst and academic at the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at the University of Valparaíso. “This generates effectiveness in the area of operations, and concrete results that strengthen command and control capacity in case of conflict, support for the community in case of emergencies, or protection of sovereignty.”
The COMEX was held as part of the preparations for the major exercise Fused Responsean annual training led by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff sponsored by SOCSOUTH and conducted with several countries in the region, designed to improve crisis response planning and joint integration with partner nations and government agencies, which the Chilean Army prepares in conjunction with SOCSOUTH. Fused Response It will take place from the end of April to the beginning of May in the central zone of Chile, and will have the participation of special forces from SOCSOUTH and Cope.
The Cope of the Chilean Army was created in 2020 as part of the modifications designed for the new upper structure of the Army, and reports directly to the commander-in-chief of the Army, the institution reported.
The command integrates the BOE Lautaro, the Intelligence regiments and the means of the Army Aviation Brigade in the unit of “highest preparation and availability of the Army”, affirms the institution.
“For the BOE, the relationship with SOCSOUTH is extremely relevant (…) they put all their knowledge and experience into practice quickly, and that helps us a lot,” said Capt. Perez. “The direct link with them allows us to continue developing new capabilities that go hand in hand with international development.”
Fused Response It is not the only exercise that Cope will carry out this year in conjunction with SOCSOUTH. In August, the capabilities of both forces will be put to the test in Estrella Austral, a combined joint exercise organized by the Chilean Joint Chiefs of Staff and executed by Cope, with deployments to be carried out in the vicinity of the cities of Antofagasta, in the area north, Santiago in the central zone, and Punta Arenas in the south.
“Chile is a long strip of territory, and it has different types of weather and a complex geography,” he told Dialogue the cap. Perez. “Those qualities of our country make it attractive to SOCSOUTH.”
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