The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), via its Components and Joint Task Forces, guides persistent Military Information Support Operations (MISO) throughout the Area of Responsibility, specifically in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. USSOUTHCOM also operates internet-based MISO.

These exercises are designed to support counter-terrorism efforts partnerships and to oppose global and regional threats, consistent with mutual Partner Nation (PN) and U.S. security strategies and objectives.  MISO forces operate in conjunction with PNs’ security forces in the region and use a variety of means to allow USSOUTHCOM to attain Commander’s Campaign Plan objectives and to control select foreign audiences per desired attitudes and behaviour.  

These means include but are not restricted to, public engagements, terrestrial and satellite television, radio, print effects, text messages, social media and websites. These MISO activities are blended with U.S. government agencies and enforced following U.S. Code and DoD policies.  USSOUTHCOM is also operating with its partners in Colombia, Peru, and Panama to offer and deliver rewards for information that allows the disruption of terrorist threats or donates to the force protection of U.S. and PN security forces.  

An offspring of U.S. military units shipped to Panama in the early 20th Century, U.S. Southern Command’s history as a cooperative military headquarters began during World War II when U.S. planners designated the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command. During the 1950s, the command’s responsibility moved from U.S. military missions in the Caribbean basin to operations concentrated, primarily, on Central and South America. In 1963, U.S. leaders gave the command its current name, U.S. Southern Command.

Uncovered in Panama, the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command also founded military training missions in Latin America; spread military equipment to regional partners via the Lend-Lease program; and opened U.S. service schools to Latin American soldiers, sailors, and airmen.  At the peak of the war, U.S. military planners allocated 135,000 uniformed personnel to duty stations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Approximately half of those forces were under the direct supervision of the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command.

The command is also answerable for the force protection of U.S. military resources at these locations. SOUTHCOM is also liable for ensuring the defence of the Panama Canal.

Under the supervision of a four-star commander, SOUTHCOM’s staff is organized into directorates, feature commands and Security Cooperation Organizations that define SOUTHCOM in the region. SOUTHCOM is a joint base comprised of more than 1,200 military and civilian personnel including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and numerous other federal agencies. 

The services deliver SOUTHCOM with component management which, along with our Joint Special Operations component, two Joint Task Forces, one Joint Interagency Task Force, and Security Cooperation Organizations, conduct SOUTHCOM missions and security association activities. SOUTHCOM exerts its Combatant Command authority via the commanders of its components, Joint Task Forces/Joint Interagency Task Force, and Security Cooperation Organization.