Honduras hosts Conference of the American Armies

The Honduran army hosted the first specialized conference of the 32nd cycle of the Conference of the American Armies in Tegucigalpa, Honduras June 20-24. The CAA is an international military organization founded in 1960 as a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences among the American armies.

“We will explore how we operate today and how we can improve our understanding and support of interagency operations, which is critical for success in overcoming the emerging challenges to defense in the 21st century,” said Maj. Gen. K.K. Chinn, U.S. Army South commanding general, in his role as CAA Secretary General, as he opened the conference. “As armies we cannot do it alone; we need the support of the whole of government to be successful.”

Conference discussions focused on civil affairs in interagency operations, which is critical for success in overcoming the challenges to national defense in the 21st century.

Fifteen nations participated in the conference with nearly 50 senior officers, sharing experiences and lessons learned in order to enhance capabilities and cooperation between CAA member armies and governmental and non-governmental civil institutions.

The goals of the conference included creating a planning guide that facilitates interagency operations and to initiate a basis for creating an exercise scenario to be executed in 2017.

During the conference, the delegates split into two working groups, each with a different mission. One worked to develop a forum for dialogue between civilian and military leaders to meet the new challenges to defense in the 21st century. The other focused on developing an interagency planning guide for the use of civilian and military actors in the interagency environment.

Canadian Army Lt. Col. Chris Adams said the challenges faced by the CAA are in working with other nations that typically use their military as a lead for civil affairs operations.

“This planning manual should be a model we can all use as a foundation for a domestic response using a whole-of-government approach,” Adams said.

The delegates also heard from a series of experts with experiences integrating their armies into an interagency effort.

“This conference strengthens all our armies and countries, which is needed in this new millennium,” said Colombian army Brig. Gen. Libardo Alberto Sepulveda Riaño. “Every country has something to give, whether they are a small country or a large country, they have something to share.”

Sepulveda presented Colombia’s approach to a more permanent integration having positive results in boosting the respect Colombian citizens have for their army, while also achieving great success in reducing the threat posed by the FARC, a guerrilla movement which began in 1964, but has just recently agreed to a ceasefire.

Another presenter, Brazilian army Gen. Luiz Eduardo Ramos Baptista Pereira, discussed his efforts and challenges in integrating his army into the overall security apparatus for the Olympic Games scheduled this summer.

At the conclusion of the conference, each group presented their recommendations for approval by the participants. CAA executive secretary Col. Brian McNaughton noted the work does not end here.

“Honduras will continue to receive feedback from work group members and produce the final draft of the planning guide,” McNaughton said. “Chile will then incorporate that planning guide into training, preparation and execution of an exercise next year.”

The next CAA conference is scheduled for later this year in Colombia, followed by conferences in Dominican Republic, Canada and Brazil before an exercise next June in Chile. The exercise will provide a venue to validate the work done by the CAA in refining the interagency planning manual.