EXERCISE CABANAS 2002 BEGINS
October 16, 2002

The Department of Defense announced today that U.S. special operations forces assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C., and Special Operations Command-South, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, will participate in “Cabanas 2002,” a joint multinational peacekeeping exercise in Santiago, Chile, from Oct. 16 through Oct. 29, 2002.

Cabanas 2002, sponsored by the headquarters, U.S. Southern Command, Miami, Fla., is a joint-combined multinational peacekeeping exercise designed to enhance joint-multinational peacekeeping procedures and skills.

Cabanas 2002 is hosted by Chile and will involve military personnel from the host nation, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the United States. More than 300 U.S. airmen, sailors and soldiers will participate.

This exercise is the largest joint and combined service exercise held in the region and it focuses on a variety of U.N. peacekeeping tasks including: tactical troop movements, food distribution, identification and marking of mines, civil-military, security and police operations. For daily news updates on the activities of participants, an exercise Web site can be accessed at http://164.77.35.101 (no longer available)..

For more information on this exercise, contact the U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs Office at (305) 437-1213. The combined joint information bureau for this exercise can be reached by contacting Lt. Col. Nicolas Britto, SOCSOUTH PAO at (813) 828-5025.