Humanitarian Military Exercise Draws to a Close

Salvadoran Vice Minister of Defense Gral. Jose Atilio Benitez Parada congratulates one of the participants. Beside him, Charge d'Affaires Robert Blau looks on.

The fourth phase of “Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias” or FAHUM 2009 finished up in El Salvador on September 21 after nearly a week of training and exercises. 

Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2009 is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored multinational exercise that concentrates on improving how civilian, government and military agencies from the United States, the Caribbean and Central America respond to natural disasters in the region.  It is a collaborative event that involves first responders and regional partner nation participants. 

Representatives from the armed forces of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic participated in the exercise.  The participants put in practice emergency responses they learned in training.  During the exercise, U.S. troops and officials trained with regional partners to enhance the participants’ knowledge, skills, and capabilities to work together during a natural or man-made disaster. 

The San Antonio, Texas-based U.S. Army South, the Army component of SOUTHCOM, was the Executive Agent for FAHUM 2009 while the overall coordination was handled by the U.S Military Group at the embassy in San Salvador.