Small Wars Journal

Admiral Tidd: SOUTHCOM is Shifting From Tactical to Strategic Outlook in Illegal Trafficking Fight

Wed, 08/30/2017 - 7:37pm

Admiral Tidd: SOUTHCOM is Shifting From Tactical to Strategic Outlook in Illegal Trafficking Fight by John Grady - USNI News

Rather than concentrating on cutting off goods moved via illegally trafficking – people, cocaine, opioids, gold, exotic animal and plants – U.S. Southern Command and its national partners are now looking at the best way to disrupt the criminal networks that control that flow, SOUTHCOM commander Adm. Kurt Tidd said at a Coast Guard Academy leadership event Tuesday.

During his keynote, presented by the U.S. Naval Institute, Tidd said gone are the days when the combatant command was identified as “the guys who do drugs.” The idea now is to address the broader security challenges where criminal network activities blur into terrorist activities. To disrupt those networks means using classic military skill sets, law enforcement expertise and intelligence professionals to meet the mission.

SOUTHCOM’s switch from tactical to strategic means a mission to “detect, illuminate, disrupt” criminal activities, while including and supporting law enforcement and judiciary of regional partner nations…

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Categories: El Centro