SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras –
U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt W. Tidd, U.S. Southern Command commander, came to Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Jan. 22, 2016 to see firsthand what the men and women of Joint Task Force-Bravo do to keep our partnership with Central America strong and our nation secure.
After a morning of familiarization and unit briefings, Adm. Tidd took a tour of Soto Cano AB to visit in person the components which make the base a key staging point for the U.S. military's long-term partnerships with nations in the Central American region.
"My impression is that the United States is enormously fortunate to have such fine men and women from all branches of the armed forces working side by side together in this critical mission in Honduras," Adm. Tidd said.
JTF-Bravo hosts a variety of missions; training with partner nations, Medical Readiness Training Exercises, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and assisting nations in countering drug and human trafficking, to name a few.
"JTF-Bravo is a centerpiece of our operations here in the Central American Theater," said Adm. Tidd. "Joint Task Force-Bravo plays a critical role working side by side with Honduran and other nations' armed forces all around the Central American region. This nation is confronted by a host of challenges from narcotics trafficking to human smuggling, the movement of cash and weapons, just a variety of different problems that transnational criminal networks are engaged in."
Another mission JTF-Bravo engages in is building strong relationships with our Central American partners.
According to Adm. Tidd, one of the most important things the members of JTF-Bravo are doing is building trust.
"They are establishing trust where sometimes there has been a deficit. They are sustaining trust with the close partners that we have, particularly here in Honduras, and they are also finding new opportunities to be able to work together with new partners throughout the region."
"I'd like to recognize that all of the men and women that are assigned to JTF-Bravo, whether they be Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, as well as all the civilians that they work side by side with, our country can be enormously proud of the job that they are doing," said Adm. Tidd.
This is Adm. Tidd's first visit to the region since assuming command of SOUTHCOM, Jan. 14, 2016.