quest for ramp space is reflective of the outstanding military to military relationship that has been nurtured over the years.

Southern Cone. Harmonious relations among Southern Cone countries provide the necessary preconditions for increased defense cooperation, dialogue, and multilateral training exercises. Keeping pace with new training opportunities, Chile and Brazil have recently begun military modernization programs. In December 2000, the Chilean government made a formal decision to negotiate the possible purchase of F-16 aircraft with Lockheed Martin. Brazil has also initiated programs to modernize its Air Force and Navy. In some neighboring countries, budget constraints still limit military procurement and modernization.

Argentina and Uruguay both participate routinely in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Last year, Argentina hosted the USŠOUTHCOM annual CABANAS training program, a peacekeeping exercise that included military forces of seven other nations. Argentina and Chile each hosted phases of the UNITAS exercise, the largest multinational naval exercise in this hemisphere. In addition to nations from the USSOUTHCOM AOR, UNITAS 2000 included Canada and several European nations. This exercise is one of Southern Command's most important engagement tools and contributes significantly to regional cooperation in the Southern Cone.

Andean Ridge. USSOUTHCOM operations in the Andean Ridge are the most diverse of any region. Recent activities have included humanitarian civic assistance, demining operations, training exercises, and extensive counterdrug operational support. Militaries in this region range from small and under-equipped to standing forces with considerable capabilities.

One of USSOUTHCOM's most important and visible missions during fiscal year 2000 was Operation Fundamental Response in Venezuela. Following torrential flooding and mudslides that devastated Venezuela's northeastern coast, USSOUTHCOM performed life saving rescue, medical evacuation, and disaster relief operations. With Venezuela reporting an estimated 30,000 dead, USSOUTHCOM provided immediate rescue assistance, ultimately saving more than 5,500 lives and delivering 673 tons of food and water. U.S. forces, largely JTF-B aviation assets, Special Operations, and Reserves, produced more than 2.8 million gallons of potable water, flew more than 1,300 aircraft sorties, and distributed more than $650,000 worth of medical supplies. Total cost of USSOUTHCOM directed support to Venezuela was $8.25 million.

In Ecuador, USSOUTHCOM has worked closely with the U.S. Ambassador and President Noboa's administration to provide assistance to Ecuador's military, particularly in the management of national crises. We have also worked closely with military leaders to improve Ecuador's capability for detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffic. As previously noted, Manta Air Base on the northwestern coast is a linchpin in resetting our AOR architecture and extending the reach of our DM&T aircraft coverage in the source zone.

U.S. counterdrug support to Andean Ridge nations includes training and equipment for the riverine forces of both Peru and Colombia. The Joint Peruvian Riverine Training Center in Iquitos, Peru is the finest facility of its kind in the AOR. Peruvian and Colombian riverine units have significantly increased their capabilities during the past year.

USSOUTHCOM has provided extensive support to the training of Colombia's Counternarcotics (CN) Brigade. The second CN battalion graduated from training in December 2000, and the third battalion is scheduled to complete training on May 24, 2001. To provide air mobile capability to the CN Brigade, USSOUTHCOM is supporting the Department of State (DoS) led effort to field Huey II and UH-60L helicopters to the Colombian Army and to assist in training the required aircrews. USSOUTHCOM is cooperating with the security forces of each Andean Ridge nation to build more effective counternarcotics capability. Bolivia, with perhaps fewer resources than any other country in the region, has achieved unprecedented success in eradicating illegal coca cultivation and aggressively interdicting drug trafficking organizations' (DTOs) movement of precursor chemicals. We have assisted Bolivia's military training effort with mobile training teams and facility construction. We are also assisting the Bolivian Army in renovating troop barracks to establish a permanent presence in the Chapare coca-growing region.

REQUIREMENTS

The United States Government has provided substantial support in military hardware, training, and services to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Each year, USSOUTHCOM executes engagement programs throughout this AOR, to include combined operations and training exercises, educational opportunities, mobile train

ing teams, unit exchanges, humanitarian civic assistance, foreign military financing and sales, and counterdrug training and operations.

USSOUTHCOM's exercise program is the engine for our Theater Engagement Plan. USSOUTHCOM will conduct 17 joint or combined exercises and 178 training deployments with partner nations this fiscal year. We conduct four different types of exercises and deployments. First, our operational exercises are based on USSOUTHCOM contingency plans and normally include only U.S. forces. The primary purpose of these exercises is to train the CINC's and the JTF's battlestaffs. Foreign military interaction (FMI) exercises are the core of USSOUTHCOM's engagement program. They are conducted throughout the AOR and are generally hosted by the many participating nations in the region. All of these exercises, which include Unitas, Tradewinds, PKO North and South, Cabanas, United Counterdrug, and Fuerza Allidas Humanitarians, are multilateral.

New Horizons (NH) are the command's civic assistance exercises that focus on engineering and medical projects. Humanitarian and civic assistance (HCA) projects are embedded in these programs but can be conducted as stand alone deployments for training as well. USSOUTHCOM plans to conduct six NH exercises in fiscal year 2001. Planned sites include the Bahamas, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Guatemala, Honduras, and Paraguay.

The fourth type of exercise is stand-alone training deployments. USSOUTHCOM will conduct a total of 178 stand-alone training deployments in fiscal year 2001. These deployments will include Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET), Riverine Training Teams (RTT), and Counterdrug Training Support (CDTS). Included in the training total are 66 stand-alone medical assistance deployments that predominantly support Central America and the Andean Ridge.

In a typical year, USSOUTHCOM deploys more than 12,000 servicemembers, the majority of which are National Guardsmen and Reservists, in support of the FMI and NH exercise programs. In fiscal year 1999, the U.S. Congress provided funding to expand the NH exercise concept. Funding has remained relatively constant for 2000 and 2001. These exercises have been very successful in providing schools, water wells, road and bridge improvements, and medical outreach programs to needy communities. NH exercises have the added benefit of providing U.S. forces with realistic training opportunities generally not available in the United States. In fiscal year 2000, USSOUTHCOM completed 98 HCA projects in 19 countries; 105 construction and repair projects are planned or fiscal year 2001. Scenarios for the seven FMI exercises conducted in fiscal year 2000 and the six planned for this year focus on peacekeeping operations, disaster relief, and counterdrug coordination.

International Military Education and Training (IMET) and its companion program, Expanded IMET (EIMET) provide professional education opportunities to selected military and civilian candidates in our AOR on a grant basis. These programs are the backbone of our combined professionalization and military education. They provide funding for military and civilian personnel from our partner nations to attend professional development courses in United States military institutions. At only modest cost, these programs represent valued investments as many of the students go on to become senior leaders in their respective militaries and government agencies. In fiscal year 2000, USSOUTHCOM received $9.89 million for IMET and trained 2684 students, including 474 civilians. We invested roughly two-thirds of our IMET dollars in professional military education (PME), management, postgraduate courses, mobile education teams, and english language training. The remainder paid for technical assistance training throughout the AOR.

With declining military budgets, most countries in the USSOUTHCOM AOR request military equipment through the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program or Section 506 Emergency Drawdown Authority. Few countries are able to purchase new equipment in large quantities through the Foreign Military Sales Program. Although we have been very successful in assisting partner nations through EDA and Drawdown, transport costs and sustainment of the received equipment fall to the requesting country. Absent host nation funding and the availability of foreign military financing (FMF), we have not been able to help these nations build the maintenance programs to sustain the equipment. At its peak in 1991, the FMF program for Latin America was $220 million. Last year, the Caribbean received $3 million, while Latin America received only $450,000.

COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS, AND INTELLIGENCE (C41)

As we reset our theater physical architecture in the post-Panama era, we are also enhancing our C4I architecture for fixed and mobile operations throughout the AOR. Because most of the countries in this theater are still maturing their C4 infrastructure, satellite communications are vitally important to our deployed forces, espe

cially in time of crises. However, satellite communications are currently limited by available bandwidth.

We have initiated several programs to increase our C4I effectiveness throughout a very large AOR. Programs like the Cooperating Nations Information Exchange (CNIES) and the Counternarcotics Command and Management System (CNCMS) have helped optimize satellite bandwidth. We have also initiated the Theater Signal Support Program, which is focused on streamlining and enhancing C4 operational and maintenance support that was degraded by our exit from Panama.

INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE

Our top readiness priorities for this AOR remain intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Although OSD and the Joint Staff have helped us a great deal in this area, we still have unresourced requirements in national, theater, and tactical collection and processing for signals intelligence (SIGINT), human intelligence (HUMINT), and imagery intelligence (IMINT).

IMINT, SIGINT, HUMINT, and measurement and signals intelligence (MASINT) provide commanders at all echelons indications and warnings (I&W), situational awareness, battle damage assessments (BDA), and crop cultivation estimates. However, the current suite of national sensors and platforms meets only part of our requirement for a comprehensive intelligence and counterdrug picture in this AOR. USSOUTHCOM needs greater redundancy in ISR assets to mitigate risk during crises. Specifically, we need additional airborne quick-reaction ISR capability and the focus of a tactical military intelligence unit dedicated to this AOR. Funding support for planned and existing MASINT capabilities, plus an effective MASINT architecture, will significantly enhance the conduct of future operations.

The USSOUTHCOM AOR is a mixture of legacy and 21st century technology systems. While we are making progress in transitioning to more sophisticated and more reliable systems, we still need significant support for three important activities: wide area surveillance for maritime and ground detection and monitoring; theater air surveillance, tracking, and sorting; and force protection against asymmetric threats. First, a real-time integrated wide area surveillance capability is required to track and monitor maritime and ground targets of interest, particularly in support of counterdrug operations in this theater. This system should be compatible with both manned and unmanned ISR platforms. Second, the theater air surveillance system will provide air space detection, sorting, monitoring, and management that will promote regional cooperation in support of theater engagement strategies. Third, asymmetric warfare challenges our best force protection measures and strategies. Sophisticated surveillance systems are needed to enhance force protection for our limited number of forward-deployed personnel in high threat areas.

Our ability to execute effective operations is often hampered by restrictions on sharing data with our partner nations. We need to streamline sharing procedures that are currently used for time sensitive counterdrug information. Like other unified commands, we are developing information-sharing networks that will allow us to combat the drug trafficking problem more efficiently. The South American Net (SURNET), the Caribbean Information sharing Network (CISN), and the Cooperating Nations Information Exchange System (CNIES) are all ongoing initiatives that enable us to share certain types of counterdrug information expeditiously,

We experience continuing shortages of intelligence personnel, especially qualified linguists and other SIGINT experts. A fully manned and functioning regional SIGINT operating center at Medina, Texas, is essential to support our AOR operations. We also face many difficulties in our efforts to maintain a robust tasking, processing, exploitation, and dissemination architecture (TPED). Due to persistent C4I shortfalls, these issues are expected to continue in the near term.

COUNTERDRUG OPERATIONS

Congress appropriated significant funding last year to support President Pastrana's Plan Colombia. During the past several months, USSOUTHCOM has worked with the U.S. interagency to develop the plan and begin executing the support package. This program is on track and is increasing partner nation counterdrug capabilities. Although most of the supplemental funding was directed to Colombia, neighboring nations also received assistance.

USSOUTHCOM is using the funds designated for military purposes to improve partner nation capabilities in counterdrug operations. We are lead for execution of DOD support and provide assistance to DoS as needed on military related programs. We have coordinated the intended use of the funding in the U.S. interagency process to ensure our actions complement other agencies' activities and comply with congressional law and OSD directives. U.S. assistance to Plan Colombia will signifi

cantly improve the COLMIL capability to successfully support eradication and interdiction operations. Although $180 million was also distributed in the aid package to Colombia's neighbors, several of these neighboring nations will need additional assistance in the form of both military and non-military programs to effectively challenge the illicit drug industry within their own borders. We also anticipate that nations in this region, particularly Colombia, will likely need international assistance to sustain these programs in the long term.

FORCE PROTECTION

Force protection is Job #1. We are committed to providing the best possible protection measures to our forces in this theater. Since the terrorist attack on the U.S.S. Cole, we have conducted a comprehensive review of our force protection requirements and have focused our efforts on improving policies and procedures for deterring, disrupting, and mitigating terrorist attacks.

Each of my Component Commanders has formed "Red Teams" to assess his force protection posture on a continuous basis. Throughout the AOR, we have intensified ongoing efforts to identify potential threats and the corresponding force protection measures to mitigate risk to these threats. We are also looking specifically for seams in our force protection posture that could be exploited. We have implemented a suite of preventive measures, such as limiting travel to known or suspected high-risk areas, to minimize exposure of DOD personnel.

We have used the Combating Terrorism Readiness Initiative Fund to resource emergent and unforeseen high priority requirements. However, we still require better access to enhanced national signals collection and processing, organic airborne reconnaissance capability, a military intelligence unit permanently assigned to this theater, and expanded human intelligence collection. Our components continue to work with host nation security forces, to include establishing U.S. controlled security zones when necessary, to ensure protection of our deployed aircraft, vessels, and personnel. Component Commanders tailor threat conditions and random antiterrorism measures based on their assessment of the threat for assigned and intransit units.

The U.S.S. Cole Commission recommendations address the diversity of threats that could potentially target U.S. personnel and interests in the USSOUTHCOM AOR. We continue to make good progress in hardening our headquarters, bases, and forward operating locations. Where we are unable to mitigate threats through physical or structural enhancements, we are addressing the risk with procedural modifications for our personnel.

STRATEGY

Our vision for this theater has not changed. These nations can become a “community of stable, democratic, and prosperous nations served by professional, modern, and interoperable security forces that embrace democratic principles and human rights, that are subordinate to civil authority, and are capable and supportive of multilateral responses to regional challenges."

Five objectives guide our engagement and security activities in this AOR:

• Promote and support stable democracies;

• Promote and support respect for human rights and adherence to the rule

of law;

• Assist partner nations to modernize and train their security forces;

• Sustain and strengthen multilateral security cooperation; and

• Cooperate with regional forces to detect, monitor, and reduce the transit of illegal drugs.

CONCLUSION

Thanks to the hard work and vision of many U.S. Government agencies, we have been able to assist our neighbors, some gravely threatened by insurgencies, narcotics, and other transnational threats.

Because of this committee's efforts and the strong bipartisan support in Congress for programs key to this hemisphere, we are making a positive difference in helping to strengthen democracy, promote prosperity, and foster regional security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you.

Chairman WARNER. General Schwartz.

STATEMENT OF GEN. THOMAS A. SCHWARTZ, USA, COMMANDER, UNITED STATES FORCES KOREA; COMMANDER IN CHIEF, UNITED NATIONS COMMAND/COMBINED FORCES COMMAND

General SCHWARTZ. Sir, thank you very much for having me, Mr. Chairman, Senator Levin, and other committee members. Thanks a lot. I am glad to be here today.

It is exciting to be in Korea. I have been there 15 months. It is an exciting time. Like you said, Senator Warner, things are changing at a rapid pace. Who would have predicted that the summit would have taken place like it did last year? Who would have predicted the amount of dialogue, the exchange, the cultural exchanges, all the things that are happening, the Nobel Peace Prize, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) revision that we had, a big success in my opinion, the Nogun-Ri and the resolution of that very successfully? The list goes on and on. Who would have predicted? Almost nobody. Then the visit of Kim Jong-Il to the south and the next couple of months. Who would have predicted? I do not think anybody could say "I knew positively that was going to take place." But I can tell you one thing you could predict, that our forces over there stay trained and ready, the 37,000 you have there under my command, as well as those great Republic of Korea military. I am really high on them because when anybody from this committee comes, they look at them, they see them, they always comment to me. They say, "Tom, they are good. Are they not? They are trained and ready. Are they not? They are well-spirited and have high morale. Do they not?" Those are the kinds of things that are reinforcing about this alliance. We should be tremendously proud.

That 2nd Infantry Division we have over there, in my opinion, is the most well-trained, fit-to-fight division in the world. I am proud of what they do and the pace they maintain, the things they do every day to stay trained and ready on that Demilitarized Zone. I know you, Senator Warner, and the other committee members are very proud.

I think the key over there right now is our presence. We have been there for 50 years. We might be there for 50 more. We do not know. But I tell you, when the north looks south and they see 37,000, when they look south, and they see the 750,000 South Koreans trained and ready, they know for sure one thing: they are not going to do anything. They know we are ready. They know we are together, and that has deterred war for 50 years. We are tremendously proud of that.

We have to mix all of that readiness too with our quality of life and our infrastructure. We cannot just be trained and ready. We cannot just let Korea be a place we have been for 50 years, 1 year at a time, and not look at the infrastructure and not look at the quality of life of those great soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. So, I have looked at that, and I have talked to a lot of those great people. I am tremendously impressed with our soldiers.

I tell you, Senator, the other day I had a stand-up in front of those soldiers, and I said, "this is my third tour. Who has me beat?" One of those great sergeants, E-5, stood up and said, "Sir, I have been in 10 years. This is my fourth tour in Korea. I have you beat."