Good News or Bad? Pentagon Review of SOUTHCOM Kicks Off by Aaron Mehta – Defense News
US SOUTHERN COMMAND HEADQUARTERS, Miami — Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has begun a review of U.S. Southern Command, which could lead to cuts to the regional combatant command — or perhaps increased resources at a time that China and Russia are ramping up activity in the region.
Esper has said he plans to do a COCOM-by-COCOM review of U.S. force posture in order to asses how resources are being used and whether they should be redirected in some way. Those decisions will largely be driven by the needs of the National Defense Strategy. He hopes to have the reviews done by Oct. 1, the start of the next fiscal year.
Already a discussion about redirecting troops from U.S. Africa Command elsewhere was met with resistance in Congress, with leaders from both the House and Senate armed services committees warning the secretary against such a reduction.
On Thursday, Esper stressed that the review is only just starting, and that he is open to arguments that SOUTHCOM may need more manpower, not less…