CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. – More than 60 Arkansas National Guardsmen are participating in CENTAM Guardian 2025 in Guatemala.
CENTAM Guardian 2025 is an annual multi-national exercise designed to strengthen interoperability, information sharing and counter-threat capabilities between the United States and participating Central American and Caribbean partner nations. U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) plans the exercise and training for months with notional scenarios unrelated to real-world events. The exercise began May 12 and concludes May 23.
Guardsmen from the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 188th Wing, 77th Theater Aviation Brigade, 142nd Field Artillery Brigade, and 233rd Regiment, Regional Training Institute are participating, providing infantry support, medical assistance and interpretation duties.
“Cartels and transnational criminal organizations’ illicit activities continue to destabilize communities, posing a threat in the region. These groups and malign state actors exert influence that threatens security, erodes democracies and challenges sovereignty,” said SOUTHCOM Commander Navy. Adm. Alvin Holsey, in a May 6 news release.
“We must work together, train together and strengthen readiness together to collectively face these threats. Exercises like CENTAM Guardian strengthen our partnerships and enhance our persistent efforts to combat regional threats,” he said.
Military and security forces from Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and the United States will participate in the exercise, building upon the success of previous iterations held annually since 2018.
“We will be deploying and supporting a field hospital and community outreach for local nationals in and around Jutiapa, Guatemala,” said Lt. Col. Peter Mudge, 188th Medical Group commander. “The team plans to see 400 patients a day for five or more days.”
Mudge said his team will join forces with two other American medical units and two Guatemalan military units around Jutiapa.
A platoon-sized group of Guardsmen from the 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th IBCT, will conduct squad training exercises with their Guatemalan counterparts.
The Arkansas National Guard and Guatemala have been partners in the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program since 2002. The SPP program started in 1993.