United States
Australia
United Kingdom
Europe
New Zealand
Canada
A new Defense Department white paper examines how the United States has built and sustained its military posture across the Caribbean Basin and what that history means for today’s logistics planning in U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility.
Titled “U.S. Military Footprint in the USSOUTHCOM AOR: WWII–Cold War Posture and Modern Sustainment Implications,” the document traces the evolution of U.S. presence from World War II through the Cold War and connects those patterns to current sustainment challenges. The Caribbean Basin — spanning parts of Central America and the northern reaches of South America — has figured prominently in U.S. strategy for generations.
According to the release, Washington preserved a significant military footprint across the basin to safeguard its interests, and kept it viable through a logistics architecture designed to be resilient and responsive as conditions shifted. That emphasis on adaptability, the paper suggests, offers insights for how to organize, supply and move forces in today’s operating environment.
USSOUTHCOM, based in Miami, oversees U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The command’s region includes key sea lanes and chokepoints and is frequently affected by natural disasters, all of which place a premium on access, mobility, and supply continuity. The white paper situates those contemporary realities in the context of decades of posture decisions, transportation routes, and support networks that enabled U.S. forces to operate across dispersed terrain and vast maritime spaces.
While the document looks backward to derive lessons, its focus is forward-leaning: how to translate enduring principles of basing, prepositioning, and intertheater lift into modern sustainment plans amid evolving threats and limited infrastructure. The publication arrives as the Pentagon places renewed emphasis on logistics resilience and contested deployment scenarios across the joint force.
