Oiapoque, Brazil, (November 15, 2023): Welcome to the Amazon! In this photo by Specialist Joseph Liggio , U.S. Army PFC Bailey Driskel, a combat engineer assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), applies camouflage face paint during the final movement of Exercise Southern Vanguard 24. Exercise Southern Vanguard 24 is an annual exercise sponsored by the U.S. Southern Command, responsible for Central and South America, to improve coordination between allied forces. The event allows a select few U.S. Army Soldiers a  chance to train with some of best warfighters in the world in the most challenging environments. Brazil is an enormous country, with a land mass only slightly smaller than the continental U.S., with a landscape ranging from the Amazon, the world’s largest jungle, to dry grasslands, rugged hills, and miles of seashore.

Brazil's armed forces are the second largest in the Americas, after the United States, and the largest in Latin America. They currently have 334,500 active-duty troops including 15,000 special troops of the Brazilian Army Readiness Forces who are ready for combat 365 days per year. This division is composed of paratroopers along with armored cavalry brigades that have conventional combat capability.

The 1,300 or so Americans joined their 1,000 Brazilian Army comrades of the 52nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Brigade in conducting air assault operations, urban maneuver, weapons familiarization, and a brutal jungle familiarization course. The joint forces conducted an air assault followed by practice infiltrating hostile territory to combat irregular forces.

The U.S. designated Brazil a major non-NATO partner in 2019 that granted significant benefits and privileges in exchange for security cooperation and mutual defense. Both countries want the ability to respond in support of regional partners in both military and humanitarian emergencies.

This year’s Southern Vanguard included Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), 7th Special Forces Group, 1st Security Forces Assistance Brigade and New York Army National Guard.