Operation New Horizons

In a region of scarce resources, New Horizons engineering and medical exercises have significantly benefited the people of the Caribbean, while enhancing the capabilities of US Armed Forces to deploy and train in foreign environments. During 2001, Southern Command conducted three New Horizons exercises in the Caribbean area -- Bahamas, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia. Fiscal year 2002 saw three more New Horizons exercises in Barbados, Dominica, and Jamaica.

As part of Operation New Horizons 97 a total of 3,900 National Guard and reserve soldiers were sent to the Central American country of Belize to build roads and schools and provide medical services. The six-month Joint Task Force Pelican exercise, which kicked off in January, cost at least $16 million. New Horizons-Belize was the largest United States military training, humanitarian, and civic-action training exercise in the Western Hemisphere in 1997. United States military troops from both the active and reserve components worked with the Belize Defense Force and the Ministries of Works, Education, and Health to improve roads, build eight new school buildings, and provide free medical screening and treatment for thousands of Belizeans.

The U.S. National Guard set up a troop medical clinic for the hundreds of troops involved in Operation New Horizons 1998, a US military training, humanitarian and civic-action exercise in the Central American country of Honduras. The exercise built medical clinics and schools, and distributed medicine and supplies to the rural people. Several Army National Guard units rotated through Base Camp Alpha for their two weeks of annual training.

Immediately after the hurricane, the U.S. responded with over $300 million in humanitarian assistance, providing food, medicine, emergency shelter, and agricultural assistance through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. military, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and civilian relief workers.

The Department of Defense has invested $150 million in Central American relief operations thus far. In addition, active military forces together with Reserve and National Guard components from 45 states are scheduled to participate in Operation New Horizons 99 for several weeks at a time through August 1999. Some 23,000 National Guard and Reserve troops will rotate through the region to build 33 schools, 12 clinics, repair other key infrastructure including 52 more bridges and roads, drill 27 high capacity wells, and conduct 40 large medical outreach programs reaching between 70,000 and 100,000 patients. On any given day, some 1,200-1,300 troops will be in the region.