USSOUTHCOM/U.S. Army Garrison-Miami

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), located in Doral, FL, is one of 11 unified Combatant Commands (COCOMs) in the Department of Defense.

SOUTHCOM is responsible for providing contingency planning, operations and security cooperation in its assigned Area of Responsibility which includes:

• Central America
• South America
• The Caribbean (except U.S. commonwealths, territories and possessions)

The command is also responsible for the force protection of U.S. military resources at these locations.  SOUTHCOM is also responsible for ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal.

Under the leadership of a four-star commander, SOUTHCOM's staff is organized into directorates, component commands and Security Cooperation Organizations that represent SOUTHCOM in the region.

SOUTHCOM is a joint command comprised of more than 2,100 military and civilian personnel representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and several other federal agencies.

The services provide SOUTHCOM with component commands which, along with the Joint Special Operations component, two Joint Task Forces, one Joint Interagency Task Force and Security Cooperation Organizations, perform SOUTHCOM missions and security cooperation activities.

SOUTHCOM exercises its Combatant Command authority through the commanders of its components, Joint Task Forces/Interagency Task Force and Security Cooperation Organizations.

U.S. Army Garrison-Miami, part of the U.S. Army's Installation Management Command, is dedicated to promoting quality of life for Service Members and their Families; ensuring good stewardship of resources; and encouraging partnerships with the local community.

For more than 50 years, U.S. Southern Command has worked to build regional and interagency partnerships to ensure the continued stability of the Western Hemisphere and the forward defense of the U.S. homeland.

A descendent of U.S. military units dispatched to Panama in the early 20th Century, U.S. Southern Command’s history as a unified military headquarters began during World War II when U.S. planners established the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command.

During the 1950s, the command’s responsibility shifted from U.S. military missions in the Caribbean basin to operations focused, primarily, in Central and South America. In 1963, U.S. authorities gave the command its current name, U.S. Southern Command. Below is a brief overview of our history, starting with the early Caribbean Defense Command days.

Located in Panama, the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command also established military training missions in Latin America; distributed military equipment to regional partners through the Lend Lease program; and opened U.S. service schools to Latin American soldiers, sailors, and airmen. 

At the height of the war, U.S. military planners assigned 135,000 uniformed personnel to duty stations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Roughly half of those forces were under the direct control of the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command.

In 1947, U.S. strategists adopted a national security plan that transformed the wartime headquarters into the U.S. Caribbean Command.  Beyond defending the Panama Canal, it assumed broad responsibilities for inter-American security cooperation in Central and South America.  Yet during the 1950s, defense officials also removed the Caribbean basin from the U.S. Caribbean Command’s area of focus.  In the event of a global war with the communist powers, they reasoned, U.S. Atlantic Command, based in Norfolk, Va. needed the Caribbean basin to conduct hemispheric antisubmarine operations. 

By 1960, the U.S. Caribbean Command — not engaged in the Caribbean — carried a name that incorrectly described its geographic interests, Central and South America.  The John F. Kennedy administration, therefore, changed the name to U.S. Southern Command on June 11, 1963.

During the 1960s, the U.S. Southern Command mission involved defending the Panama Canal, contingency planning for Cold War activities, and the administration of the U.S. foreign military assistance program in Central and South America.  In particular, U.S. Southern Command personnel undertook civic-action projects with partner nation forces to accelerate regional development. 

Yet during the 1970s, after the Vietnam War, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended disestablishing the command to trim the U.S. military presence abroad.  For political reasons, the command narrowly survived, albeit with limited responsibilities and resources.

In the 1980s, internal conflicts in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and elsewhere rekindled U.S. military interest in Latin America.  The Ronald W. Reagan administration, in turn, revitalized U.S. Southern Command. 

When the Cold War ended, the command, like other U.S. military organizations, entered a period of dramatic change.  In rapid succession, U.S. Southern Command embraced counter-drug operations, expanded its area of geographic focus to include the Caribbean, and enhanced its capacity for humanitarian missions.  In September 1997, U.S. Southern Command moved to Miami with revised priorities, objectives, and capabilities.

The U.S. Army Garrison-Miami (USAG-M) was established as Base Operations Support-Miami in January 1997 in Miami, Florida to provide base support operations to USSOUTHCOM which was located in Panama.  USSOUTHCOM relocated in September 1997 to Miami, Florida with the implementation of the Panama Canal Treaties.  Upon the relocation of USSOUTHCOM, Base Operations Support-Miami was activated as an embedded organization assigned to United States Army South in Panama to provide vital services, programs, and quality of life for Service Members, Families and Civilians.  On 1 May 2001, BASOPS-Miami was re-designated as USAG-Miami.  In 2006, USAG-Miami transitioned to an all Civilian workforce, led by its first Garrison Manager.  In October 2010, USAG-Miami assumed control of 657,658 square feet of newly constructed real Army property.  The newly constructed facility became the new home and installation service provider for USSOUTHCOM, Marine Forces South, U.S. Army Network Enterprise Center, Logistics Readiness Center-Miami, 410^th Regional Contracting Office and 22 inter agency partners.  It is also the installations service provider for the U.S. Special Operations Command South which is located 30 miles south of Miami in the City of Homestead, Florida.

SOUTHCOM is a joint command comprised of more than 2,100 military and civilian personnel representing the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and several other federal agencies.

The U.S. Army Garrison-Miami has a civilian workforce that supports the Service and Family Members assigned to SOUTHCOM.

The Miami-Dade County, Florida population as of July 1  2022, based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates: 2,663,000 million.

The Broward County, Florida population as of April 1, 2020, based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates: 1,931,000 Million. 

The U.S. Army Garrison-Miami and U.S. Southern Command are located in Doral, Florida approximately six miles west of Miami International Airport.  Doral is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida.  One of thirty-four municipalities in the county, it is located just 6 mile from Miami International Airport and 13 miles from Downtown Miami.  The City of Doral occupies a land area of 15 square miles bordered on the west by the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, to the north by the Town of Medley, to the east by the Palmetto Expressway and to the South by the City of Sweetwater.  Doral is the premier location in South Florida to live, work, invest, learn and play.  Rated by Business Week magazine as the best city in Florida for a business startup; Forbes.com put Doral in second place among America's top 25 towns to live well in.  For additional information on the City of Doral, go to https://www.cityofdoral.com.

Directions to U.S. Southern Command Headquarters

Address:  9301 NW 33rd Street, Doral, FL 33172

Use the link to the map below to generate turn-by-turn directions to the U.S. Southern Command Headquarters.

Link to map:  https://www.google.com/maps/dir//9301+Northwest+33rd+Street,+Doral,+FL/@25.8068677,-80.4178922,12z/data=!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x88d9b95c6a111afb:0x895c5f76cacfeb6!2m2!1d-80.3476806!2d25.8068846

Distance from various locations to the U.S. Southern Command Headquarters:

• Miami International Airport - 6 miles
• Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport - 20 miles
• Downtown Miami - 9 miles
• South Beach - 13miles

There is no base transportation on the installation.  Taxicabs are not authorized to transport personnel on and off post.  Personnel using public transportation should arrive at Gate 2 (which is closest to NW 97th Avenue and 33rd Street) to gain access to the installation.

Commercial: 305-437-1000 or DSN: 312-567-1000