Overview

• Sustainment teams reported providing roughly 300 to 500 meals per site daily and processing 15 to 20 bags of laundry per rotation to keep units on tempo.
• U.S. Air Force communicators kept command posts linked across four sites using the zipper, VO‑SIP, satellite dishes and Starlink to bridge diverse systems.
• Frigid temperatures, snow, steep terrain and proximity to Antuco Volcano degraded radio links, prompting antenna adjustments, frequency changes and weather waits.
• More than 600 personnel from the United States and Chile trained in high-altitude conditions, with participation from Argentina and Peru to expand combined readiness.
• Exercise Southern Vanguard 25 runs Aug. 11–29 in Antuco, with interpreters and shared sustainment work fostering close bonds across U.S. and Chilean teams at Rayenco, La Cortina and Los Barros.