Q&A: Brigadier General Hector E. Pagan
Written by Phil Kiver
SOTECH 2010 Volume: 8 Issue: 5 (July)
Special Operations Command South
Brigadier General Hector E. Pagan was born in Manhattan, N.Y., and was raised in Puerto Rico. He was commissioned as an infantry officer from the ROTC program at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, where he was a distinguished military student and graduate. He attended the Infantry Officers Basic Course and Ranger School in 1980, and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 51st Infantry, in Germany, as a rifle platoon leader, Company executive officer and scout platoon leader. In 1983, he attended the Infantry Officers Advanced Course and remained at Fort Benning, Ga., with the Infantry Training Group and the 29th Infantry Regiment, where he served as chief, Special Weapons Committee, operations officer, and commanded the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment from 1984 to1986.
Pagan served in Panama with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces (SF) Group (Airborne), 1988-1990, as an A-detachment commander and battalion S1. He served in Operation Just Cause and deployed to El Salvador in 1989. From 1990 to 1992, he served in SF Branch, Total Army Personnel Command as a future readiness officer and captains assignments officer. He attended the Army Command and General Staff Course and then served as the executive officer, 1st Battalion, 7th SF Group (Airborne). From 1994-1995, he served in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command as the chief, officer management, office of the deputy chief of staff for personnel.
He returned to the 7th SF Group (Airborne) in 1995, where he served as group operations officer, executive officer and deputy commander. From 1998-2000, Pagan commanded the 2nd Battalion, 1st SF Group (Airborne) at Fort Lewis, Wash. After his tour with the 1st SF Group, he was assigned to the Special Operations Command South, Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, where he served as the director of operations, J3, from 2000 to 2002.
Upon completion of the U.S. Army War College in 2003, Pagan took command of the 5th SF Group (Airborne) in Baghdad, Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom. He led the 5th SF Group (Airborne) in combat as the commander of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula for two combat tours in 2003 and 2004.
In 2005, Pagan served as the special assistant to the commander of the United States Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. In 2006, he assumed duties as the deputy director of the Operations Support Group in the Center for Special Operations in the U.S. Special Operations Command. Pagan served as the deputy commander, U.S. Army Special Operations Command in November 2006 and in May 2007 assumed duties as deputy commander, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, N.C. until July 2008. He assumed command of Special Operations Command South on July 18, 2008.
Brigadier Pagan is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course, the Army Command and General Staff Course, the Joint Forces Staff College and the Army War College. He earned a master’s degree in management from Troy State University and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Q: Good morning General Pagan. Let’s start with an overview of the organizational structure of SOCSOUTH. Do you foresee any growth in that structure or the manning levels?
A: Let me first begin by describing what SOCSOUTH is. We are a headquarters element. We are a subordinate unified command of U.S. Southern Command that serves as the functional component for special operations throughout SOUTHCOM’s theater, which includes Central America, the Caribbean and South America. SOCSOUTH is responsible for all Special Operations Forces in the theater that includes Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force Special Operations Forces. I can tell you that I have very little of what I call my own other than what I have here at SOCSOUTH headquarters and I don’t foresee drastic changes in my force structure. We have a company-sized element of the 7th Special Forces Group, along with assets from the 3rd Battalion of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. I also have a Navy Special Warfare detachment headquarters that in turn receives units from the Naval Special Warfare Command community at large. We also have assets from both military information support [MIS] and civil affairs [CA], along of course with elements of the Air Force and Marine Special Operations Commands [AFSOC and MARSOC]. The science of making all this work is orchestrating these different pieces in a way that makes the most strategic sense. Managing my forces is exciting and challenging. It can also get complicated at times.
Q: How does your command continue to shape the security environment in your AO?
A: Our AO is definitely vast. As a matter of fact, we keep a map right here in my office on the wall to remind us of the diversity of our AOR, and how much we do in the region. We manage over 80 SOF deployments per year, having conducted over 40 military to military engagements with over 20 countries. At any given day, I have over 250 deployed personnel in over 25 missions in 15 countries. Everything we do in our AO is not about doing it alone.
We help shape the security environment by working in concert with our interagency partners and working within the interagency environment where our actions are coordinated at the country team, where we support the ambassador. We support the senior State Department people who work in those embassies, do the things that are important to them to achieve their objectives. Missions can be SF A Teams executing deployments, it can be SEAL teams and Special Boat Team elements. It can be Marines from MARSOC, or AFSOC’s 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Engagements can be a subject matter exchange, seminars, civil affairs missions or any number of other activities. Not only must we conduct effective interagency coordination, more importantly, we must work together with our partner nations in order to effectively shape the security environment in a way that benefits the entire region. We shape the environment through cooperation and increasing the region’s collective security capabilities. That is why we focus on two things—build partnerships and work with our partners to increase their capacities for a more secure environment. Again, we are looking for the cumulative effect, because not one country or organization can do this alone. We must all work together in order to establish the necessary security conditions in the region.
Q: Can you talk a bit about the diversity of the geographic and demographic challenges of the AO?
A: The interesting thing is that many people look at our AOR and may think that everybody there is exactly the same. Because a large percentage of the population speaks Spanish, people here in the U.S. may think everybody is built the same way. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are very diverse cultures within these countries. You have snow-covered mountaintops in Chile, deserts in Bolivia and jungles in the Amazon, along with vast coastal areas. Our AOR encapsulates all that you can envision. I will also tell you that the SOUTHCOM area of operation is one of those places in the world where we as Americans are today most respected and our partners view us as a partner of choice. The fact still remains: We as American citizens have more similarities than differences with our Latin American neighbors. I feel that this is one area where, as a SOF operator, you can go and really see the fruits of your labor. I remember going as a young SF A Team leader to places like Bolivia and El Salvador, getting off the airplane and shaking hands with somebody, going to work right away, and building a great relationship with our counterparts. It all starts with a handshake. Latin America is still a place where the U.S. can do that, an environment where we can afford to have continuous relationships and continue to engage with partner nations in the region.
Q: There are the relatively obvious military connotations to the work SOCSOUTH performs, but what are your responsibilities in times of natural disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti? And, since mentioning Haiti, what was your command’s response in that particular instance?
A: Our response to the disaster in Haiti was rapid, diverse and vital. Our special operations forces were uniquely suited for the relief efforts because of their training, their expertise in culture, language and regional affairs. Colonel Buck Elton and his airmen from the 1st Special Operations Wing [SOW] deployed to open the airfield in Port-au-Prince. This included combat controllers to control air traffic, who from a card table and portable radio, provided instructions to over 1700 fixed wing and 800 helicopter flights. The SOW also downloaded all military and civilian aircraft arrivals. As the only organized force for the first few days, they filled in doing whatever needed to be done, whether it was part of their assigned mission or not. This included everything from pumping fuel to ground vehicles, running a medical clinic to provide meals ready to eat to a wide variety of interagency partners. Since the earthquake had damaged most of the radio and television stations in Port-au-Prince, being able to provide relief information to the people became one of our main priorities. When the earthquake struck, people did not have the means to receive vital information and therefore did not know where the help was going to come from. We had to find a way to help fill this important void.
We immediately began a mass radio distribution campaign to facilitate the radio messages being provided by Comando Solo, which is essentially a flying radio station. Our military information support teams coordinated messages to be transmitted through the aircraft on AM radio for about 10 hours each day. The messages provided relief information and guidance in Creole from Haitian officials, as well as programming from Voice of America. Although we now had the means to transmit relief information to earthquake victims, we then had to provide people the means to receive the information. We were able to do this by distributing 73,000 hand-cranked/solar-powered radios to earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince and Haitians displaced by the disaster. The radios allowed victims to receive public service announcements provided by Comando Solo, SOMS-B [Special Operations Media System - Broadcast System], and functioning PaP radio stations. The radio we distributed is a Microlink FR 160, which is a hand-cranked/solar-powered AM/FM, NOAA weather radio with a built-in flashlight. You can also imagine the usefulness of a flashlight at night, when there was practically no electricity available. The radio also contains a USB cell phone charger. During the first phase of the operation, our multifunctional teams consisting of SF, civil affairs and MIS operators, essentially became the Joint Task Force-Haiti commander’s eyes and ears outside of Port au Prince, since they provided accurate assessments on how these areas had been affected by the earthquake. Our multi-functional teams effectively interfaced with the locals and were able to relate to their specific needs. While they were forward conducting assessments, they were able to build confidence and trust between U.S. forces and the Haitian people. By mixing with the population in a non-intrusive way, our special operations teams were able to find the right people to talk to in order to fully understand the problem before developing a solution. As relief efforts transitioned from immediate response to mid- and long-term solutions, our civil affairs teams increasingly became involved in assessing specific needs throughout the country and offering recommendations based on their subject matter expertise.
Q: How has the advancement in smuggling technologies— semi-submersibles, fast boats, airborne assets, for example— impacted your mission and equipment requirement for drug interdiction?
A: Let me be clear in that my mission is not to conduct interdiction of illicit trafficking. Our partner nations carry the burden of detecting and interdicting the flow of illicit trafficking. Traffickers have developed creative ways to move their products throughout the region by using different means such as submersibles, fast boats and small planes. They use small planes to drop loads of drugs in places where they are hard to detect. In order to detect these small aircraft making their deliveries, I see the need for radars in many places. Having the required detection technology would significantly help our partners in the south spot illegal air movements. Knowing where the narcotics are going and where they are going to be dropped off will increase the chances of interdicting the flow of drugs. In order to deal with submersibles and fast boats, I see a need for our partners to increase their maritime capabilities. Although some have been buying new boats to increase their naval capability, many could benefit from the expertise provided by our Special Operations subject matter experts, and of course, this is where we come in. Our Navy and Army special operations forces help increase their maritime and land security interdiction capability through the sharing of our military knowledge, tactics and techniques. Our military to military engagements, which consist of numerous exercises and specific training events, allow us to increase their security capabilities while fostering professionalism within their military. I have also found that our military to military contacts help us generate a mutual trust, which I think is essential when you build relationships. Knowing and understanding the culture is key and essential to our success when we build partnerships.
Q: General Pagan, thank you for mentioning the significance of culture; how important is it to know the language and understand the culture of the region?
A: Understanding the culture and knowing the language is very important. As a matter of fact, it is key in everything we do. In order to understand the complex security challenges of the region, we must first understand the region, and to understand the region you must understand the culture. I believe it to be key in building bridges of cooperation and mutual trust. When I took over as the commander of SOCSOUTH, I made it a priority of mine to continue to promote military partnerships with our neighbors in the region and to help them enhance their security capabilities. I have become very good friends with many of the special operations commanders in our AOR. Knowing the language and understanding the culture has certainly helped me build a personal relationship required with my counterparts. Having good relations with my peers in the region has been critical to our engagement strategy and likewise, it is also important for my men who serve on our teams and detachments to also get to know their counterparts when they are young officers and sergeants. The very officers they train with often end up running their armies. We have members in the U.S. SOF community who have known these people for many years. The military to military engagement becomes a tool that our country uses to further relations with countries in the region, with great success, and without understanding the culture or knowing the language it really becomes almost impossible to form a personal relationship.
Q: So young men you met when you were a team captain are now running the special operations units for these countries?
A: Yes, and we keep running into these men over and over. I travel often in the Western Hemisphere, and sometimes I will meet somebody for the first time and they will ask me about a particular sergeant in the 7th SFG, or a specific A-Team captain or B-Team [SF company] commander, and I am amazed that they remember. I am also amazed that they speak of our troops so fondly as they tell me stories of things they did with them during a deployment that could have been a month or years ago. There is great value in that sort of bonding from an operational perspective. There is also value there because we need to build a common understanding so that we are not just getting to know each other for the first time when we have to work together in the future. We want to share different ways of doing things. All of these interactions and relationships help to build a more solid bond between nations.
Q: What type of technology could be usefully employed in your area of responsibility?
A: We are interested in technology that could help our partners disrupt illicit activities such as unattended ground sensors that can be left behind by a patrol to capture imagery and/or acoustic data on the movements. This type of technology would be extremely useful in helping our partner nations detect the movements of traffickers as they try to disrupt illicit activities in heavily vegetated areas. The other one I mentioned previously is radar to help our partners detect the movement of small aircraft carrying narcotics.
Q: What kind of advice can you give to the defense industry as it moves forward to develop new technologies?
A: This is another aspect that’s important to address. SOF have enjoyed numerous advances in technology, but one of the biggest complaints that come from our operators is the gear we develop must be lightweight and energy efficient. Often when we come up with a good solution, it’s too cumbersome to effectively or reasonably employ. We’re in an era of rapid-fielding, so it’s critical that the industry works toward lightweight, energy efficient versions as the initial prototypes versus a promised second generation version that can’t be built until we’ve proven the first. An example of this requirement came up in Haiti. We had multi-functional teams in the field for weeks, and having the power to operate their communication systems so they could provide timely, accurate and numerous reports back to the JTF-H commander required power solutions that required a great deal of innovation.
Q: How do you describe the partnering and degree of international security cooperation between SOCSOUTH and the countries in your AO? Is there one type of assistance that is requested more than another?
A: I like to think that we have opened some new doors with SOF units of our Latin America neighbors. For example, I would like to talk about an exercise we run called Fuerzas Comando. Fuerzas Comando is a SOUTHCOM-sponsored exercise where countries from the Western Hemisphere get together for seven days to participate in a special operations skills competition and seminar. This exercise is a success story because when we first started it in 2004, only 13 countries participated. Now the list of participating countries has grown to 19. Fuerzas Comando is really about building the brotherhood of the special operations forces within the hemisphere and provides partner nations the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities in a friendly atmosphere. The exercise also affords us the opportunity to see the results of our foreign internal defense programs, our relationship building programs, and see the level of skills that all the nations in the hemisphere have been evolving thanks to our special operations forces. This year the military exercise is being conducted in the Dominican Republic and they are doing a fine job running it. I was thoroughly impressed with the level of capability demonstrated by every participating nation. As a matter of fact, the Dominican special operations team competing in the competition did very well since they finished as one of the top performers. The level of support requested in the region really varies from place to place. In some places, it can be as small as a subject matter exchange, which might take just two or three men.
In other places, it can be a SF B-Team with multiple ODAs under its command. We can also have helicopters, MIS personnel or CA elements, in other locations. The request might range from humanitarian support to naval operations or advanced infantry training.
Q: Does SOCSOUTH sponsor or host regional conferences or briefing aimed at looking at common threats and solutions throughout the hemisphere?
A: Yes, we actually sponsor a couple. One of them is the Distinguished Visitors Program, which is one of the main components of the military exercise Fuerzas Comando. During this senior leader seminar, each participating nation sends a commander and senior level representative involved in making counterterrorism decisions and policy-making. The seminar allows participants to collaborate and discuss how to deal with common threats such as illicit trafficking. Gatherings of partner nations such as this one allow us to share information, and in the end they improve regional cooperation. Another yearly conference we started brings together our partners from Central America and the Caribbean. Last year was the first one we had ever hosted, and the theme of the conference was “Combating Illicit Transnational Activities and Creating Cooperative Solutions.” Last year we had over 16 different countries throughout the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico. This year we hope to have more countries participate. Throughout the weeklong conference, each representative is given the opportunity to discuss common threats affecting their country, such as narco-trafficking and gang violence. Our regional conferences are really about bringing regional partners together to discuss and share information on common threats so that we can better combat illicit activities. These regional conferences are really the first step in identifying the problem. Together we are able to identify the common threads that bind us together, which highlight how we can help each other against an enemy that is growing in power, influence and brutality. I believe that by working together with nations in the region we can create cooperative solutions. We hope that our partners continue to share information and they continue to reach out to us and other regional partners for assistance, so that we can maximize resources and efforts to fight the common threat of illicit trafficking.
Q: Any closing thoughts, General?
A: I have spent the last 20 years training to do this job. I was in SOCSOUTH as an augmentee when I was a SF captain. Years later, I returned as the operations officer when SOCSOUTH was in Puerto Rico. Returning to command SOCSOUTH is truly a dream come true. Sometimes in life, people search for what they want to do and what they want to be. I am very fortunate because I am doing exactly what I want to do and I am doing it where I want to do it. I feel that this is the job for me. I am happy with the way things have turned out. I am also very appreciative of the forces that the force providers lend me to conduct my mission. These “quiet professionals” are continuing to focus our nation’s efforts in a vital theater close to home. The sacrifices they and their families make to help build the capacities of our partners and build the relationships that will last a lifetime to support our mutual interests is very inspiring. ♦