Several dozen personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Chile and their families met with 433rd Airlift Wing Citizen Airmen participating in Exercise Southern Star ‘25 during a C-5M Super Galaxy tour at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, May 31, 2025. The tour and familiarization allowed embassy personnel who’ve been supporting Southern Star ‘25 to learn more about the exercise and some of the U.S. Air Force assets supporting it. For Alamo Wing Citizen Airmen, it was an opportunity to learn about some of the diverse support needed to make an exercise like Southern Star possible.

“This is tremendous,” said Rick Yoneoka, Chargé d'affaires, a.i. for the U.S. Embassy in Chile. “It’s a great opportunity to get people out of the office. They've been working on all the details to make this happen and it’s rewarding to give people this chance to see their efforts pay off.”

Southern Star ‘25 is a multinational special operations exercise taking place across Chile from May 26 to June 8, uniting forces from six nations and 10 observing countries, totaling over 2700 participants to enhance interoperability and strengthen global SOF partnerships through joint training from as far north as Antofagasta to the southern region of Punta Arenas.

(U.S. Air Force photos by Julian Hernandez)