Panamax 2014, an annual U.S. Southern Command-sponsored multinational exercise focused on ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal, kicks off today at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

Southcom and Marine Corps Forces South personnel based here, as well as personnel at Navy Forces South in Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida, and Air Forces Southern at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, are among the U.S. participants taking part in the exercise.