Tradewinds Exercise Begins in Bahamas

By Marine Corps Staff Sgt. A.C. Mink, Special to American Forces Press Service

NASSAU, Bahamas - More than 400 U.S. servicemembers, as well as security forces and officials from the Caribbean nation and British Royal Marines, were on hand here yesterday for the opening ceremonies of the 25th annual Tradewinds exercise.
"This exercise is yet another demonstration of the U.S. government's commitment to the peace and security of the Bahamas, the Caribbean region and the Western Hemisphere through a continuous program of cooperation among all partner nations," Timothy Zuniga-Brown, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas, said in his opening remarks.

Tradewinds is a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed, U.S. Southern Command-sponsored annual exercise designed to improve cooperation and interoperability of partner nations in responding to regional security threats.

"The Tradewinds exercise, now in its 25th year, has established itself as an essential and dynamic collaborative framework for improving cooperation and interoperability among participating countries to confront head-on [the] grave security challenges in the Caribbean region," Bahamas National Security Minister O.A. "Tommy" Turnquest said.

Turnquest thanked the U.S. government and Southcom for their support through the Tradewinds exercise series and the Enduring Friendship program, through which the nation received four interceptor vessels to help its own security efforts.

The program provides high-speed interceptor boats with extensive communication and surveillance suites, as well as a command, control and communication package that links U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South with partner nations' operations centers to track and coordinate seizure of illicit maritime traffic.

"The focus of this year's activities on maritime interdiction is critical and timely, and is in line with our determination that every effort should be made to prevent a significant upsurge in drug trafficking in the Caribbean region," Turnquest said.

Marine Corps Lt. Col. Trent Blackson of Marine Corps Forces South, the exercise director, emphasized the effect of the cooperative effort.

"Exercise Tradewinds 2009 provides an excellent opportunity for our forces to train together to counter the illicit trafficking threat," he said. "We have brought together a team of experts with wide-ranging skill sets to improve our collective capability across the Caribbean Basin to stop the flow of illegal narcotics, weapons, explosives, terrorists and human trafficking."

Given those issues affecting maritime traffic, as well as the area's vulnerability to natural disasters such as hurricanes, Turnquest said he is "pleased with the focus on search-and-rescue operations, with emphasis on command and control," and that he's "convinced the training will provide invaluable expertise and experience for all participants."

Nations participating in Tradewinds 2009 include Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, St. Kitts-Neves, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In addition to servicemembers from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force and the National Guard, U.S. participation includes members of Joint Interagency Task Force South, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Partner nations' maritime security forces, Royal Marine commandos and personnel from the Caribbean Regional Security System also will participate.

(Marine Corps Staff Sgt. A.C. Mink is deployed to Tradewinds 2009 from Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.)

Multinational Exercise to Test Interoperability in Caribbean

By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service

An initiative aimed at boosting capacity among Central and South American security forces will get put to the test next week when 18 countries come together for a national security exercise in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

The United States and Great Britain will join 16 Caribbean countries during the 25th annual Tradewinds exercise that kicks off March 4 and runs through March 18.

Marine Corps Forces South will take the lead in the U.S. Southern Command-sponsored exercise focused on maritime interdiction and search-and-rescue operations with an emphasis on command and control.

Representatives of every military service, the Coast Guard, Joint Interagency Task Force South and the Drug Enforcement Agency will be among about 500 participants in Tradewinds 2009.

During the exercise, they'll conduct boarding party operations training, evidence processing and hazardous material identification and handling during realistic scenarios in Nassau and the Dominican Republic, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. David Hercher of Marine Corps Forces South said.

As the participants rehearse critical skills, they'll also help Southcom assess the effectiveness of its Enduring Friendship program. The program provides select partner nations with high-speed interceptor boats with extensive communication and surveillance capabilities, operation and maintenance training, and command and control systems, Southcom spokesman Jose Ruiz said.

By providing a common operating picture and improving maritime domain awareness and interoperability, the program builds or improves partner nations' ability to detect and interdict illicit trafficking along their shores.

The Tradewinds exercise will offer one of the first opportunities for Enduring Friendship program participants to exercise the standardized equipment and training offered through the program, Ruiz said.

"The goals of Tradewinds 2009 are to better coordinate partner nations' search-and-rescue and maritime interdiction operations, increase maritime domain awareness, and better coordinate end-game seizure of illicit-trafficking vessels that can be used to smuggle terrorists, weapons, explosives or narcotics," said Marine Corps Maj. Landon Hutchens, exercise coordinator for U.S. Marine Corps Forces South.

"The U.S. and the Caribbean share common interests, and regional challenges require cooperative solutions," Hutchens said. "Illicit trafficking is a threat faced by all nations in the region. We are all committed to building lasting partnerships that will enhance our ability to work effectively together."

In addition to the United States and Great Britain, participants in the exercise are the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, St. Kitts-Neves, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad-Tobago.