US and Canadaian soldiers train Caribbean troops in Exercise Tradewinds 2014

The US Marine Corps’ (USMC) 4th Law Enforcement Battalion and the Canadian Army have participated in the joint, combined exercise- Exercise Tradewinds 2014, aimed at supporting interoperability and multinational relationships all through the Caribbean theatre.

The ongoing exercise, which will conclude on 24 June, would assist, troops from the US and Canada as well as the military units from 13 different Caribbean nations, in building partner nation counter-transnational organised crime missions, humanitarian aid and disaster response operations capacity.

Marine Forces Reserve Force Headquarters Group 4th Law Enforcement Battalion C Company captain Nicholas Swaggart said that the law enforcement and security training is for both the trainers, who hail from the US and Canada as well as the military units from 13 different Caribbean nations.

"This is a ‘train-the-trainer’ course, so both the U.S. and the partner nations are training each other," said Swaggart.

"That way, everyone benefits from learning which tactics work well and which ones do not."

The trainers, who are the Marines from 4th LE Bn. and Canadian soldiers, have to experience new challenges and new opportunities all through the evolution.

As part of the exercise, the USMC and Canadian troops have trained Caribbean soldiers and law enforcement in urban tactics training, entailing interior close-quarters battles and room clearing.

On completion of the training session, Caribbean nations would be able to securely clear rooms, de-escalate dangerous situations as well as secure crime scenes.

Royal Canadian Army 37th Combat Engineer Regiment warrant officer Curtis McGinnis said that it helps all of the different nations work together so if there is any type of urban operations that they have to do together, they will all be on the same page.

"The exercise benefits the trainers, just the fact that we get to work with U.S. Marines as well as the Caribbean countries and establish esprit de corps.

"Every time you train with a foreign partner nation, you help to break down those cultural and language barriers, which helps everyone to understand each other’s point of view," Swaggart added.

As part of the MARFORSOUTH’s mission, both Marine Forces South and MARFORRES take part in Exercise Tradewinds every year in a bid to stabilise the Caribbean theatre, as partner nations combat drug, weapon and human trafficking.

Further, such exercises would also enable training militaries and law enforcement in better crisis response to natural disasters.

Image: Dominican Republic Armed Forces’ Private First Class (PFC) Mateo Fernandez during Exercise Tradewinds 2014 at Base Naval de Las Calderas, Dominican Republic. Photo: Courtesy of Corporal Tiffany Edwards.

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