Tradewinds regional military training exercise concludes

Tradewinds 2010, an annual military training exercise that sees the participation of a host of Caribbean and Central American countries, concluded in Belize today.  Following an intense two-week series of activities, five hundred and fifteen soldiers from sixteen nations within the region today completed the course which focused primarily on the interactions of law enforcement authorities with the public.  Among the facilitators for Tradewinds 2010 was Major General Cornell Wilson Jr. of the U.S. Army.

Major General Cornell Wilson Jr., U.S. Army Southern Command

“Tradewinds 2010 was an exercise that we do—we’ve been doing it for twenty-six years now—and actually we get to work with the nations in the Caribbean against narco-trafficking, to counter illicit drugs, illicit people trafficking and a chance to work together as nations building on the skills of the individual to use techniques, units and also the country so we can all work together to solve the problem in the Caribbean Basin.”

Isani Cayetano

“What was the experience like being able to work with other military personnel from different countries in the Caribbean and the United States?”

Corporal D. Reyes, B.D.F.

Cpl. D Reyes

“Well, the experience was pretty good because we do our own training here in B.D.F. and with the other contingences, the different countries and the Us, they train a bit different from us so we have learned a lot from their training and as well they have learned from our training. In our second week we did vehicle accident, house search and how to apprehend a person that give trouble and thing. That will help us a lot when we do our police duties.”

Brigadier General Dario Tapia, B.D.F.

“Every year the focus changes so each year different areas are exercised and so different people come. So we hope that eventually many of the members of the armed forces are able to participate and also it gives us a great opportunity as military to visit other countries. So there’s great benefit to all who participate in this Tradewinds.”

Officer, Royal Bahamas Defense Force

“It’s very educational, informative. We get to interact effectively in what we do because of the different laws that we have. It’s basically about the laws and how do you carry out your duties that will be in the confines of the different laws. But it’s very informative, you get to meet a lot of different soldiers from different parts of the region.”

Closing ceremonies were held for the Green Phase of the exercise at Price Barracks, Ladyville.  Tradewinds has been carried out annually since 1984 and this year has seen the first-time participation of Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama.