After 12 days of training, sweat, and hard work, the 2007 Trade Winds Exercise closes tomorrow. 500 soldiers from the Caribbean descended on Belize and another 400 U.S. military personnel joined them. It was a major exercise and today some distinguished guests got the grand tour. Our team was there.
Keith SwiftReporting,
This morning Army Generals and Secretaries of Defense from the 14 Caribbean countries got a first hand view at the work their soldiers and other security personnel have been doing over the last 12 days. And they've done just about everything - martial arts, non-lethal weapon combat, crowd control, even fixing boat engines and this real life simulation of a riot.
The 12 days of training pushed these soldiers to the edge but they all met the challenge and all agree they'll leave Price Barracks as better soldiers. That includes is 21-year-old Firagh Cerson who is a private in the Suriname Army. He is following in the footsteps of his father who was also a soldier.
Pvt. Firagh Cerson, Suriname
"Its been going very good only the sun is bit different than home but we are soldiers and so we have to work and train in the sun and so now I love
the training."
Keith Swift,
Will this make you a better soldier?
Pvt. Firagh Cerson,
"Well from my point of view, yes because I know of these things but the training is helping me to gain more experience so I would say I've become 20% much better."
Sadkhi Phipps serves on the St. Kitt's and Nevis Police Force as constable.
Sadkhi Phipps, St. Kitts and Nevis
"What are learning right now is safety first to carry out our duties when we go back home. I am trying to take in as much as I can."
Keith Swift,
How was the training?
Sadkhi Phipps,
"If you put your mind to it, it can be easy and if you don't it can be very hard."
Keith Swift,
What is the one thing you'll leave here with?
Sadkhi Phipps,
"How to defend myself."
Lance Corporal Michael Newland is from the Guyana Police Force and 23-year-old second lieutenant Richard Jaggon is from the Jamaica Defense Force. Jaggon has only been on the force for 18 months while Newland is a 7 year veteran.
L/Cpl. Michael Newland, Guyana Police Force
"It was a lot of exposure and we learnt the basic things about other countries from different contingents, their military skills."
2nd Lt. Richard Jaggon, Jamaican Defense Force
"It has been awesome. We've been introduced to a number of new things and we're just eager to go home and implement them."
Keith Swift,
So you're ready to go home?
2nd Lt. Richard Jaggon,
"Well we experiencing Belize and it's a wonderful country and so on but I think everybody is a bit homesick."
Keith Swift,
Will you leave here a better soldier?
2nd Lt. Richard Jaggon,
"I think so. Every time you learn new skills, you automatically become better."
And while Newland and Jaggon are military personnel, Belizean police officers from the ADU and personnel from the Port Authority participating.
Logistically - the exercise was elaborate as the U.S. army trucked in its own self-contained mobile kitchen and laundromat enough to feed all one thousand participants. And while that's logistics, strategically, Deputy Commander of
the U.S. Army Southern Command General Glen Spears and the BDF's General Lloyd Gillett say it's important.
Gen. Glen Spears,
"Trade Winds provides the opportunity for the United States and our partner countries throughout the Caribbean to experience this very valuable humanitarian assistance disaster relief and other cooperative training so that together the sixteen nations who are represented in this particular exercise can all improve our abilities to provide for the security of our nations and the security of this region."
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett,
"Trade Winds is a very important exercise for the Caribbean because it brings all the countries together. We learn to work together."
Gen. Glen Spears,
"Its vitally important that we continue to work together and the United States is committed to working with our partners throughout the Caribbean to improve their abilities."
And that is the hope of Trade Winds - that what these soldiers learn her eon the football field will them if and when they enter the battlefield. Reporting for 7NEWS I am Keith Swift.
Trade Winds officially closes tomorrow afternoon. The exercise was filly funded by the U.S. government.
