PORT ROYAL, Jamaica -- Instructors from the U.S. Coast Guard’s International Training Division are leading a course on maritime law enforcement for representatives from 12 partner nations at the Jamaican Defense Forces base here.
The 26th annual Tradewinds exercise is being held in Port Royal, Jamaica, from April 12-24. Tradewinds is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored annual exercise that brings together partner nations to focus on Maritime Interdiction Operations and Command and Control. The nations that are participating in this exercise are Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and the United States.
Tradewinds is broken down into two phases. The blue phase, which focuses on maritime operations, is being conducted in Jamaica. The green phase, which focuses on infantry operations, is being held in Belize. One of the many U.S. agencies participating in the blue phase is the Coast Guard’s International Training Division from Yorktown, Va.
Members of the International Training Division (ITD) are subject matter experts in the Coast Guard’s maritime law enforcement mission. They deploy throughout the world to provide training on U.S. Coast Guard policies and procedures. ITD was selected for Tradewinds to train partner nations on field operations.
ITD is training partner nations in a variety of maritime law enforcement missions including use of force, boarding procedures, defensive tactics, smuggling trends and drug identification.
However, Tradewinds has been a little different than the team’s typical international deployment.
“Usually, we are working with only one country and we present U.S. tactics for them to incorporate into their policies to confront specific threats they face,” says Coast Guard Lt.j.g. Michael Liljegran. “Our purpose at Tradewinds is to provide training in a number of areas that will assist all of the countries in confronting threats throughout the region.”
Another difference between the training being conducted at Tradewinds is that there is more involvement from the partner nations. Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Meuse describes how “in Jamaica, our mission is not to teach but rather to explain our practices and then to facilitate discussion among the rest of the foreign officials.” After each lesson, the floor is open for representatives of each country to ask questions and discuss their policies. This is also an opportunity for them to exchange personal experiences.
The U.S. Coast Guard is only one of many agencies that are conducting training at Tradewinds. As representatives of each country continue to work together, ITD is at the forefront, providing training, exchanging practices and developing international relationships.