Photo By 2nd Lt. Dillon Davis | COATEPEQUE, Guatemala – Trinidad and Tobago soldiers stand for a portrait June 13,...... read more read more
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SAN MARCOS, Guatemala – An eight member team home stationed more than 1,900 miles away has been an integral part of Task Force Red Wolf from day number one of Exercise BEYOND THE HORIZON 2016 GUATEMALA.
Service members from Trinidad and Tobago arrived April 2, 2016 and dove into the deep end of operations however, as this was the first exercise of this nature that Trinidad and Tobago had participated in swimming wasn’t easy.
“There were a few obstacles we need to overcome,” Trinidad and Tobago Maj. Sheldon Dougan, The Regimental Staff Officer for Operations and Intelligence at the Regimental Headquarters. “First and foremost was the culture shock, Americans do things differently than we do but it didn’t stop there. We also needed to work with the Guatemalan army and they do things differently than the Americans. However, there is no better teacher then experience and we adapted and overcame this obstacle rather quickly.”
The second hurdle that needed to be jumped was the environmental differences. TFRW has two forward operating bases; one is on a mountain and is cool the majority of the time. The other is at a much lower elevation and is typically 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer.
“We split our team between the two FOBs,” said Dougan. “It didn’t matter where we were at, it was either to cold or to humid but like I said before ‘there is no better teacher then experience and we adapted and overcame this obstacle rather quickly.’ We received a lot of support and guidance form the task force to overcome these challenges but once we did, we kicked it into overdrive and never looked back.”
The team immersed themselves in as many segments of the exercise as possible with specific focus in: food service, logistics, operations, and engineering. There was no stopping the team’s almost insatiable thirst for knowledge and experience.
“We watched what the task force service members carefully,” said Dougan. “We went out on as many missions as possible to work alongside the Soldiers, learning from them and taking notes. We also tried to spend as much time as possible at each duty section, they were all far game and we were here to learn. It was a rush!”
Interpersonal conflict management was another aspect of the exercise that the team also paid close attention too.
“We watched and learned that everyone has an effect on operations and mission success,” said Dougan. “We got to see different ways to deal with personality conflicts. This was important, because this happens in all services in every country.”
Moreover, one aspect of BTH 2016-Guatemala was very rewarding for a Trinidad and Tobago member.
“Well for me I assisted with the coordination and running of security for the medical readiness exercise and training sites,” said Trinidad and Tobago Staff Sgt. Joel Allen, 1st Battalion Sgt. Maj. “We were in charge of the personal security for more than 19,000 Guatemalans and several hundred U.S., Chilean and Canadian service members. This was most educational for me, I know that my fellow service members had their own experiences and they will bring these lessons back home and teach our security force.”
During their 70-day stay here in Guatemala, there was one aspect of the exercise that will stay with Dougan for some time to come and will be at the forefront of his report to his leadership.
“It was great to be able to be a part of the exercise instead of just sitting back and watching,” said Dougan. “We are going to take all this information back and add it to our standard operating procedures to help make are military better and more efficient. I’m speaking for my entire team when I say, this was a great experience and I hope we get invited back.”
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2016 12:04 |
| Story ID: | 200875 |
| Location: | GT |
| Web Views: | 252 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Exercise BEYOND THE HORIZON 2016 GUATEMALA, cradle of experience and knowledge for Trinidad and Tobago team, by TSgt Phillip Butterfield, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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