Louisiana native participates in Caribbean exercise Tradewinds 2017

Photo By Garrett Dipuma | Louisiana Army National Guard Pfc. Jennifer Kinney, a cook assigned to 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat team from Morgan City, Louisiana, stands ready to serve breakfast to hungry service members from the U.S., Mexico, Barbados and other nations during Exercise Tradewinds 2017 at Paragon Base in Christ Church, Barbados, June 10, 2017. Military and civilians from 20 countries are participating in this year’s exercise in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, which runs from June 6-17, 2017. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Garrett L. Dipuma)  

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS

06.10.2017

Story by Sgt. Garrett Dipuma 

241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Louisiana Army National Guard Pfc. Jennifer Kinney, a cook serving in 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Morgan City, Louisiana, is participating in Tradewinds 2017, an annual, multi-national exercise in the Caribbean Sea.

Kinney joined 2,500 other service members from 20 countries in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago from June 6-17.

“I’ve never been out of the country,” said Kinney. She said working with people of so many different cultures has been a great experience and that she has enjoyed learning the different ways that people do things.

Tradewinds, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command, headquartered in Miami, Florida, is a joint and combined exercise conducted in conjunction with partner nations to enhance the collective abilities of defense forces and constabularies to counter transnational organized crime and terrorism, and to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

During the Caribbean-focused exercise, Kinney, a 2015 graduate of Assumption High School in Napoleonville, Louisiana, trained with other service members to ensure a better response to natural disasters and land and maritime threats, including illicit trafficking in the region.

Partner nations participating in the exercise include Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago as well as military personnel from the United States, Canada, France, Mexico, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

• Date Taken: 06.10.2017
• Date Posted: 06.11.2017 11:42
• Story ID: 237270
• Location: CHRIST CHURCH, BB
• Hometown: MORGAN CITY, LA, US