Louisiana native participates in Caribbean exercise Tradewinds 2017

Photo By Garrett Dipuma | Louisiana Army National Guard Spc. Jamieon Edmonds, a cook assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat team from Gray, Louisiana, stands ready to feed hundreds of 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 personnel and civilians from 20 countries are participating in this year’s exercise in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, which runs from June 6-17. (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 (LAARNG) Spc. Jamieon Edmonds, a cook serving in C Company, 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of Morganza, Louisiana, is participating in Tradewinds 2017, an annual, multi-national exercise in the Caribbean Sea.

Edmonds, who has served in the LAARNG for over three years, joined 2,500 other service members from 20 countries in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago from June 6-17.

Edmonds said that the climate in Barbados is similar to Louisiana with one key difference; the winds here make the humidity tolerable. “I grew up in Morganza, Louisiana, which is pretty much one mile of road with no stoplight,” he said. “I’ve never seen the ocean before. I’m pretty grateful to be here.”

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, Leblanc, a 2010 graduate of H.L. Bourgeois High School in Gray, 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 12:38
• Story ID: 237277
• Location: CHRIST CHURCH, BB
• Hometown: GRAY, LA, US
• Hometown: MORGANZA, LA, US