By U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados– Louisiana Army National Guard Sgt. Renee Seruntine, a public affairs specialist and native of New Orleans, Louisiana, is participating in Tradewinds 2017, an annual, multi-national exercise in the Caribbean Sea.
Seruntine, a nine-year veteran, joined 2,500 other service members from 20 countries in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago from June 6-17 to document various types of trainings throughout the exercise.
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, Seruntine, a 1999 graduate of Archbishop Chapelle High School, photographed and interviewed members of armed forces from several nations and wrote stories of service members participating in the Tradewinds exercise, which was organized 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.