BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis - U.S. forces, along with more than 20 Caribbean partner nations, are in St. Kitts taking part in exercise Tradewinds 2018 June 4-13, to enhance regional security and disaster response capabilities.
Part of the training conducted is close quarters battle drills and entry control point techniques designed to ensure partner nations can work together if called upon for assistance during an emergency.
“It’s good being able to see all these nations here at once being able to work with each other,” said Marine Staff Sgt. James W. Warren, a military police officer originally from Laurens, New York, who serves with the 2nd Law enforcement Battalion from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
“It’s more for the different countries to get together so we can be on one page,” said Gerald Forbes, a constable with the Grenada Special Services unit. “We might all have a different way of doing things but when we come to St. Kitts, Dominica, whatever country, we can adapt.”
The Marines are assisting with the training by learning how the various partner nations operate and sharing with them their training and experience.
Warren is passing on his nearly 11 years of experience as a military police officer who served on a police advisory team in Afghanistan. He describes his role as helping to fine-tuned tactics and gives the participating nations another method to do things.
“There were some quirks that we kind of had to work out,” said Warren. “They obviously have already seen this and they already know how to do it.”
“There is always room for improvement,” said Forbes. “We might see different styles, different techniques, and we could add it to our abilities.”
Warren intends that the partner nations will take the experience shared with them home to their units, just as he intends that his fellow Marines will use the experience to teach Marines at home.
“They are bringing their best out and we are going to help them learn,” said Warren. “They’re going to take that back to their home countries to teach their junior Marines, junior soldiers and sailors.”
“Its good training to have our younger guys out here with them to get the experience and bring that back to our junior Marines,” said Warren.
The experiences shared and relationships forged here during phase one of Tradewinds 2018 is the driving force behind the exercise.
“That’s basically what I think that most of this is about, said Warren. “All the good training, and at the same time building good relationships with these partner countries.