NASSAU, Bahamas – U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Lt. Benjamin Yahle, a Dayton, Ohio native and commanding officer of USCG Cutter Charles David Jr., is participating in Tradewinds 2018 – a joint and multinational military exercise that takes place annually in the Caribbean.
The 2007 graduate of Bellbrook High School and alumnus of the USCG Academy is a seven-year veteran of the armed forces. He is joined by 1,700 military and civilian personnel from 21 partner nations in the Bahamas and St. Kitts and Nevis from June 4-21.
Tradewinds, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command, is an annual joint, multinational and interagency training exercise conducted in conjunction with partner nations to increase regional cooperation in complex multinational security operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.
During the Caribbean-focused exercise, Yahle is training with other servicemembers to ensure a better response to natural disasters and land and maritime threats, including illicit trafficking in the region.
Nations participating in the exercise include Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and the United States.