The Guyana Defence Force is participating in the annual “Tradewinds” exercise, which is due to begin today in St. Kitts and Nevis, the army announced yesterday.
According to a GDF statement, the army flagship, the GDFS Essequibo, manned by four Officers and 36 Other Ranks from the Coast Guard and 3 Other Ranks as supporting staff drawn from across the force, left to participate exclusively in the maritime phase of the exercise.
Tradewinds is a United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM)-sponsored training exercise and has maritime and land operations phases.
The maritime phase is scheduled to be held in St Kitts Nevis from today until June 9th.
Commanding Officer of the vessel, Lieutenant (Coast Guard) Adrian McLean was quoted in the statement as saying that ranks will be exposed to several aspects of training during the period.
The aim of the exercise is to help Caribbean nations to be better able to counter land and maritime security threats, such as human smuggling and trafficking in illegal weapons and ammunition.
