Four hundred troops from various Caribbean countries are expected to put their military training to the test as the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) plans to host “the largest military training exercise of its kind”.
Tradewinds 2018 is an annual military training exercise scheduled to be held in The Bahamas from June 14th– 21st.
The highly regarded event’s main objective seeks to foster training for security forces “tailored for the region by the region”.
The exercise, sponsored by the United States Southern Command, will consist of 22 partner nations from the Caribbean region, The Americas, and Western Europe.
Phase one of the Tradewinds exercise kicks off in St. Kitts and Nevis beginning June 3rd -13th.
This preliminary training prepares forces for the final training and implementation phase in The Bahamas.
The final phase begins on June 14th– 21st and consists of simulated terrorist attacks on the island of New Providence.
During the training exercise, a military presence comprising of land and sea will be visible in New Providence.
Phase Zero of the training commences on May 28th and will include troops working with dive teams, Caribbean task forces, headquarters, intelligence, cyber and explosive ordinance disposal teams.
The training is to prepare troops for phases one and two of the exercise.
Tradewinds 2017 was held in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago from June 6th to 17th.
The Bahamas last hosted Tradewinds in 2009.
