Haiti participated in the multinational exercise inter-army Tradewinds 2014 (Phase I) with representatives from 17 partner countries and the United States from 1 to 10 June in Antigua and Phase II with 13 countries from June 16 et 25, 2014.

During this training, under the Southern Command of the Armed Forces of the United States (U.S. / SOUTHCOM) in collaboration with the Coast Guard of the United States and other organizations, Tradewinds 2014 focused on strengthening regional cooperation to counter illicit trafficking and to strengthen the capacity of countries to plan and execute complex multinational security operations.

On 22 June, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted training with the Dominican Republic’s Navy and Haiti’s National Police Force aboard the USS Richard Etheridge, June 22, 2014. The training focused on ensuring the partner nations were familiar with the M2 Heavy Barrel Browning .50-caliber machine gun, similar to the weapons aboard each nation’s respective ships.

For many participants, this was the first time they had the opportunity to shoot with this weapon used against Transnational Organized Crime. During this exercise, each nation took turns gearing up and firing the .50-caliber weapon at a large, floating reflective target provided by the Royal Canadian Navy.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Mike Mulrooney, the gunner’s mate aboard the Cutter Etheridge, believes that "the relationships have been great, and very effective [...]It’s great to see partner nations come together for a common objective."

Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Gray, the operational planner for the Coast Guard declared "It seems like the partner nations are really enjoying the training [...] We’re not here to tell them how to do things, we’re here to show them ‘this is what works for us,’ and we’re learning from them as well. This is certainly a two-way partnership."

Thumbnail :A member of the Haitian National Police fires a .50-caliber machine gun

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11270-haiti-security-haiti-take-part-in-the-multinational-exercise-tradewinds-2014.html

TB/ HaitiLibre