The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis will be host to military and police personnel from thirteen (13) CARICOM member states and also military personnel from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic who will be here to participate in the first Phase of Exercise Tradewinds 2015.
Exercise Tradewinds 2015 (EXTW15) is a United States Southern Command (USSOTHCOM) sponsored training exercise held annually in the Caribbean. The exercise is conducted in two main phases. Phase I which is maritime focused will be conducted on St Kitts from 30 May- 9 June 2015 and Phase II which is the land operations orientated will be held in Belize from 14 – 24 June 2015.
The aim of Exercise Tradewinds is to help Caribbean nations to be better able to counter land and maritime security threats such as human smuggling and the trafficking in illegal weapons and ammunition. Phase I of the Exercise also has a Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response (HA/DR) component, designed to help participating states to effectively carryout HA/DR activities if the occasion arises.
The St Kitts Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) is the local lead entity and is collaborating with the Royal St Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) along with the Regional Security System (RSS) to set objectives. A local Steering Committee has been established and is headed by Major Anthony Comrie of the SKNDF. The steering committee has held a number of meetings to discuss the national objects, projections and anticipated outcomes relating to the Exercise. Ppersonnel from the USSOUTHCOM will fly into St. Kitts for EXTW Final Planning Conferences which will be held from 31 March to 02 April 2015, to finalize agendas and exercise sequences.
A press conference will be held at Camp Springfield Conference Room on at 1000 hours (10 AM) on 07 April 2015 to sensitize the public on EXTW15. All key stake holders will be present to answer question and clarify any issues that may arise. Media houses of the Federation are kindly asked to view this media release as an invitation to the press conference. An acknowledgement of receipt and indication of interest to participate will be greatly appreciated.