Coast Guard members from the U.S., Belize, Guyana and Jamaica review simulated confiscated evidence obtained in a boat search during a maritime interdiction exercise. Photo by U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Cheryl Collins “The maritime team is constantly exceeding expectations while working in such a dynamic operating environment,” said Owens. “Each host nation presents unique challenges to overcome, and sharing their expertise and their experiences makes us all stronger, across that partnership.” Capt. Matthew Wadleigh, the commanding officer of CGRU SOUTHCOM, said, “The work that goes into being a component lead[er] and team member for this exercise far exceeds the traditional expectations of a Reserve member, and these members continue to succeed in this effort.” TRADEWINDS 2021 The event kicked off June 12 in Georgetown, Guyana, and the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, reiterated the importance of the international community coming together to strengthen partnerships. “The overall objective from all of us who participated here is to ensure we build an international coalition to ensure the peace and stability of this region, to ensure the security, and to ensure this region never becomes a safe haven for transnational crime,” said Ali. This year’s event proved to be challenging from the start. Constituents from Guyana, the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, France, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the U.S. began planning the complex joint exercise amidst a global health crisis. COVID-19 forced SOUTHCOM to the web through a succession of virtual conferences vice the traditional in- person meetings. (The event consists of five stages, with three large planning conferences and numerous smaller meetings through the year.) The original host of Tradewinds 2021 was Barbados, but with numerous hard decision points for planners to meet and decisions to be made, Barbados was unable to commit to the exercise due to COVID-19 restrictions. Planners feared the 14 RESERVIST � Issue 3 • 2021 exercise was in jeopardy of being cancelled for a second year in a row. Guyana, the country that would have hosted Tradewinds 2020, graciously offered to host 2021’s exercise, and planning quickly resumed. Additionally, numerous islands in the CARICOM assisted with the response to the April volcanic eruption in St. Vincent that crippled the small island. As planned, numerous islands in CARICOM rushed to assist with the response and recovery; unfortunately these countries were not able to participate in Tradewinds 2021. The training saw over 1,200 participants, countless hours of joint training, and a culminating multiday air, sea, and land joint exercise. With Guyana’s diverse demographic and environment, the exercise was spread out over a large portion of the northwest section of the country. The land component operated out of Base Camp Stevenson and Seweyo, where they focused on primarily jungle combat operations, weapons familiarization, and civil disturbance operations. The maritime component was located on the Demerara River and offshore in the Caribbean Sea. Within the maritime component, there were multiple disciplines, or tracks. • COMMAND AND CONTROL (C2) – Students began with basic communications and developed into advanced watch standing and understanding their relationship with the command cadre of the Maritime Component and the Caribbean Joint Task Force. With three nations represented, each student was able to act as a mentor to each other and gain from each other's experience. The classroom lessons led to an exemplary performance in the culminating exercise that integrated all tracks. • TACTICAL TRACK – The tactical track focused on small boat operations and law enforcement tactics and techniques. This year it included a team of prosecutors who were able
