Bahamas to host regional military training

Bahamas to host regional military training

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) will host the second leg of the largest military training exercise of its kind in the region this June.

According to a statement released by the RBDF Sunday, Tradewinds 2018 – an annual regional military training exercise – will be held in The Bahamas June 14-21 following the Phase One, which will take place in St. Kitts from June 4-12.

“This year’s exercise will focus on countering transnational organized crime in the region,” the statement read.

Some 22 partner nations from the Caribbean, the wider Americas and Western Europe will take part in the training exercises, and will be represented by more than 400 troops.

The main objective, the statement said,  is to foster training for security forces that is “tailored for the region, by the region”.

The United States Southern Command will sponsor the annual exercise this year.

Preliminary RBDF  training for the event officially got underway on Monday, with the launch of Phase Zero.

The final phase of the programme is said to consist of simulated terrorist attacks.

Tradewinds 2017 was held in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Bahamas last hosted the military exercise in 2009.