Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has showered immense praise on the organisers, team leaders, lead planners and participants for making Exercise Tradewinds 24 in Barbados the best one yet.
At the closing ceremony, held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre today, Thursday, May 16, 2024, she called for three loud cheers for all participants from the over 20 nations included in the Exercise.
What I loved the most about TW24 was the collaboration and integration in this year’s exercise
Singling out some of the leaders, the US and the Barbados Defense Force (BDF), and to all those who had the responsibility of organising “this very successful event… I would like to add my own words of congratulations to Commander [Mark] Peterson, our very own, and to Coronel [Chip] Karels… from all reports, the combined efforts of the two of you have resulted in what has been described as this most successful of all Tradewinds.”
US Ambassador Roger F. Nyhus, who is very proud of his Native American heritage shared a token of his appreciation with four of the lead planners in the form of a special commemorative coin. He distributed them to US Army South Rosie Sandoval – Army South Co-lead and Lead Planner, US Army South Coronel Charles ‘Chip’ Karels – Training and Exercises Co-lead, US Southern Command Major Angela Valcin and Barbados Defense Force Commander Mark Peterson – Barbados Exercise Co-lead.
you make it look easy for us civilians but we know how difficult it is and we know the sacrifices
Ambassador Nyhus said:
“It was incredible! It was a multination force. It was training for everybody and we had some of the best trainers in the world that were participating in [this] Exercise.
“I would say, I have been so impressed with the people I met. I met the canine. And [I met] the team from Mexico. I met teams from Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, all of our lovely friends and allies. It was really, just very heartening to see the cooperation in our hemisphere…”
He ordered custom challenge coins with his Native American tribe – Chinook Indian Nation on one half and the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados on the other. He shared the coins with “each of our co-leads and each of our leaders that made this possible.”
Nyhus thanked Prime Minister Mottley “for making this happen.”
To the troops, he added, “This is real work and all of you make it look easy for us civilians but we know how difficult it is and we know the sacrifices you make, so I just want to say, on behalf of President Biden, thank you very much.”
On the sidelines after receiving her challenge coin, Chatting with Loop News, Sandoval – Army South Co-lead, shared what she most loved about this Exercise in Barbados over the last couple of weeks. “What I loved the most about TW24 was the collaboration and integration in this year’s exercise. I equally loved how the Barbados Community was involved with TW24,” she said.
