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Missouri and Oklahoma National Guard units supported forces participating in TRADEWINDS 25, a 13-day multinational training exercise in Trinidad and Tobago hosted by U.S. Southern Command involving 26 nations.
The exercise gathered a wide array of military and law enforcement partners to hone their operational skills and increase interagency teamwork and reliability in the field.
Participants trained in ground, maritime and air operations to combat a wide variety of threats, including transnational criminal activities such as illegal drug trafficking, and also honed essential skills for warfighting, cyber defense and disaster response.
Airmen with Oklahoma’s 137th Special Operations Wing mission sustainment team played a crucial role in the seamless success of the exercise. The team is designed to support U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command forces in the field.
TRADEWINDS 25 challenged their skills at rapid maneuver and providing logistical support to AFSOC operators moving across different Caribbean islands with rough terrain and no supply infrastructure.
“Being able to operate in environments where you don’t have the logistical footprint to move resupplies in is critical,” Lt. Col. Morgan Mathis, a mission sustainment team commander, said in a news release.
“With each maneuver, we are dealing with different embassies, different security operations officers and different militaries to enable movement into those different countries,” Mathis added. “That is a big push for us this Tradewinds."
The exercised challenged the Guardsmen to conduct five maneuvers in short order and establish forward operating sites not only in Trinidad and Tobago but also Martinique, Antigua and Puerto Rico, as well as provide AFSOC with NVIS (near-vertical incidence skywave) and satellite communications.
They also enhanced their training in tactical combat casualty care, conducting cross-training with international partners and practicing critical skills in multiple hands-on scenarios.
“As we look toward the future, exercises are how our Airmen are going to learn how to do mission command and how to problem solve on the fly without oversight,” Mathis said.
Meanwhile, Soldiers from Missouri’s 935th Aviation Support Battalion were responsible for providing thousands of gallons of clean water per day for more than 1,000 participating troops and interagency partners, using specialized lightweight systems to purify water from nearly any source across different environments.
