By Petty Officer 1st Class Melissa Russell
Navy Reserve – Navy Public Affairs Support Element West
From dvids

NASSAU, Bahamas – U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Cody Shumaker, a Slidell, Louisiana native assigned to USCG Cutter Charles David Jr., is participating in Tradewinds 2018 – a joint and multinational military exercise that takes place annually in the Caribbean.

The 2004 graduate of Salmen High School and alumnus of Pearl River Community College is an eight-year veteran of the armed forces. He is joined by 1,700 military and civilian personnel from 21 partner nations in the Bahamas and St. Kitts and Nevis from June 4-21.

Tradewinds, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command, is an annual joint, multinational and interagency training exercise conducted in conjunction with partner nations to increase regional cooperation in complex multinational security operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.

During the Caribbean-focused exercise, Shumaker is training with other servicemembers to ensure a better response to natural disasters and land and maritime threats, including illicit trafficking in the region.

Nations participating in the exercise include Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and the United States.

IMAGE:
U.S. Coast Guardsmen Work During Tradewinds 2018
Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Melissa Russell | 180613-N-RG360-0114 NASSAU, Bahamas (June 13, 2018)

For more on this story go to: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/281260/slidell-native-participates-us-caribbean-military-exercise