As the Royal Bahamas Defence Force continues to enforce the Commander Defence Force, Commodore Raymond King’s strategic intent to enhance responsiveness to the security environment nationally and regionally, members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force recently completed the Tradewinds Defensive Cybersecurity Exercise in St. Augustine, Florida.
Representing The Bahamas during the two-week exercise, which was conducted 12 June to 26 June, 2021, were Senior Commander Carlon Bethell, Force Chief Petty Officer Arlene Bethel, Chief Petty Officer Raquel Fowler, Able Seaman Javantae Sweeting, and Marine Seaman Clevontea Knowles. Tradewinds is a US Southern Command sponsored event, which consists of a combined ground and maritime exercise within the Caribbean Basin. It includes ground, air, sea and cyber domains, and is a joint exercise designed to develop and encourage partnership, interoperability, and joint interagency training among law enforcement officials throughout the region.
The collective cyber training event included areas of concentration in; Security and Risk Management, Asset Security, Network Enumeration, Identity and Access Management, End Point Threat Detection, and Forensics. The training was facilitated by members of the Florida National Guard, and comprised participants from The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica.
All of the participants were presented certificates for successfully completing the training in a small graduation ceremony held at the Mark Lance National Guard Armory. During this time, Marine Seaman Clevontae Knowles was recognized and awarded after placing first in the “Capture the Flag” exercise, having achieved the highest score. Able Seaman Javantae Sweeting received an award for a second-place finish.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force remains committed to developing a professional and high-performance workforce while guarding and protecting the territorial integrity of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.