Personnel from local and regional security forces received training in hostage and active shooter situations earlier today, during a simulation at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC), as part of Exercise Tradewinds 2024.
The personnel were drawn from the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Special Forces’ Maritime Special Operations Unit, The Barbados Police Service’s Tactical Response Unit, the Bahamas Defence Force, the Belize Defence Force Special Unit, and the Mexico Maritime Special Operations.
Senior Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, with responsibility for Coordinating Infrastructural Projects, Dr. William Duguid, and Director General – Infrastructure, Gabrielle Springer, played the role of VIPs on location at the LESC, while participants from the Barbados YouthADVANCE Corps played the role of protesters against military forces.
BDF’s Special Forces Track Lead for Exercise Tradewinds 2024, Sublieutenant Elvis King, shared that this particular scenario demonstrated the troops’ ability to respond to an active shooter scenario, deal with a hostage rescue situation, and intercept improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
“So, the scenario played off pretty well. The persons would have left the District ‘A’ Police Station, moving from that location to the area where the event would have actually occurred. The persons responded efficiently.
“The military forces and paramilitary forces were able to get to the area and respond to the scenario very effectively, taking out all the targets that they would have encountered at the event. They also would have come across some IEDs within the area, and they effectively carried out the exercise with minimal supervision and minimal error correcting,” Sublieutenant King stated.
The response time of the Barbados Fire Service and the Barbados Ambulance Service was also tested. Exercise Tradewinds started on May 4, and concludes on May 16.