The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) will partner with Canadian forces and the US Air Force for a training exercise called ‘Exercise LEAD WING’.

It will include training opportunities involving personnel recovery, maritime and air force integration, and disaster response.

More than 300 US Airmen will deploy as the 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) to Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic to participate in the Air Forces Southern Command’s Exercise LEAD WING.

During this exercise, Airmen will partner to demonstrate how their longstanding partnership and combined forces can be used to establish and secure austere airfields and conduct contingency missions from those airfields.

This type of training enhances the response to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the Caribbean. In addition, the Operational Support Hub Latin America and the Caribbean (OSH-LAC) will be fully activated in support of the US teams on the ground, allowing the Canadian Armed Forces to validate its concept of operations through realistic deployment and employment of the facility.

“The way we show our continued support to our neighbors and partners in the Caribbean is through exercises like LEAD WING which increase our ability to integrate forces and hone our ability to respond to people in need,” said Col. Russell Cook, 23rd AEW Commander.

“We can never know when a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis will appear, but we can know, through extensive preparation and training, that the US and our international partners will be prepared to respond,” he continued.