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HomeNewsArchivesCARIBBEAN EXERCISE WRAPS UP CALLWOOD'S CAREER

CARIBBEAN EXERCISE WRAPS UP CALLWOOD'S CAREER

June 3, 2003 — U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Austin F. Callwood, a St. Thomas native and 1974 graduate of Sts. Peter and Paul High School, is going to wrap up his Coast Guard career at a ceremony and reception honoring him in Portsmouth, Va., on June 20.
Since 1999, Cmdr. Callwood has been the Coast Guard executive agent for U.S Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) directing exercise "Tradewinds" annually in the Caribbean, and he completed leading this year's exercise in April and May, a fitting finale to his extensive Coast Guard activity.
Cmdr. Callwood is currently the Coast Guard Atlantic Area International Operations Section Chief. Based out of Portsmouth, he is responsible for Coast Guard international engagement in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean.
Tradewinds is a USSOUTHCOM-sponsored exercise in cooperation with the nations of the Caribbean, designed to improve coordination and interoperability of the international partners in the Caribbean Basin to respond to natural or man-made disasters (hurricane, earthquakes, terrorism) or transnational threats (drug and arms smuggling, and illegal migration) that may affect the region.
This annual joint "foreign military interaction," or multinational, exercise is conducted with other militaries, Coast Guards, Police, and Defense Forces in the Eastern Caribbean.
Tradewinds 2003, the 18th in the series, was held in two phases. The Northern phase was in Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica, from April 26 to May 3, with 6 ships and 200 personnel from the nations of the Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and United States, with Jamaica as the host. The Southern phase was held in Bridgetown, Barbados, from May 5 to May 25, with 10 ships and more than 300 persons from the nations of Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St Lucia, St Kitts and the Grenadines, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, and United States, with Barbados as the host.
While the specific focus of this year's exercise was on maritime counter-terrorism and counter-drug training, the participants also trained in basic safety of life at sea and search and rescue (SAR) planning and execution. The exercise unexpectedly culminated in an actual SAR case involving a report of a downed airplane that disappeared approximately 52 nautical miles from Barbados. After saturating more than 2,800 square nautical miles with ships, helicopters and planes for 72 hours, rescue efforts were called off for the two missing persons.
Over the past four years, Cmdr. Callwood has been a driving force in giving the exercise a greater maritime focus. The increased maritime emphasis is in recognition of the principal source of commerce — movement of food, fuel, commercial goods, and tourism — that occurs by sea for these island nations.
In addition to the positions outlined at the top of this article, he is directly responsible for the deployment of the Coast Guard's Cutter Support Tender, Coast Guard Cutter Gentian. The Cutter Gentian is the Coast Guard's only multi-nationally crewed ship, with the unique mission of providing maintenance and technical assistance, training, and logistics support to the maritime services of the Caribbean Basin.
Since the cutter began operating in September 1999, it has delivered more than 200 tons of equipment, trained more than 500 students, and provided logistical support to more than 20 different countries including Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago; Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela; Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Cmdr. Callwood is a 1980 graduate and commissioned officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. He earned a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is married to the former Bernadette Mannings of Philadelphia, Pa. They have four children. He is the son of Alvin (deceased) and Edris Callwood of St. Thomas.
Editor's note: This article was prepared by the U.S. Coast Guard and supplied to the Source by U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Alvin Dalmida, also a Virgin Islander.

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