SAINT JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda - Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary have traveled to Antigua and Barbuda to support communications for Exercise Tradewinds 2011.

The members of the Auxiliary’s Team Mercury, based in southeastern Florida, are a group that has the capability to act independently in a forward area, and can maintain communication through an array of HF, UHF and VHF radio equipment.

They travel with a truck and trailer combination that holds radio equipment and can act as a temporary communication center in the event of a power outage.  They recently debuted the truck/trailer combination at the Coast Guard Innovation exhibition held in Tampa Bay, Fla.

The team and equipment arrived at Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force Camp Blizzard, Feb. 28, and has sat on a hill overlooking the ocean and beside a communications tower from Coast Guard Communications Area Master Station Atlantic. The team is also housing two radio repeaters for the Virgin Islands Air National Guard.

“We’ve been working closely with the Auxiliary guys up on the hill since the beginning,” said Air Force Capt. Jon Hult, of the 285th Combat Communications Squadron, Virgin Islands Air National Guard. “They’ve been more than helpful getting all the communications gear up and running, and they let us keep our gear cool in their radio truck.”

For the members of the Team Mercury, Exercise Tradewinds 2011 has been an opportunity to showcase their equipment and work alongside both the Air National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps.  With the Air National Guard providing a power source and the Marines providing logistical support, the Auxiliary members can relay radio transmissions for units participating in Tradewinds on opposite sides of the island and beyond.

“This equipment has worked amazingly well,” said Auxiliarist Wilson Riggan, from Palm City, Fla.  “We’ve been able to talk to people all over the world, from the U.S. all the way to South America.”

The Coast Guard Auxiliary is supporting Exercise Tradewinds 2011.  Tradewinds is a joint-combined, interagency exercise involving U.S. personnel from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Joint-interagency Task Force-South, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with forces from: Antigua and Barbuda (host nation), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago.

~GJA 03-19-11