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 Florida, Virgin Islands Guard members exchange ideas on gangs, youth violence in Caribbean By Sgt. 1st Class Blair Heusdens, U.S. Army
                Florida National Guard
 BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Guard members from the Florida National Guard and the Virgin Islands National Guard participated in a subject matter expert exchange seminar on youth and gang violence in the Caribbean here Aug. 30-31. "This is truly non-traditional military engagement in this region that was asked for specifically by each of the chiefs of defense and commissioners of police that I deal with," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Ted Gangsei, the Military Liaison Officer for the U.S. Embassy of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. "This is value back from the defense forces, back into the community." In Barbados and across the Eastern Caribbean, economic challenges have put many community programs that help at-risk youth in danger. Often, offending juveniles are put directly into the general population of the prison system with no chance for the support or the educational assistance they might need. "There's been a lot of belt tightening and as a result some of the government programs that would be available to help at risk youth are just not there or those resources have to go elsewhere," Gangsei said. Gang violence can, in turn, have a significant impact on the economy, especially in a region that relies heavily on tourism. "Obviously these countries rely heavily on tourism and anything that endangers that like crime and violence and youth gangs is something that's going to endanger their well-being economically," said Army 1st Lt. Paul O'Leary, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, and also a 15-year veteran of the police force in Hialeah, Fla. The exchange included members of the Barbados Defense Force, the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Regional Security System in addition to the subject matter experts from the Florida and Virgin Islands National Guards. The group discussed several factors that influence youth to join gangs and ways to prevent gangs from proliferating throughout the islands. "The young people will always try things to try to be different," said Sgt. Andrew Moore of the Royal Barbados Police Force. "They're easily influenced. I think the majority of people who join gangs just want to be somebody. You will seldom see someone join a gang who has already charted their life." Through the National Guard's State Partnership Program, Gangsei hopes to provide a tool for dialog between the countries of the Regional Security System, which is a treaty organization for defense that includes seven member countries - Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. "Utilizing the RSS to facilitate access to member nations' training is the key to success," Gangsei said. Many of the security initiatives that the U.S. Embassy in Barbados brings to the local islands are not always seen by the local population. Because initiatives that address youth and gang violence affect not only the defense ministry, but other areas such as education and health, these projects will be more visible and appreciated by the community. "In a lot of respects, most of what we do is not seen by the general population of these regions," he said. "When we interact with programs that impact the community, it has a much wider and lasting impact." The subject matter experts were able to find common ground and share experiences with the law enforcement officers of the Caribbean. Because many gangs proliferate from the U.S., the Guard members were able to provide valuable information on known gang activities and strategies for dismantling gangs. "Typically when you deal with law enforcement officers from other countries, you find out that we're really not significantly different in how we conduct ourselves," O'Leary said. "The laws are typically very, very similar and the enforcement is similar; it's just the little nuances that are different regionally." "The strength of the National Guard is exactly what you see here," said O'Leary. "Most Guard members have a civilian career and bring a wide spectrum of expertise to the table that you might not find with active duty military. Operations like this give us an opportunity to tap into those different backgrounds and expertise and use them to our advantage." The State Partnership Program gives National Guard members an opportunity to share valuable experiences and learn from other countries while strengthening U.S. partnerships around the world. The SPP supports U.S. national interests and security cooperation goals by engaging partner nations via military, socio-political and economic conduits at the local, state and national level.
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