USNS Spearhead Pays Visit to Dominican Republic

June 30, 2014

Joint High Speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1) arrived in the Dominican Republic June 17 after transporting members of U.S. Marine Corps 4th Law Enforcement Battalion (LEB) and associated equipment in support of Exercise Tradewinds 2014.

This event is a key part of Southern Partnership Station Joint High Speed Vessel 2014 (SPS-JHSV 14), which features USNS Spearhead in what it was designed to do, rapid transport of Marines and their equipment from one place to another, via the sea.

Exercise Tradewinds 2014 is a US Southern Command sponsored training exercise helping nations in the region better respond to natural disasters and land and maritime threats, including illicit trafficking. The Dominican Republic is hosting the second phase of Tradewinds 2014, the land phase, which runs June 16-25. Tradewinds includes U.S. military and law enforcement agencies joined by their counterparts from Canada and 16 Caribbean nations.

USNS Spearhead will return to the Dominican Republic at the conclusion of Exercise Tradewinds 2014 to transport members of U.S. Marine Corps LEB and their equipment back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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Press Release, June 30, 2014; Image: US Navy