PARAMARIBO, Suriname – Members of the South Dakota National Guard spent two days in Suriname, their South American partner nation, Aug. 19-20, to take part in a subject matter expert exchange focusing on disaster management.
The exchange served as a follow up to an early August exchange where members of the Suriname Defense Forces were in South Dakota observing emergency operation centers such as the SDNG’s Joint Operation Center on Camp Rapid and the South Dakota Emergency Operations Center.
Three Guard members met with members of the Suriname Defense Forces, Suriname’s National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief and other governmental ministries to discuss command and control and standing operating procedures within the Suriname Disaster Response Systems.
“After learning the history, structure and capabilities of both the Suriname Defense Forces and Suriname’s National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief, our team introduced some of South Dakota’s National Guard “best practices” that apply to military personnel working with local authorities responding to disasters,” said U.S. Army Maj. Kenn Kerfont, Training Branch operations officer, SDNG.
Some of the practices shared included planning essential support functions, which range from command and control to logistics, maintenance, security and medical support, among others, and how and when each function is involved in a disaster response.
Participants walked through disaster scenarios that Suriname recently dealt with to include flooding and high winds that recently destroyed more than 100 roofs of homes and the formal requesting procedures for assistance during these extreme situations.
The South Dakota participants, who included Kerfont, and U.S. Air Force Master Sgts. Emil Salisbury III and Brian Lebrun, South Dakota Air National Guard, frequently referenced the SDNG’s involvement in the Missouri River flooding and each essential support function during the response.
The exchange concluded with a practical exercise built around a potential real-world scenario involving two teams working toward a final product. Each team presented its plan to the National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief coordinator on how they would prepare for the given scenario.
“The exercise was vital to the success of the event,” said Salisbury, deputy fire chief with the SDANG’s 114th Fighter Wing. “This was a refreshingly different type of experience that provided an opportunity for me to gain a better understanding of cultural differences, develop my leadership skills and advance my knowledge of disaster management.”
“We felt very satisfied with our team’s accomplishments toward enabling further discussions between Suriname’s National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief and the Suriname Defense Forces on the importance of working together to better plan, prepare and respond to known disasters,” said Kerfont.
South Dakota and Suriname, in coordination with U.S. Southern Command, established a successful security cooperation relationship in 2006 under the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program. Since then, numerous exchanges have taken place between the SDNG and Suriname’s Armed Forces to share experiences and best practices in a variety of military training and topics.