Three senior local Defence Force officers have been highly recognised by the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) following an annual workshop of the Military Legal Committee of the Americas (COJUMA) held in Port-of-Spain.
The officers who received special commendation from General John F Kelly, Commander US Southern Command were:
• Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Gomez; Assistant Chief Staff Officer Sustainment and chairman of the COJUMA secretariat
•Lieutenant Colonel Sheldon Ramanan; Deputy Director Staff Judge Advocate General and Workshop Co-ordinator
• Major Al Alexander, Senior Public Affairs Officer and Conference Protocol and Events Coordinator.
Lt Col Ramanan received a second commendation for his efforts from Marine Col Joseph G Bowe, the Staff Judge Advocate, US Southern Command.
The workshop hosted several regional and international legal military minds and addressed several legal issues confronting this hemisphere and in particular national security challenges such as maritime border security and counter-terrorism concerns.
A statement said: “The planning, co-ordination and execution of the workshop was flawless and its success was due in no small part to the Defence Force secretariat that was tasked to ensure that all aspects of the workshop were perfectly executed.”
“The success of this conference was further evidenced by the production of a white paper on Developing a Robust Maritime/Border Security and Counter Terrorism Strategy.
In recognition of the standard set at this workshop all members of the COJUMA secretariat, including those recognised by USSOUTHCOM, were presented with a certificate of commendation by the Chief of Defence Staff Maj Gen Kenrick Maharaj on Monday at the Defence Force Headquarters, Chaguaramas.