By Melissa Rollock
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Some 30 years after its last deployment to Haiti for Operation: Restore Democracy, the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) is preparing its troops to return to that island as part of a multi-national intervention to help restore order there.
Military advisor to the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Lovell, made the disclosure Wednesday at the launch of the BDF’s 45th-anniversary celebrations at St Ann’s Fort, The Garrison, St Michael.
While he could not say how soon troops would be deployed, Lt. Col. Lovell said members of the BDF were engaged in pre-mission training, both physical and psychological, to face whatever challenges might meet them on the ground when they arrive in Haiti.
He added that the headquarters of the Barbados Defence Force was currently in planning and discussions with other governments across the region, as part of CARICOM’s commitment to finding a solution to the unrest in Haiti.
Lt. Col. Lovell further noted the BDF had committed troops, manpower, equipment and supplies as part of the multi-national response.
He said the Force would be drawing on the knowledge of those persons who were part of the 1994 intervention in Haiti to gain a better understanding of the cultural nuances and what to expect when they arrive in the French-speaking territory.
