KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has taken another major step towards strengthening regional security and disaster preparedness with the staging of the Initial Planning Conference for Exercise Event Horizon 2027.

The three-day conference, held from July 13 to 15 at the Caribbean Military Academy at Up Park Camp, brought together representatives from regional partner nations, ministries, departments and agencies to begin planning for the fourth staging of the multinational exercise.

Exercise Event Horizon is a multinational, multi-agency and multi-domain exercise that simulates real-world security threats and disaster scenarios in a controlled environment. The exercise is designed to improve coordination, strengthen interoperability and enhance regional readiness to respond to a wide range of maritime, cyber and humanitarian emergencies.

Exercise Director and Maritime and Air Cyber Command (MACC) member, Lieutenant Commander Leonard Wynter, said the conference serves as the starting point for collaborative planning among participating partners.

“The purpose of the planning conference is to introduce the concept of Exercise Event Horizon 2027 to participating partner nations and ministries, departments and agencies,” he said.

Lieutenant Commander Wynter explained that the exercise is intended to strengthen regional security by enhancing maritime law-enforcement capabilities, improving maritime safety in keeping with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), building a coordinated framework for responding to natural and man-made disasters, and increasing regional preparedness against cybercrime.

He noted that the planning process is equally important to the exercise itself, as it enables participating organisations to develop common approaches to shared challenges.

“It provides opportunities for partners to sit in a face-to-face forum as planners to plan for Exercise Event Horizon, and these plans will be centred around common practices or common challenges that we have in the region so that we, as partners, can exercise together to ensure that our standard operating procedures are aligned in real-life scenarios,” Lieutenant Commander Wynter said.

Meanwhile, Associate Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer with the Caribbean Maritime Team, Border Management Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Joshua Arteta, highlighted the organisation’s long-standing partnership with the exercise.

He said the UNODC has supported the initiative since its inception in 2022 as part of broader efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and interoperability in maritime security.

“The UNODC, through the Maritime Team of its Border Management Branch, has been supporting the development of several strategic initiatives in the region to foster interoperability and cooperation. Exercise Event Horizon is one of them,” Arteta said.

He noted that the UNODC’s contribution, made possible through funding from the Government of Canada, focuses on providing technical expertise to support the planning and execution of the exercise.

“Our support rests on the delivery of technical advice. We do this through experts that have experience in the design, coordination and execution of exercises like this in other operational theatres and that now bring that expertise in to make Exercise Event Horizon not only a success but also the JDF’s leadership,” Arteta added.

— JIS