Samantha Cartaino

Throughout the last decade, the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard (TTAG) has provided humanitarian services for natural disasters, security threats and medical emergencies in the Caribbean. Although the organization is still fairly young, it has quickly adapted to new technology and training techniques to keep citizens safe. Because of its success, the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard will receive the 2017 Leonardo Humanitarian Service Award at the Salute to Excellence dinner at the Hilton Anatole Dallas on March 8.


Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard was founded in 2005. It has provided emergency services to St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Domenica during natural disasters while transporting critically ill and injured patients from Tobago to the hospital in Trinidad. The organization operates two Metro Merlin C-26B turboprops and four Leonardo AW139 helicopters. TTAG has experience airlifting shark-attack victims and injured sailors, rescuing lost hikers and stranded individuals at sea, extinguishing bush fires and helping ships.


The four AW139s were signed for in 2009. Leonardo Helicopters provided training services and logistical support for these rotorcraft for five years, ending in 2015. Through this delivery, TTAG joined other AW139 operators,&nbsp;such as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Spanish Marine Safety Agency, the Italian Coast Guard, the Japanese Coast Guard, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Korean Coast Guard.


In 2014, TTAG reached key training and capability milestones. Pilots Christen Garnes and Kevin Maharaj were promoted to command officers while engineers Vinod Sawh, Desi Geoffroy, Vinod Rambaran, Brent Nora and Sergeant Jeremy Wilson received their Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority licenses. In November of 2014, it was noted that the organization had flown more than 5,000 hours during missions such as onshore and offshore search and rescue, troop transportation and other disaster relief missions.&nbsp;


TTAG is in good company with its Leonardo Humanitarian Award win. Last year, the Italian coast guard’s 2nd Nucleo Aereo, the Italian navy’s Gruppo Elicotteri 1 and Gruppo Elicotteri 3 and the Italian air force’s 15th Stormo 84th and 15th Stormo 85th Centro&nbsp;CSAR received the Sikorsky Humanitarian Award. These groups were part of a marine helicopter rescue mission off the coast of Italy in 2014.


In a statement from Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of National Security, TTAG group captain Darryl Daniel explained what this award means to the organization: “This is an outstanding achievement for the Air Guard, especially the Rotary Wing that is only six years old since initiation by the government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 2007, and is a testimony to an excellent medium twin turbine helicopter program. Well done to the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard and its partners Leonardo Helicopters, Cobham Helicopters and Helidecks.”

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