TETERON BAY, Trinidad and Tobago – When it comes to sustaining troops in the field, few resources are more critical than clean water. From cooking meals to maintaining hygiene, a steady supply of safe water is essential to keeping Soldiers healthy, mission-focused, and ready to train during multinational exercises like TRADEWINDS 25 (TW25).
Behind the scenes, Soldiers from the 935th Aviation Support Battalion (ASB), Missouri Army National Guard, are making that mission possible by ensuring more than 1,000 participants representing 26 nations have reliable access to potable water throughout the 13-day exercise.
While the focus of the U.S. Southern Command-sponsored, U.S. Army South-led annual multinational, multidomain training exercise is about promoting regional security cooperation and interagency coordination, aimed at countering regional threats it’s the
behind-the-scenes efforts like water purification that sustain the mission and support joint operations.
“People often forget the logistics that make these exercises successful,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 William Pyatt, the battalion’s logistics officer. “You can’t run field kitchens or laundry stations without a steady supply of water. The 935th’s support allows our own Soldiers and our partner-nations to stay focused on training without compromising health or hygiene.”
The 935th ASB, headquartered in Aurora, Missouri, deployed a specialized water purification team to Trinidad and Tobago to support U.S. and 25 other partner-nation forces participating in the 13-day exercise. Their mission is to ensure a reliable supply of clean water for hygiene, food preparation and laundry services in an austere environment where access to safe water is not guaranteed.
Using their lightweight water purifiers the team can purify water from almost any source: rivers, lakes, or even some coastal water. These systems remove contaminants and produce potable water at a rate of thousands of gallons per day.
“We have four different filters that the water goes through to take out any large debris and small particles,” said Spc. Colton Hines, a water treatment specialist with the 935th ASB. “Then we add chlorine to make sure it’s potable.”
Despite early challenges, the team's experience and training helped them adapt. They initially drew water from nearby Teteron Bay but later switched to a more suitable supply at Teteron Barracks, improving overall quality for participants.
“The water quality in Trinidad and Tobago is relatively similar to that in the United States,” said Hines. “What we are pulling out of their supply is almost standard to what we have in the U.S., between pH levels, chlorine and overall purity.”
For the hundreds of troops around Teteron Barracks, they may not always see the 935th in action, but they definitely feel the effects of their work.
“It’s very important to me”, said Dominican navy 1st Lt. Fernando Hernandez, a ship pilot participating in the exercise. “If you don’t eat well, you don’t work well and if you aren’t clean you can’t work close to others, so it’s very important.”
Though not as visible as the service members conducting the training, the water purification team is proud to support the Caribbean’s premiere regional exercise.
“Everyone plays a role in mission success,” Hines said. “We’re proud that ours keeps everyone healthy and mission-ready.”
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