Vincentian Coastguard Officer specializes in explosives

Able Bodied Seaman Damian Franklyn has accomplished the feat of being the first Vincentian law enforcement officer to have successfully graduated from the United States Naval Ordnance Disposal School, Florida.{{more}}

Franklyn, who was enlisted in the Royal StVincent and the Grenadines Police Force eight years ago, left the shores of St Vincent and the Grenadines on June 28, 2012, to pursue a nine-month certificate in Explosive Ordnance Disposal. He returned to this country on March 12, 2013, shortly after his graduation as a certified technician in the field of explosives.

“All the study areas were brand new. The areas they dealt with, we didn’t deal with them here. I learnt a lot of theory and practical work,” said the 27-year-old Franklyn.

He said he was trained in the identification of explosives, how to render such devices safe and dispose of them. He said he also learnt how use his tools safely, protect himself and others, as well as property. However, he said much of what he learnt, requiring an overall pass rate of 85 per cent, has been deemed classified information and he will only be able to share such information with a selected grouping of people.

Franklyn said several persons in his programme, drawn from different parts of the world, were unable to meet the 85 per cent threshold.

He said that he would like to organize a team of law enforcement officers to work with him in the area, because his line of work achieves its greatest success with teams. He said that he would also like to get the tools and software programmes required to fulfill the task ahead.

Commander of the Coastguard, Ag. Brenton Cain said the hierarchy in the Ministry of National Security and the Police Force felt it was imperative to have someone in StVincent and the Grenadines trained in explosives to have the required expertise to deal with threats that involve explosives.

He said as a result of Franklyn’s training, which is quite costly, St.Vincent and the Grenadines had to forego training opportunities in other areas. However, he said the decision was a pertinent one worth pursuing.

“This is only the first step. We are working diligently to get another person to be trained in this area, because it requires team work to achieve the goal,” said Cain. (Police Public Relations Department)