Lieutenant William Theobalds of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard is the first Vincentian to complete the International Maritime Operators Course at the United States Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.
Lieutenant Theobalds, who graduated on November 6th, 2020, said he is elated about his achievement and looks forwards to achieving greater things. He says the program was informative and provided insight of previous maritime operations, including “Operation Neptune” the largest amphibious landing to take place in history.
The International Maritime Operators Course was a twelve week programme, which prepares Naval Officers to support the planning and execution of complex maritime operations in a coalition environment.
Some of the topics covered were American Colonial History, Leadership, Command, and control, multi-culturalism, historical military case studies (WWII), naval planning process, combined maritime operations, multinational concepts, and planning process, United Nation overview and a table-top exercise.
Participants now possess the capability of performing the role of a Staff Officer on a National or multinational/combined maritime staff, applying the fundamental concepts of operational art, and perform as a member of an operational planning team.
Lieutenant Theobalds also has regional experience having worked as Maritime Training Officer at the Regional Security System (RSS) for four years and has 26 years of experience as a Coast Guard Officer.
Commissioner of Police, Colin John, Coast Guard Commander, Brenton Cain and rank and file officers of both the Police Force and Coast Guard Service extend congratulations to Lieutenant Theobalds on his major achievement.
