RAPID CITY, S.D. – Members of Suriname’s Defense Forces were in the Black Hills taking part in a subject matter expert exchange with the South Dakota National Guard focusing on disaster relief and emergency operations, July 27 to Aug. 1.The most recent exchange gave the South American service members the opportunity to observe emergency operation centers from the SDNG’s Joint Operation Center to the South Dakota Emergency Operations Center. “Over the last few years, we’ve been troubled by some bad weather and flooding,” said Suriname Defense Force Lt. Col. Johnny Antonius, head of Defense Strategic Planning and Education. “In just a three to four week period, we had severe wind gusts causing hundreds of houses to lose their roofs or be destroyed altogether. We believe storms like this will return and while we can’t avoid it, we can at least get a system in place that better helps us get assistance to the ones that need it.”...[+]