And while the BDF now has the first woman Force Sergeant Major, who is she? And how did she get to that post? Usually Sergeant Majors are known to be tough, hard-nosed men, but tonight, we get a glimpse of who she is outside the uniform and the titles. Jaleeza Roberts sat with Warrant Officer Class One Dee-Ancor Reyes to discuss her achievements:
For more than two decades, Warrant Officer Class 1 Dee-Ancor Reyes has quietly built a career defined by discipline and sacrifice, and this week, that journey reached a historic milestone as she officially assumed the role of Force Sergeant Major, becoming the first woman ever to hold the Belize Defence Force's highest enlisted appointment. For Reyes, the promotion is more than a personal achievement; it represents the culmination of a lifelong commitment to service:
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes, Force Sergeant Major, BDF
"Most of my family members are either police, coast guard, or BDF, so I come from a family that is military. So I joined the volunteer battalion. In 1999, I passed out at Salamanca Camp. And I served four complete years with the volunteers and ever since then I appreciated the military. At that time, I wanted to either be a nurse or a teacher, but I did not have the finance to carry on with my career. So I enlisted into the regular force in September of 2003. And the reason for doing that is because I knew that the Belize Defence Force provides scholarships for soldiers, and you also receive training abroad and you could have a career joining the army."
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes
"Like I wanted, I was sent to the University of Belize to do nursing. In 2005, I graduated. So I was grateful for that, that I get to accomplish that mission that I always wanted."
A defining moment in Reyes' career came in 2022 when she became the first female Belizean soldier selected to attend the prestigious Sergeants Major Academy in El Paso, Texas. The intensive leadership program, run by the United States Army, not only sharpened her military leadership skills but also resulted in a bachelor's degree in Leadership and Workforce Development. She returned to Belize determined to implement lessons learned abroad while adapting them to the realities of the Belize Defence Force. That qualification ultimately became a deciding factor in her promotion. Attendance at the academy is one of the key prerequisites for appointment as Force Sergeant Major. As her predecessor prepared for retirement, Reyes had already met every requirement. But more than the title, she expressed her greatest achievement: being a mother of 3 and a wife:
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes, Force Sergeant Major, BDF
"Besides from being a soldier, I am a wife. I'm married to Dr. Elfryn Reyes. He's a Lieutenant Colonel of the Belize Defense Force. He works at the medical center. We have three children."
Reporter
"To have all of this ambition and to have a family as well, how were you able to balance that throughout the years?"
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes
"At first, it was difficult. But it became easy after I got married, because my husband is in the force as well. It balanced out because whenever I had to go on any training which is at least six weeks we leave our family. We go out in the jungle, or we go to the district to complete our training. And that time you need to leave your family behind. And I have two girls. When they were pretty young, I still had to do what I needed to do to complete my training so that I could get promoted. So I had to leave them behind, and their dad took on the responsibility, and helped out and take care of them during all the time that I've been away. Even when I've been to the United States, more than once for over a year, he was there, provided all that help and care for the children."
Reporter
"But how did it feel as a woman to leave your children?"
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes
"It's hard. It's difficult. Sometimes you would sit down and cry because you got to be out in the jungle, and your young child is at home. And of course, sometimes we need to leave them even when we are breastfeeding. So it's even harder then. But I am a strong person. I tell myself, in order for me to complete anything that I'm doing, I need to accept the fact that I need to leave them behind and just pray that everything is okay."
Perhaps the most compelling part of Reyes' story lies not in her military accomplishments, but in where they began. She grew up in St. Martin's, one of Belize City's most economically challenged communities, during a period when gang violence cast a long shadow over daily life. Having overcome this, she has a message for persons who also come from there:
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes, Force Sergeant Major, BDF
"Coming from the St. Martin's De Porres area, at the time when I was growing up, gang was really serious."
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes
"At that time, there, I could recall vividly in the evening, you couldn't walk the streets because, you know, the guys were out with their gun. So at a certain time, you need to stay in. And then growing up in the St. Martin's area, I see a lot of children who grew up on the street you know, the things that they saw, they practiced. And I said to myself that I won't be one of those people that would, what I see I will practice, and I need to get out of it."
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes
"I want the young people to know that despite where you come from, despite the challenges that you face along the way, that once you tell yourself and believe in yourself and with God's help that you want to make a difference, make a change, you want to come out of that environment, you want to be somebody in society, then that's the way to go. Once you have that in your mind, you just push towards that goal and you can accomplish it."
But being the first woman to hold this title in the BDF, one would think she would be anxious about her new post, but Reyes says she has prepared for this:
WO1 Dee-Ancor Reyes, Force Sergeant Major, BDF
"At this time, I'm excited. I'm not nervous because I've been preparing for this moment. I've been doing the work along the way, so I know what is expected of the Force Sergeant Major. I've been working closely hand in hand with the Force Sergeant Major. I've been learning from him. And so, knowing the roles and responsibility, I know that I could carry out my duties to the best of my ability. Yes, there will be challenges along the way. As the first female, this is something new to the military. This is something new to the gentlemen in the force. This force has always been run by males in authority. And now that we have a female, I know that I will face some challenges along the way. But I am good otherwise because I know my roles and responsibility and I know how to deal with it."
As she assumes responsibility for the welfare, discipline and professional standards of Belize's enlisted soldiers, her story stands as a reminder that history is often made not in a single promotion ceremony, but through decades of consistent work towards a dream only she could see. Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
