If you've noticed an increased presence of U.S. military personnel and equipment on the ground and in the air, it's because of the new horizons project. Two weeks ago New Horizons broke ground in Orange Walk When the U.S. Armed Forces gave a commitment to build 4 two-classroom school buildings in villages of the Orange Walk and Belize districts. Yesterday we visited the trial farm construction site and found the BDF and U.S. soldiers in the thick of it at the new school building.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Yesterday we found U.S. Soldiers along with Belize Defence Force soldiers pouring and leveling this foundation. It's the beginning of a two-classroom building at Trial Farm in the Orange Walk District. Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Crooks who's served 14 tours in Central America in similar new horizons projects says this one like those before serves as training for military personnel.
Lt. Col. Jerry Crooks,
"This is excellent training for our soldiers. It gives them a chance not only to train on their skills but it gives them a chance to work side by
side, shoulder to shoulder with the Belize soldiers. The Belize soldiers do construction things a little different than we do. It is a win situation for all of us. We can teach skills to our soldiers to their soldiers and their soldiers can teach us a few skills also, working with this. As we work side by side we continue to create that partnership program. Myself personally this is my fourth trip to Belize in the last several years so its an excellent opportunity, just builds that relationship between the two countries. Every time we come down and host or work with the New Horizons Exercise, believe me, our U.S. soldiers go home with much more benefits than we are able to leave to Belize but we hope that in some small way, the services we provide with the Belize government, with the Belize ministry, that it has long term dividends."
General Lloyd Gillett Commander of the BDF agrees. He sees his men learning skills that will be used whenever this BDF detachment is deployed.
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett,
"When they return to the BDF they will be responsible for the internal building that the BDF does every year. We have barrack rooms, we have offices that we need to build and we utilize those skills. Also, the light engineer company that we are developing will be the first response to communities affected by hurricanes, floods. And so they'll be able to help the general population get back on their feet after a disaster. This is a very good project to develop skills because they don't only learn about masonry, they learn about electrical plumbing, as the project develops."
Private Simeon Alvarez and Corporal Ricardo Tun are part of the BDF's engineering platoon. They say that while what they are seeing here differs from standard
practice in Belize, still what they are learning is useful.
Pvt. Simeon Alvarez, BDF
"I learn my basic carpentry, plumbing, and other techniques."
Cpl. Ricardo Tun, BDF
"What we are learning is just the way of their method of building and a little experience for our guys that aren't used to, that just joined the platoon, they can get the experience. Right now we are doing mainly masonry stuff. Its kind of different when working here in Belize, you have different methods and they are basically different but the basic thing is right here but they work a bit different from us Belizeans."
But no matter how different the construction is the end result is the same, classrooms will be built. So within the next 8 weeks 4 two classroom school buildings would have been completed in Trial Farm, Carmelita, Crooked Tree and Hattieville.
The scheduled completion dates for the classrooms are between the 10th and 18th May.
