When a natural disaster strikes, will the Belize Defense Force be ready? Well this week there are 35 soldiers from the Mexican Army to make sure that they will be. Since Monday a group of soldiers, firemen, police officers, and customs officers have been participating in a disaster preparedness workshop. They are being trained by the Mexican military and this is the third year of the program. Colonel Cavalry Estado is the head of the Mexican delegation.
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett, BDF Commander
"It is very important that we have these kind of courses and that we prepare for the aftermath of a hurricane. This serves us well because we have personnel from NEMO, BERT, and the Police, immigration, and customs all integrated into learning common operational procedures in times of disaster, so that helps us. It also helps with understanding what the Mexican Armed Forces do. So if they come into Belize to support us, we are better able to deploy them and it also helps the BDF to develop that human capacity that is necessary to address these issues in times of disaster."
The training wound down today with a disaster simulation at the international airport.
