144 personnel, which included BDF and volunteer soldiers as well as Coast Guard officers, arrived back in Belize after a one month training in Louisiana. They provided support for the training of units within the Louisiana National guard's infantry Brigade Combat Team, and now, they're prepared to utilize what they learn as they keep our land and sea borders safe.
The BDF's Chief of Staff told us more about the training.
Lt. Col. Anthony Velasquez, Chief of Staff, BDF
"The most important thing is the relationship we have with the Louisiana National Guard and the United State Military Liaison Officer. The motto of the BDF is shoulder to shoulder, and we train shoulder to shoulder with our security partners. At the training, on a whole, it's a great value to the security relationship first and foremost. Secondly, our soldiers performed a one month training in small unit tactics that will benefit them and eventually will benefit the Belize Defense Force when they return back to their units."
"Everyday the BDF trains to defend the nation of Belize and we do patrolling in the jungles of Belize and the borders and that sort of training develops soldiers' skills and enhances the soldiers' skills that they already have so when they return back to their units and continue training here in Belize and patrolling along the border, that training they receive over there enhances the training they already have and they also learn new ways to do the same thing."
Major Josiah Rawlings, Acting Senior Defense Official, US Embassy
"The joint force of over 140 BDF and Belize Coast Guard members joined us at the joint readiness training center at Fork Polk, Louisiana, it's the largest ever support force that Belize has ever provided. While it's been an ongoing, over 30 year relationship with the state partner, this one just is an example of the growing relationship that Louisiana International Guard and Belize has with one another."
Ensign Ardon Budna, Platoon Commander, Belize Coast Guard
"There's a whole heap of things that we learn. First I must start, we work on a maritime domain, however, for us Coast Guard to transition from a maritime to infantry, it was a bit challenging at first, however, we adapt and we conquer."
"How does the training apply to the work we do on sea? one, we did a lot of planning, organized planning, advanced planning, operational wise, and two, despite that it is infantry, we still apply infantry in our maritime domain. Whenever we work on land, whenever we set foot on ground, it's infantry tactics that we use, so everything that we use, we put it together, and we become stronger together."
