B.D.F. volunteers join US Army for jungle warfare training

A battalion of four hundred and fifteen volunteer soldiers attached to the Belize Defense Force and the Louisiana National Guard is currently on an annual military training exercise in the Mountain Pine Ridge.  Battle Camp 2014, as it is called, is a joint operation in which personnel from both armed forces are conducting mock jungle warfare and survival.  This morning, Brigadier General David Jones led a team of reporters and cameramen deep into the wilderness and rugged terrain of the area to an installation known as D’Silva Camp.  The site is also the proposed location of a boot camp for at risk youths.  While the Supreme Court is yet to give its stamp of approval on the initiative, D’Silva Camp is being used as the operational base for a fifteen-day intensive course, including a live firing session, river crossing and casualty evacuation.  The purpose of the exercise, according to Brigadier Jones, is to equip B.D.F. personnel with the necessary skills needed to combat incursions within the Chiquibul National Forest. Battle Camp 2014 is also seeing a contingent of officers from the United States Army on a working visit to Belize to participate in a different kind of combat training.  The exchange is mutually beneficial but we are told that U.S. personnel stand to gain more since they are not ordinarily exposed to the mountainous terrain of areas such as the Baldy Beacon and Mountain Pine Ridge.  The training exercise concludes on July sixth. We’ll have more on this story in Monday’s newscast.