B.D.F. anniversary celebration to be held in city
On Saturday, the Belize Defence Force will invade Belize City for its annual open day. According to organisers, this year the event has been moved from its usual location at Price Barracks to the Marion Jones Sporting Complex to accommodate more residents of the city. This afternoon, Commander of the B.D.F., Brigadier General Lloyd Gillett, encouraged all Belizeans to attend.
Brigadier General Lloyd Gillett, Commander, B.D.F
?Well this year we are celebrating twenty-eight years of service to Belize and beyond, that?s the theme. The B.D.F is very integrated in the whole security architecture of the country and the open day is for people to come in, see what we have. A lot of people do not interact, especially people living in Belize City, do not interact with the B.D.F on a day-to-day basis since most of our patrols are along the border, and a lot of people don?t know what the BDF does. So when they come in they will see what the BDF does. It?s similar to the tattoo that we held in September, only this time it?s only a dollar to come in. People get an opportunity to see most of the displays we did for the tattoo and that was very well supported by the public.?
Lt. Col. Dario Tapia, Spokesman, B.D.F. Open Day
?We have the traditional displays, the static displays by the Air Wing, the National Coast Guard service. Booths will be out there, we?ve invited the commercial people to be out there having their booths. In addition to that, we have the traditional mock battle, the bayonet fighting, the police will be out there doing their canine and the sorts, and that is what we having out there. Boxing of course will be out there, and this year, as part of the confidence [building] measures we also have the Guatemalan Armed Forces Band who will be playing out there too.?
Other activities planned for Saturday include a football match between the soldiers and the inmates of Hattieville Prison. All proceeds from the open day will go towards welfare programmes such as high school scholarships for B.D.F. dependents, the Association of B.D.F. families, and sports equipment for the soldiers’ recreational use.
