BDF volunteers train in Toledo
Almost every year since 1992 News Five has marched along with the BDF volunteer battalion as it sweated through its annual training camp. This year is no exception, although it will be the first time that the story will be without the presence of Volunteer Commander Francis Usher. Usher has been succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Zuniga. Janelle Chanona reports.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
For the only the second time in all their years of doing training exercises, the volunteer battalion of the Belize Defence Force is stationed at Salamanca Camp in the Toledo district. And what a perfect setting it is, with the rainfall coming down in buckets and the resulting bush so thick and green that jungle training takes on a whole new meaning.
For these civilian soldiers, things don’t get interesting right away. Trained eyes scrutinize the practice sessions using weapons like SLRs and M16s. In another part of camp, the volunteers learn to use compasses and read maps.
Outside, their newly recruited counterparts are learning to parade and trying hard not to make any mistakes.
(Volunteers learning to march.)
One volunteer says being put on the spot and perhaps going deaf for a little while isn’t all that bad.
Santiulino Martinez
“It doesn’t really bother me because it’s not a daily routine. Usually I am doing things for myself, so this just lets me get a glimpse of what it is to be under someone else’s direction. I like to get wet and dry in the uniform and running about and with the weapon and shoot them off.”
But just as these men and women must pretend they are involved in a real confrontation, sometimes they must also pretend they have bullets in those guns.
Volunteers (pretend firing)
“Budda, budda, budda…”
Janelle Chanona
“It’s no secret that the regular BDF has problems getting basic necessities, boots, clothing, sometimes even bullets. How do you all manage as the reserve corps?”
Lt. Colonel Edmund Zuniga, Volunteer Battalion Commander
“We have resources allocated to us in the volunteer and of course we will understand that the priority has to go to the soldiers in the regular force because they must be there doing things that they must do. But we also have materials that are left for us which we can use on our weekend training and annual camp.”
With close to four hundred volunteers having eagerly made the trek to Toledo this year, something must be enjoyable about this camp. And despite the setbacks, it probably has a lot to do with the guns.
Soldier talking to two other soldiers
“When they holler “rally right”, the person on the left moves. Understand? When they holler “rally right”, it’s not the right person that moves because you want the person on the left hand side pose in to the right hand side.”
In the nearby rainforest, the volunteers use what they’ve learnt out in the open to blend in with the foliage and complete their mission.
(Soldiers in the jungle shooting.)
Janelle Chanona
“Did jungle training become the focus because of what happened to three other officers this year?”
Lt. Colonel Edmund Zuniga
“No, none at all. What we normally do is go through a sort of rotation, where one year we do jungle training, the other year we focus on drill and those basics like living in barracks and so on. Then the following year we go to basic training where we do conventional warfare.”
In this camp, everything is unconventional…including chow time. These guys have already learnt the value of eating fast.
And as much time as these soldiers will spend in the bush during the day, come nightfall, they’ve got nowhere else to go. Most of them follow what has perhaps become a volunteer force tradition, and have made do with what they have…some of them going so far as making bunk beds along with visual reminders of the task at hand.
(Bush living quarters.)
Soldier #1
“It’s going to be home for the next two weeks.”
You might think that when it comes time to relieve yourself, the idea is to “pick a tree, any tree” but that’s not true.
Soldier #2 (displaying “the facilities”)
“Normally what you would do, you find all the rocks, stones and everything, you drop it in to the bottom and you just disinfect it everyday. Everyday, you just throw kerosene and burn it. You don’t go everywhere, you use a designated area, this area is sterile basically.”
Janelle Chanona
“And what’s the reasoning behind this?”
Soldier #2
“It’s just because of the hygiene. Living in the fields, you can have epidemics and things like that, so you try and do all personal stuff and bathing in separate areas. If they have to bathe, they can go across the road and use the showers or use the river.”
The volunteers also use the river for another reason. Even if you can’t swim, they will hook you up and let you cross. One thing’s for sure though, teamwork is at the heart of every exercise.
So what’s the drive, the motivation, the sheer reasoning behind sacrificing yourself to the bare elements, a big mouth drill sergeant, and a flooded river?
Lt. Colonel Edmund Zuniga
“Most of us really want to be soldiers. A lot of us are settled down in our civilian jobs and so coming out here and making a sacrifice for two weeks is no problem and this is something that we do on weekends at home anyhow, so just a time that we can do it on an extended period.”
“We’re happy, happy that a lot of volunteers could have come out this year, and I think that we can credit the employers with allowing us to be out here. I know that it’s difficult for employers to let us go for two weeks, but this is also important for us as soldiers and for the nation of Belize. As one of my colleagues normally says, the volunteers battalion is really the defence guarantee of this country.”
Santiulino Martinez
“It makes one don’t take life for granted, in terms of trying to do the best for the security of the country and that’s what I like about it.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
