Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Nichole Bonham | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the U.S. Embassy, Adrienne Galanek speaks to the guests...... read more read more
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Beyond the Horizon 2017 drew to a close on the sun-drenched parade field of Price Barracks, Belize, June 15, 2017. The Beyond the Horizon 2017 task force, U.S. Embassy and the Government of Belize participated in a ceremony that highlighted the benefits of the partnership between the U.S. and Belizean governments.
High-level representatives from the Government of Belize, the Ministry of Defence and The Belize Defence Force showed their appreciation for the U.S. and Belizean military engineers and medical personnel during the ceremony.
Prominent guests and speakers included Governor General of Belize, H.E. Sir Colville Young; Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the U.S. Embassy, Adrienne Galanek; Deputy Commander of Army South, Brig. Gen. Richard Torres; Commander of the BDF, Brig. Gen. David Jones, and the Minister of Defence, Hon. John Saldivar.
The ceremony started with the Governor General presiding over a pass in review by troops from the BDF, U.S. military and Trinidad and Tobago, and the playing of both the national anthems of Belize and the United States by the BDF band.
In his speech Jones expressed how impressed he was with the cooperation between more than 2,000 rotational U.S. troops and BDF soldiers during the exercise.
“This an exercise where servicemen have worked together and forged lasting friendships. The camaraderie and experience on display was exceptional. It was as though they were working together as one unit for many years,” he said.
Jones continued and spoke about the four construction sites and the purchase of materials required to complete the projects.
“This project has resulted in improvements in education, healthcare and to our economy of over 11.5 million U.S. dollars,” said Jones.
The BTH 2017 engineering projects consisted of five construction projects in four locations. Ladyville received an additional clinical building to upgrade the medical needs for the area. Double Head Cabbage also received an improvement to their existing medical capabilities in the form of a replacement clinic constructed alongside the previous structure. Construction efforts at St. Matthew’s Government School culminated in a building containing an additional three classrooms for student population growth. Western Regional Hospital, a site with two scheduled projects, received a new emergency room annex and a housing for two new medical waste incinerators coming online at the hospital. One incinerator is already installed.
Also a part of BTH 2017 were three medical readiness training exercises where U.S. military medical personnel partnered with local doctors and nurses and other non-governmental organizations to provide free healthcare to residents in Ladyville, San Ignacio and Dangriga.
In her remarks to the guests, Galanek noted the partnerships present during BTH 2017, not just between Soldiers from different countries, but also between service members and local doctors and volunteers whose efforts made the three medical events such a success.
“Thanks to all the partnerships with Belize, over 17,000 patients were seen, and that is thanks to the volunteers and members of the community.”
BTH not only forged bonds of cooperation and partnership, it was a successful training opportunity for U.S. engineer and medical units, allowing them to cross-train many different job specialties and work alongside partner nations with different techniques and skills.
Simma addressed the scope of the training opportunity this mission provided for Reserve and National Guard Soldiers saying that it allowed them to accomplish more than just a drill weekend and enabled them to actually practice their military jobs. Constructing a building from the ground up, doctors treating patients, cooks feeding Soldiers, water purification teams providing clean water to a large task force.
"On an individual, Soldier level, and team level, it's an excellent exercise and we accomplished our missions and training objectives,” said Simma.
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.21.2017 13:18 |
| Story ID: | 238665 |
| Location: | LADYVILLE, BZ |
| Web Views: | 184 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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