PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Army National Guard welcomed service members from Belize to participate in a training rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana, May 24-June 14.
“The 143 service members from Belize, consisting of 117 Belize Defence Force and 26 Belize Coast Guard, arrived at Fort Johnson to train alongside the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Allen D. West, Louisiana National Guard State Partnership Program director. “During the rotation, units were responsible for the Foreign Service Forces mission while also providing a platoon to support an opposing force mission as part of the exercise.”
Louisiana and Belize have been partnered as part of the State Partnership Program since 1996. Training missions like this provide a realistic interoperability mission for Belize and the LANG.
Since the partnership began, the two countries have participated in nearly 300 events. In the initial mission in 1996, Louisiana Guard members helped build three schools in Biscayne, Crooked Tree and Orange Walk, Belize. Then in 1997, the LANG assisted in constructing eight schools and public buildings and improving 10 miles of heavily traveled roads. The partnership has continued to grow and thrive from there to military training missions.
The purpose of the SPP is to foster mutual interests and establish habitual long-term relationships across all levels of society. The program encourages the development of economic, political and military ties between the states and partner nations. It has also allowed several unique opportunities to share in combined operations together.
The SPP synchronizes states and countries to develop military-to-military and interagency operations. The program has been successfully building relations for 30 years and now includes 88 partnerships with 100 nations around the globe.