Belize Coast Guard prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary

The Belize Coast Guard is celebrating a major milestone this week, its 20th anniversary, officially observed on Friday, November 28. As part of the commemorative events, a special symposium was held this morning, bringing together the institution’s founding fathers, senior officers, and international security partners who played pivotal roles in shaping the Coast Guard into the elite maritime force it is today.  The symposium highlighted the Coast Guard’s evolution since its establishment in 2005, when it began with a small, determined team and a vision to safeguard Belize’s territorial waters. Those early pioneers, many of whom were present today, reflected on the challenges of building the unit from the ground up, including securing vessels, training personnel, and developing operational capabilities in maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and national security.  Rear Admiral Elton Bennett has labeled the symposium a prestigious event.

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, The Belize Coast Guard: “It’s 20th anniversary on the 28th of November, this Friday. We started off this week with a series of activities, first being a symposium which was held in Belmopan. We’re grateful to have some of the founding fathers of the Belize Coast Guard present. We were able to reach out to those who did the initial concept, the concept papers, and then assisted with the legislation itself to form the Belize Coast Guard and then the project management of it and then the initial commandant, and then transitioning from one commander to the next and then looking at where we are and where we project into the future. So it was a very good session. We had all of the major partners and all the stakeholders of the Belize Coast Guard present. Our partners from the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Taiwan, were all present. Those are  very important strategic partners for the Belize Coast Guard and we contribute a lot of our leadership success to these very important partners. Locally as well we are able to have been graced by the presence of the representation from Blue Economy from the National Security Directorate and others as well. So it was a very productive session where we looked back at where the Coast Guard was and where it is now over 20 years. The next big event is scheduled for the 28th itself which is the Coast Guard anniversary. That is this Friday where we will conduct the ceremonial aspect of it at the Coast Guard headquarters.”

International partners, including representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, and regional naval forces, also attended the event. They underscored Belize’s strategic role in regional maritime security and commended the Coast Guard for its professionalism and long-standing collaboration in counter-narcotics, search and rescue, and environmental protection missions.  We will have coverage of Friday’s event in our news./