belize special assignment group

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Socsouth and belize special assignment group (bsag).

August 4, 2016 John Friberg USSOCOM 0

Special Operations Command South (SOCSouth) and 1-228th Aviation (Joint Task Force Bravo) recently conducted a training exercise with some specialized units of Belize. In late July the U.S. personnel worked with the Belize Special Assignment Group (BSAG) and Belize Coast Guard (BCG) executing Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction (FRIES), helicast operation, open water hoist training, and use of the Jacaobs Ladder. Read more in “1-228th AVN, SOCSOUTH enhance Belizean CTOC capabilities” ,  Joint Task Force – Bravo Public Affairs,  August 3, 2016.

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• BSAG gets new equipment and gear

Brigadier-General David Jones, Commander, BDF

Brigadier General David Jones

“The regular soldier cannot just go into the BSAG. When you finish your recruit training we look at your skill-set, we look at your ability to learn, your aptitude and then there is a test after two years where you serve with a regular infantry unit and then you get selected to go to a special unit…BSAG is one of them. There is a selection process where the fitness level of these guys has to be superior to the regular soldier. Their marksmanship has to be superior to the rest…their ability to learn quickly, adapt and do special type operations is tested and based on their performance then they get selected. They get selected to do the entry training into BSAG. Now that training is much tougher than our recruit training and much tougher than what the regular soldiers will do. If they survive that training then they get accepted into the BSAG. BSAG is our Special Forces unit. This unit was created about seven years ago primarily for terrorism training, for any terrorist attack that might happen in Belize or any high risk or dangerous operations – hostage rescue, search and rescue, these guys are our elite forces. A soldier is trained to kill, and these guys in the Special Forces are trained to do it even more efficiently, or even better. And this is why this unit was created. And we are enhancing their training ability…they have been training with the US Special Forces for the past almost seven years now…Now the US Special Forces and the Canadian Special Forces work closely together, and since we work closely with the Canadians as well, there is a hand off for a period where the Canadians are willing to come and train and continue the training with these Special Forces that we have at least for the next three years. So starting last month, Canadian Special forces are going to be training our BSAG for the next three years.”

Successful BSAG members also go through extensive background checks to determine if there is a propensity for criminal behavior, even polygraph testing.

Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.

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Johnny Briceno: Commissioner of Police is totally incapable

Drug War Next Door? Belize's Plan: Patrol the Border and Hope for the Best

In Belize, concerns about drug-fueled violence in neighboring Mexico and Guatemala have led to increased foot patrols and a lot of anxiety

ARENAL, Belize -- I am not a military man, but if I were to serve honorably, I think I would like to be a member of the Belize Defense Forces.

I came to that conclusion early yesterday morning while roaring through the jungle in a diesel-powered Ford F350 with eight members of the Belize Special Assignment Group, the country's elite troops. We were near the border with Guatemala, looking for Zeta drug cartel gangsters and illegal pot plantations. Dance hall reggae, 80s pop tunes and patriotic soca music ("Belize, bee-oooo-tee-fool Belize") were blasting from the stereo, as the pickup lurched and shimmied through a sea of mud, plowing over small trees and anything else that happened to be in the way.

It was a nice change from Mexico, where I usually work, covering the bloody drug war there for The Washington Post . In Mexico, skittish soldiers and police ride around in face masks and full body armor, waging wild gun battles with mafia gunmen on city streets and major highways. Many have been killed.

Belize isn't that bad. Yet.

But things are getting dicier here at the country's long, wide-open border with Guatemala. For years Guatemalan peasants have been spilling over the boundary into Belize's protected areas, where they clear the forest and plant crops. Only the pattern has taken a sinister turn lately, military officers told me, as more and more farmers plant marijuana, under the protection--or orders--of heavily-armed Zetas on the other side. Lately the gangsters have carved spooky messages for the Belizean troops into the trees, like "We are watching you," notched with the letter "Z."

"They come over the border and cut down all the trees," said Sgt. Marcos Villagran, the tall, lanky unit commander, who wore a bucket hat and carried an American M4 rifle--a gift of anti-narcotics aid from the United States, like the Ford F350. "This is about land. Land, and following the law," he said.

Three weeks earlier, Belizean troops exchanged fired here with two gunmen armed with AK-47s, shooting back and wounding one of the attackers. Now they were heading up a steamy jungle valley to a location where a large pot field had been spotted from the air--but they had lost radio contact with the lead unit that was supposed to secure the area.

When the mud got deeper and the truck could no longer continue, the unit continued up the valley on foot, moving through the forest without a murmur. It was like hiking in a bug-infested steam room, with only the sound of swishing brush and the soupy mud sucking at one's boots. Where the valley widened, the forest had been cleared, and tall corn fields climbed the hillsides right to the edge of the forest, entangled in bean stalks.

The soldiers would fan out and crouch down at the sound of someone approaching along the trail, their weapons at the ready. At one spot, they ducked into a defensive position, and I could hear them flicking off the safety switches on their rifles. But it was only a farmer, plodding down the trail with sacks of corn loaded on his burro. He was singing love songs in Spanish, but stopped when he saw the soldiers. He flashed a toothless smile and sauntered on through the mud.

By mid-afternoon the sky was purple with rain clouds and the unit still couldn't reach the other team on the radio, so we turned back. Had the other group gotten lost? Was it a radio malfunction? What if they'd been attacked? There was no way to know. The Belizeans don't have any helicopters and all their ATVs were broken, so the only way up the valley was on foot, and there was no time to get there before nightfall. They would have to come back tomorrow.

The soldiers reached the pickup just as it started to pour. They barreled down the highway back to base, teasing each other in Kriol, honking to friends along the shoulder and whistling at the pretty ladies. The Pointer Sisters' "Slow Hand" was on the radio, LOVE FM.

It seems like a much bigger storm may be headed for Belize. But for now the worst of the drug war was still on its door step, and not yet inside.

This story was reported with a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting , an Atlantic partner site

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1-228th AVN, SOCSOUTH enhance Belizean CTOC capabilities

Photo By Master Sgt. Siuta Ika | A UH-60L Black Hawk assigned to Joint Task Force-Bravo’s 1st Battalion, 228th... ... read more read more

Photo By Master Sgt. Siuta Ika | A UH-60L Black Hawk assigned to Joint Task Force-Bravo’s 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment positions a flight paramedic to extract a role player acting as a patient during an open water hoist training scenario off the coast of Belize District, July 21, 2016. The 1-228th AVN’s U.S. Air Ambulance Detachment Honduras handles all of the battalion’s aeromedical operations, which include both training partner nations and providing real-world MEDEVAC capabilities throughout Central America. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Siuta B. Ika)   see less | View Image Page

BELIZE DISTRICT, BELIZE

Story by staff sgt. siuta ika  , joint task force bravo.

BELIZE DISTRICT – Joint Task Force-Bravo’s 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment deployed UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters to conduct a variety of training scenarios throughout the Belize District with members of the Belize Special Assignment Group and Belize Coast Guard -- who were supported by members of Special Operations Command South -- July 18 through 21. The BSAG, BCG, SOCSOUTH and 1-228th AVN personnel executed Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction System (FRIES) training, helocast operations and recovery with the Jacobs Ladder, and open water hoist training in order to increase the capabilities of the Belizean forces to conduct counter-transnational organized crime operations within their land and maritime borders. U.S. Army Capt. Paul Peterson, 1-228th AVN assistant operations officer, said that although the training event was a great step for the BSAG and BCG members to become proficient in helicopter operations, he thinks a bigger benefit for our partners came in the form of planning and operating with outside air assets. “Throughout the training event we went into briefs together and they asked us questions to learn how we operate, so learning the mission-planning process was important to them,” Peterson said. Peterson also said the training was equally beneficial for the pilots and crews because of the qualifications gained, and the experience of working with partner nation ground and maritime forces. The U.S. Ambassador to Belize, Carlos Moreno, witnessed a training scenario first hand and praised the cooperation between all of the military forces. “These kinds of partnerships are essential in maintaining a good, productive relationship, and ultimately serves to protect American interests abroad and on the mainland,” Moreno said. “Anytime you develop a partnership like this, it really serves to tighten those bonds and it mutually supports what we both want to accomplish here.”

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Category : Belize Special Assignment Group

Media in category "belize special assignment group".

The following 20 files are in this category, out of 20 total.

• Belize Defense Force
• Special forces by country
• Uses of Wikidata Infobox
• Uses of Wikidata Infobox with no image

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Belize Special Assignment Group

The Belize Special Assignment Group or BSAG for short or B-SAG is a special unit of the Belize Defense Force . It is used primarily in the fight against the drug routes through Central America. In 2010, the unit was also involved in a mission in Haiti for the first time outside the country . [1]

Little is known about the equipment except that ten Ford F350 pick-ups, sponsored by the US government , are used by BSAG. [2]

Controversy

On February 22, 2018, seven BSAG soldiers and a police officer from the Special Patrol Unit stormed a house to recover a cell phone that had been reported as stolen. They killed a woman and seriously injured a man when they did not hand over the phone. The eight defendants were in custody arrested and the judge in Orange Walk Magistrate Court in Orange Walk Town demonstrated. The security forces were charged with murder. [3] In September 2018, all eight men were released because the court files could not be found. [4]

• Drug War Next Door? Belize's Plan: Patrol the Border and Hope for the Best von Nick Miroff (englisch)

Individual evidence

• ^ Belize Defense Force Open Day. Retrieved March 11, 2012 .
• ↑ Handing-Over Ceremony for the Ten Ford F-350 Pick-up Trucks to the Belize Defense Force. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 15, 2011 ; Retrieved March 11, 2012 .
• ↑ Andrea Polanco: 8 to Court for Murder, Attempted Murder in OW Beating. February 26, 2018, accessed November 9, 2018 .
• ↑ SEVEN B.D.F SOLDIERS WALK, CASE FILE NOT AVAILABLE. 26. September 2018, abgerufen am 9. November 2018 (englisch).

This small nation on the northeast coast of Central America was formerly known as British Honduras, a protectorate and later self-governing colony of the United Kingdom . The early foundations of Mayan civilization are believed to have spread here between 2500 BCE and 250 CE, thereafter following what is known as Classical Mayan Civilization. Although explored by the Spanish and declared one of her colonies, it was only after the establishment of a trade colony in the 17th century by what became known as the Baymen (British and Scottish buccaneers and pirates) that the region took on foreign colonialist administration. The region was officially recognized as a colony in 1862 and would continue as such until granted nominal self-governance in 1964. Seventeen years later, in September of 1981, Belize was granted full independence, although units of the British Armed Forces (British Forces Belize) would continue to remain in country for many years to come, officially to provide protection against possible incursion by neighboring Guatemala , with whom the country shares a border and a long-standing territorial dispute.

The Belize Defence Force (BDF) was founded in 1978, following the disbanding of two territorial units the year before, the Belize Volunteer Guard, and the Police Special Force. The BDF is concerned with ground and air defence, the Belize Coast Guard with maritime matters, and the Belize Police Department with internal security and law enforcement.

Camouflage Designs worn in Belize

• The standard working uniform of the BDF was for many years a mixture of olive green and woodland camouflage seen here.

• The Belize Special Assignment Group (BSAG), a special operations unit tasked primarily with counter-narcotics duties, has recently been documented wearing uniforms in Multicam pattern camouflage.

• First adopted in 2011, a copy of the Russian Armed Forces' green pixelated design is now the standard camouflage pattern of the Belize Defence Force. Its adoption was spurred by the fact that woodland pattern camouflage uniforms were too easy for the general public to obtain, thus conflicting with a national mandate making it illegal for citizens to own military issue clothing.

• Members of the Special Boat Unit (SBU) - a special unit under the Air Wing - have worn a woodland camouflage with a blue colorway in recent years. This has since been replaced with a digital pattern.

• Some units of the Belize Defense Force, including the Special Boat Unit (SBU), the Anti-Drug Unit, and the newly formed Navy SEAL Team of the Coast Guard, wear a pixelated design similar to that of the US Navy. This has replaced the previously worn blue " woodland " pattern design.

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Belize Special Assignment Group

Belize special assignment group ist eine spezialeinheit der belizanischen streitkräfte. / aus wikipedia, der freien encyclopedia.

Die Belize Special Assignment Group oder kurz BSAG oder auch B-SAG ist eine Spezialeinheit der Belize Defence Force . Sie wird in erster Linie im Kampf gegen die Drogenrouten durch Mittelamerika eingesetzt. Daneben war die Einheit im Jahr 2010, zum ersten Mal außerhalb des Landes, auch an einer Mission in Haiti beteiligt. [1]

Über die Ausrüstung ist wenig bekannt, außer dass zehn Ford-F350 -Pick-Ups, gesponsert von der US-Regierung , von der BSAG genutzt werden. [2]

Kontroversen

Am 22. Februar 2018 stürmten sieben Soldaten der BSAG und ein Polizist der Special Patrol Unit ein Haus, um ein als gestohlen gemeldetes Handy wiederzuerlangen. Dabei töteten sie eine Frau und verletzten einen Mann schwer, als diese das Telefon nicht herausgaben. Die acht Beschuldigten wurde in Untersuchungshaft genommen und dem Richter im Orange Walk Magistrate Court in Orange Walk Town vorgeführt. Den Sicherheitskräften wurde Mord vorgeworfen. [3] Im September 2018 kamen alle acht Männer aus der Haft frei, weil die Gerichtsakten nicht auffindbar waren. [4]

• Drug War Next Door? Belize's Plan: Patrol the Border and Hope for the Best von Nick Miroff (englisch)

Einzelnachweise

• [1] Belize Defense Force Open Day. Abgerufen am 11.   März 2012 .
• [3] Andrea Polanco: 8 to Court for Murder, Attempted Murder in O.W. Beating. 26.   Februar 2018 , abgerufen am 9.   November 2018 (englisch).
• [4] SEVEN B.D.F SOLDIERS WALK, CASE FILE NOT AVAILABLE. 26.   September 2018, archiviert vom Original am 14.   Mai 2019 ; abgerufen am 9.   November 2018 (englisch).

On the news from time we have reports involving the Belize Special Assignment Group, or B-Sag as they are called.  But who is this highly specialized military unit?  We found out today when they got a lavish donation.  Here's the story from Price Barracks in Ladyville:

Jules Vasquez Reporting

The B-SAG, or Belize Special Assignment Group is the BDf's Special Forces:

The unit – we weren't allowed to show their faces close up – are comprised of the best soldiers in the BDF:

Brigadier General David Jones "There is a selection process where the fitness level of these guys have to be superior to the regular soldier, their marksmanship has to be superior to the rest, their ability to learn quickly, adapt, and do special type operations is tested, and based on their performance, then they get selected. They get selected to the training, and if they survive that training, then they get accepted into the B-SAG. And apart from being accepted, they are also vetted because these guys do specialized operations that are not normally known to the public, and we don't want information divulged on certain operations. So, the more covert operations, these guys would do. We check their background; we look at any criminal tendencies that they may have, or if they have the tendency to divulge information to others, we take them out. They get polygraph testing, so we check if they will be prone to telling lies, or lose their integrity on operations."

And now the Canadian government is investing in them, with this major donation of specialized equipment, 4 containers full:

H. E. Stuart Savage - Canadian High Commissioner to Belize "Today, the donation represents about 1.2 million Canadian dollars, but I think the importance is more the practical ability that it is going to give the Belizean Defence Force, and B-SAG specifically, in its enhanced capacity to increase its surveillance, intelligence, and reconnaissance ability to ensure the security of Belize's territory and of course, its citizens."

George Lovell "I want to ask for good equipment husbandry. We need to look after these equipment so that they can serve us a long time to come."

Jules Vasquez "How will you keep account 0f these excellent assets, to make sure they are available and on-hand when a disaster strikes, or whenever there are needed?"

Brigadier General David Jones "Excellent question these equipment, especially these equipment that are specifically for our Special Forces Unit, B-SAG. We have a good accounting system. These equipment will be handed over to their quarter master, and they will put it on a ledger and keep account of it. We will do regular checks on these equipment, so whoever has signed for these equipment, has to be accountable for them. So, if any of them goes missing, someone has to answer for it."    And a long time is how long the Canadians have been cooperating with Belize's military, since the 1980's:

Jules Vasquez "What is the strategic interest of your country, as it relates to this donation?"

H. E. Stuart Savage - Canadian High Commissioner to Belize "Canada is committed to enhancing good governance, human rights, prosperity, and security in the Americas, and our participation here today fit into that overall engagement."

Lt. Col. Hank Szelecz - Commanding Officer, Canadian Special Forces "The military relationship that Canada has with Belize is mutual, and it's mutually beneficial. So, we gain just as much training from coming here and working in cooperation with the Belize Defence Force."

Brigadier General David Jones "For a small country like Belize, we are like a frontline sort of troops because the Rio Hondo borders Belize and Mexico, and that's where a lot of narcotic activity occurs. So, if Belize can work in that area, Mexico can work jointly with us, it stops some of the flow that will eventually go into Canada. So, this also benefits Canada."

George Lovell "We are a country that welcomes assistance from all our friendly countries that seeks to the same sort of value that we have. And there are many of them. We have the British, Americans, and we now have the Canadians, and there is no strings attached. Yes, there are countries who would want to know precisely what impact the donation has, and I think it's just fair for us to say, 'Well, we have received these things. This is the result of those contributions and donations given to us. That's so that they are encouraged to give us more of these things. But, I don't see the Canadians asking for this. If they do, it's a reasonable request."

The 1.2 million Canadian dollar donation is valued at about 2.5 million Belize dollars...