FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – U.S. Army South continued it’s long-standing tradition of working closely with partner nation armies by conducting a combat medic engagement with members of Belize’s Defence Force and Navy last November near Ladyville, Belize.

The engagement was so successful it led to plans for an additional mission this February, said Sgt. 1st Class Efrem Dicochea, U.S. Army South Surgeon’s Office operations non-commissioned officer.

“We were there at the request of the Belizean Defence Force,” said Dicochea. “The engagement was basically a refresher for the Belizean military on basic emergency medical technician skills.”

Two Army South soldiers joined forces with two subject matter experts from the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School based here not far from Army South.

The U.S. personnel worked with 16 Belizean medics serving in remote areas of the country including two navy personnel and 14 army.

“It’s basically damage control,” said Dicochea. “We practice on all emergent lifesaving steps so that the medic who is out there alone, away from medical facilities, has more capabilities to stabilize the patients before bringing them to the medical facility.”

The third trip of its kind into Belize for combat medic engagement by Army South personnel since 2010, the mission is important since it increases capabilities and makes headway toward achieving common goals.

“I believe the reason we’re going over there is to help better our militaries and to give them the capabilities to be able to save a life in a remote area based on whatever missions they have,” said Dicochea. “We’re helping them support the units that go into the jungle to help counter narcotics and terrorism. The more we help them and make them more capable to deter drug traffickers or counter terrorism the better off we all are.”

Army South, which has conducted similar engagements in the past with other partner nations including Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Guayana and Suriname, plans to have another engagement with Belize soon.

This effort supports U.S. Southern Command and Army South’s goals as well as the Army chief of staff guidance to be a force of decisive results by engaging with our allies while building partner capacity.

“We’ve built a pretty good relationship with Belize,” said Dicochea. “We’re looking forward to working closely with them again during our engagement this February.”

The February engagement will focus on jungle rescue and trauma treatment.