U.S. Marines, Belizeans contribute to security cooperation, foundations of leadership

PRICE BARRACKS, BELIZE

11.16.2016

Story by Capt. Tyler Hopkins 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South

Over the last six months across the country of Belize, U.S. Marines have been training alongside their military counterparts from the Central American nation’s armed forces.

Beginning in May and lasting through November, a small team of U.S. Marines with Theater Security Cooperation Team Belize, Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Southern Command, partnered with the Belize Defence Force and the Belize Coast Guard to conduct tailored training courses designed to increase partner nation capacity and support regional security cooperation. Doing so is an effort at further enabling regional partners to provide security and prosperity to their citizens.

The various courses were typically six weeks long and structured around basic small-unit infantry skills. They covered land navigation, combat life saver classes, live-fire ranges, leadership principles, physical training, patrolling, and sharing real-life experiences between the different service members.

The Marines, working with Belizeans, ran as many as three courses simultaneously. By doing this, the TSC teams were able to interact with as many of their counterparts as possible in a six-month period, all while building strong relationships.

“What we’ve done is, based on the needs of the Coast Guard, is pull personnel from different sectors of Belize, and they’ve aggregated here at this training area,” said Sgt. Dustin Heersche, a tactics instructor with the TSC Team. “Showing them that we have a genuine interest in how they conduct their day to day operations, and how we can help them, is how we improve our relationships.”

Developing leaders within the ranks is a staple of the U.S. Marine Corps and something that is stressed when first joining the military. Marines with the TSC team made sure to stress the importance of this when interacting with Belizeans.

During a leadership lecture with the Belize Coast Guard, Gunnery Sgt. Mitchell Soper, the detachment staff noncommissioned officer in charge of TSC Team Belize, SPMAGTF-SC, explained the importance of good leadership.

“Leadership traits and principles are shared early in our course in order to impact long term effective leadership, which in turn should impact future development within the organization,” explained Soper. “What we hope happens is that the students will take what they learn, and incorporate that into real life experiences, helping to shape future leaders within the ranks.”

An important piece of TSC is utilizing a train-the-trainer mentality. By doing this, those involved are able to take what they have learned and the experiences they have gained and carry it with them back to an operational environment.

Belize Coast Guard Petty Officer Class 3 Edward Nunez, a lead instructor for the courses, as well as a student at one point, explained how the courses benefit the students.

“Before we started training together, these students had very little knowledge of the material,” stated Nunez. “But since the instructors from the U.S. Marines have shared their knowledge, they are getting much better. With this knowledge that we have gained, we can go out on operations and be much quicker and more effective at our jobs.”

The Theater Security Cooperation teams are on a continuous, six month rotation in several countries throughout Central America, and the Marines of TSC Team Belize are already preparing to pass the mantle of relationship building to a new team of Marines at the end of the year.

• Date Taken: 11.16.2016
• Date Posted: 11.23.2016 11:34
• Story ID: 214777
• Location: PRICE BARRACKS, BZ