2008 Speeches
Media Event for "Beyond the Horizons" (May 13, 2008)
Hattieville School
Hattieville, Belize District
It is my pleasure to represent the United States Government today at the Media Event for the Beyond the Horizons Humanitarian Exercise.
Beyond the Horizons (BTH) is the newest initiative of U.S. Southern Command’s proud legacy of humanitarian assistance exercise programs. The New Horizons exercises have been in place over the past two decades and deploys U.S. military engineers and medical professionals to nations in this region, like Belize, for training and to provide humanitarian services. Belize has benefited through the years – school buildings, NEMO warehouses, the Rockville Youth Center to name of few.
The Beyond the Horizons program builds upon those previous efforts. The purpose of the program is to follow-up with oversight of previous construction projects to make needed adjustments and repairs. The exercise thus provides a range of events for U.S. troops to exchange knowledge with host nation officials and the BDF.
BTH is sponsored by the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, but is coordinated by the U.S. Army South (USARSO) command based in San Antonio, Texas. The Texas-based USARSO is the authority for the planning and execution of this exercise, which the government of Belize, the U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Department of Defense have carefully evaluated and approved.
The soldiers working in Belize on these projects are from the Utah National Guard. They have completed work on schools that were constructed this past year and in Trial Farm and Carmelita in Orange Walk District schools, Crooked Tree and Hattieville in Belize District. They also completed work on a school in Biscayne that was constructed several years ago.
Tomorrow they will travel to Stan Creek District where they will do work on the Holy Ghost and Light of the Valley Schools and Delille Academy in Dangriga. Schools that were part of the New Horizons program in past years. They will be departing Belize on May 28th.
This year we have several other significant events happening in Belize, including two Medical Training Exercises. The first is currently underway in the Stann Creek District. Doctors and nurses from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are seeing patients in the villages of San Juan, Independence, Trio, Red Bank, Morale Day, and Bella Vista.
I visited the Independence site last Thursday and can attest that they have been very busy. This MEDRETE exercise will conclude on This coming Thursday in Belle Vista. The second Medical Training Exercises will be held in the Cayo District from June 21 –July 5. The exact villages will be determined sometime this month.
These exercises, and the others we have conducted and will conduct in the future, underscore the commitment of the people of the U.S. and the U.S. Armed Forces to our friends and neighbors in Belize and the hemisphere. As President Bush said last week in Washington, "The foundation of a good foreign policy is good relations with your neighbors."
I am proud of the U.S. Mission’s work with the Belize Defence Force. It’s another example of good work through partnership. I look forward to continuing our close relationship with the people of Belize, and the Belize Defence Force, and the Belize National Coast Guard.
Thank you all for your service to our two great countries.