British Army Training Support Unit Belize (BATSUB), the successor of the former British Forces Belize, is the name given to the current

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Garrison in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. The garrison is used primarily for jungle warfare training, with access to over of jungle terrain, provided by the government of Belize. BATSUB is located near

Belize International Airport Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport is an airport that serves the nation of Belize's largest city, Belize City along the eastern coast of Central America. It was named after politician Philip S. W. Goldson, who died in 2001. The airpo ...

, at Price Barracks,

Ladyville Ladyville is the largest village in the country of Belize, eight miles northwest of Belize City in the Belize District. The Philip Goldson Highway connects Ladyville to Belize City. History Although originally a separate settlement, Ladyville ...

History

British Forces Belize

Belize – formerly 'British Honduras' – gained its independence from Britain in September 1981. However, Britain retained a deterrent force – British Forces Belize – to protect Belize from the threat of invasion from

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

to the south, which did and still does, claim Belize to be its own. The British Army Training Support Unit Belize (BATSUB), formed in 1994, is a successor to British Forces Belize, which was structured as such in 1989: British Army Forces in Belize *1st Battalion,

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

, on six month

roulement Roulement is a term used by the British Army to signify major combat units (usually battalion strength) that are deployed on short tours of duty, normally for six months. It is also used in the wider British military to mean the deployment of a st ...

. *1 x Armoured Reconnaissance Troop, six month roulement. *1 x Field Battery,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, six month roulement. *1 x Field Squadron,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, six month roulement. *Detachment 2 Postal & Courier Regiment

, FPO Belize, BFPO 12 *24th Squadron,

Royal Corps of Transport The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a British Army Corps established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider defence forces. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and tr ...

. *78th Ordnance Company,

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equi ...

. * No. 25 Flight, Army Air Corps. Royal Navy Forces – Belize: *

West Indies Guard Ship List of Royal Navy deployments is a list of operations and commitments undertaken by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy on a worldwide basis. The following list details these commitments and deployments sorted by region and in alphabetical order. Ro ...

, as needed. Royal Air Force – Belize: *

No. 1417 Flight RAF No. 1417 Flight RAF (1417 Flt) was an independent flight of the Royal Air Force which existed between 1941 and 1993 at various times in a variety of roles. This Flight had probably the most interesting incarnations of all the independent aircraf ...

* No. 1563 Flight RAF *1 Air Defence Flight,

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

, six month roulement.

Recent

In 2010, the UK government announced it would mothball the facility as part of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. However, in 2015, reports indicated that BATSUB was seeing "increased usage". In November 2015, the UK government announced it was re-establishing the facility as part of its 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. According to some Belizean media reports, the British decision to re-establish BATSUB could have been linked to rising tensions between Belize and Guatemala. Under the Integrated Review paper announced by the UK Government in March 2021, Belize is to become a 'land hub', and could have personnel deployed more regularly and for longer durations. The unit is currently commanded by a lieutenant colonel.

References

External links

* British Army deployments Military of Belize Royal Air Force education and training Belize–United Kingdom military relations Military installations of the United Kingdom in other countries Belize and the Commonwealth of Nations United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations {{Belize-stub

History

British Forces Belize

Recent

See also

References

Further reading

External links