British Army Training and Support Unit 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 to the south, which did and still does, claim Belize to be its own.{{Cite web |last=Tossini |first=J. Vitor |date=2018-03-30 |title=British forces in Belize – A military partnership in Central America |url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british-forces-in-belize-a-military-partnership-in-central-america/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |language=en-GB}}

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:{{cite book|last1=Ivelaw Lloyd|first1=Griffith|title=The Quest for Security in the Caribbean|date=1993|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WXbCQAAQBAJ&q=%22British+Forces+Belize%22&pg=PT59|accessdate=17 November 2017|isbn=9781317454960}}

British Army Forces in Belize

• 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, on six month roulement.
• 1 x Armoured Reconnaissance Troop, six month roulement.
• 1 x Field Battery, Royal Artillery, six month roulement.
• 1 x Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, six month roulement.
• Detachment 2 Postal & Courier Regiment Royal Engineers, FPO Belize, BFPO 12
• 24th Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport.
• 78th Ordnance Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
• No. 25 Flight, Army Air Corps.

Royal Navy Forces – Belize:

• West Indies Guard Ship, as needed.

Royal Air Force – Belize:

• No. 1417 Flight RAF
• No. 1563 Flight RAF
• 1 Air Defence Flight, RAF Regiment, six month roulement.

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".{{cite web |date=28 October 2015 |title=No Joke Jimmy, The Brits Are Back |url=http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=34133&frmsrch=1 |accessdate=22 May 2016 |website=7 News Belize}} In November 2015, the UK government announced it was re-establishing the facility as part of its 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.{{cite web |title=National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478933/52309_Cm_9161_NSS_SD_Review_web_only.pdf |accessdate=12 July 2016 |publisher=HM Government}} According to some Belizean media reports, the British decision to re-establish BATSUB could have been linked to rising tensions between Belize and Guatemala.{{cite web |date=2 December 2015 |title=Maybe more to Britain's Belize return than meets the eye |url=http://cowbrough.co.uk/more-to-british-armys-belize-return-than-meets-the-eye/ |accessdate=22 May 2016 |website=Cowbrough Communications}}

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.{{Citation |title=Are More British Troops Going To Belize? 🇧🇿 | date=22 September 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pkdQoLn4HI |access-date=2021-09-22 |language=en}}

• Belize–United Kingdom relations
• Overseas military bases of the United Kingdom

{{Reflist}}

• Isby and Kamps, Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's Publishing Company, 1985

• {{Official website}}

{{British Forces deployments}}

Category:British Army deployments

Category:Military of Belize

Category:Royal Air Force education and training

Category:Belize–United Kingdom military relations

Category:Military installations of the United Kingdom in other countries

Category:Belize and the Commonwealth of Nations

Category:United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations

{{UK-mil-stub}}

{{Belize-stub}}