Javier Castellanos
Colonel (Col)
DEPUTY COMMANDER
Colonel Javier Orlando Castellanos was born in the town of Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Cayo District on 03 April, 1970. He enlisted into the Belize Defence Force in 1988 and received his commission on 14 December, 1990 on the successful completion of the Standard Military Course from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England.
He has served as Platoon Commander, Executive Officer on board the decommissioned Patrol Craft “Toledo”, Junior Staff Officer in the First Infantry Battalion, Assistant Staff Officer, Operations Junior Staff Officer Personnel (Adjutant), Training Subaltern, Company Second in Command, Company Commander, Senior Staff at the BDF Force Headquarters, Force Intelligence Officer and as the Acting Commanding Officer of the First Infantry Battalion. He also served as the Commander of the former BDF Maritime Wing.
He has attended several local courses including Jungle Warfare Instructors Course, Junior Staff Officers Course, Counter Narcotics Staff Planning, Fisheries Law Enforcement and Public Order Management. He has also attended several workshops and conferences related to Intelligence gathering and sharing, Conflict Prevention, Evidence Based Policy Development, and Maritime Law Enforcement.
He has also attended and successfully completed the following International Courses: Infantry Platoon Commanders Battle Course at the School of Infantry, Warminster UK; Junior Command and Staff Course, Jamaica; Civil Protection Course (Disaster Management) at the Mexican Center of Military Studies, Mexico DF; Combined Arms Tactics Course at the Infantry Training Centre ,Warminster ,UK; Infantry Captains’ Career Course, Fort Benning, Georgia, USA; Intelligence Officers Course ,Jamaica; Exclusive Economic Zone Protection Course, HMS Collingwood, UK; Naval Staff Officers Course, US Naval War College Newport, Rhode Island, USA; the Military Course on the Law of Armed Conflict at San Remo, Italy; the Canadian Security Studies Programme, Toronto, Canada; Navy Oil Spill Response, UK; The Caribbean Security Sector Senior Command Course, Trinidad and Tobago; Assistance and Protection Course (Chemical Weapons) Madrid, Spain; Citizens Security, Guatemala; Civil Military Relations Course, Ottawa, Canada; and the Senior Management Course on Integrated Peace Missions at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre Nova Scotia, Canada.
He has attended several International Conferences related to Disaster Management, Intelligence, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He was also seconded to the Regional Security System in Barbados as the Assistance Staff Officer Training and Operations, served as the Aide-de-Camp to His Excellency the Governor General of Belize, Sir Colville Young and was recently Belize’s Military Attaché in Guatemala.
He is the recipient of the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal by Commander, Belize Defence Force and the “Monja Blanca de Primera Clase” by the Guatemalan Army Chief of Staff, General Illescas Garcia. He has recently been appointed as the Deputy Commander, Belize Defence Force.