For nearly two decades, Felix Ack patrolled Belize’s borders, facing off against Guatemalan military personnel at the contested Sarstoon border in service to his country. Now, five months after hanging up his uniform at 37, the retired Belize Defence Force soldier is still waiting to receive the retirement pension and gratuity he earned through 18 years of service. Ack is far from alone in this bureaucratic limbo: local outlet News 5 has received identical complaints from multiple retired service members across the force.
Ack joined the BDF straight out of adolescence at 18, dedicating the entirety of his early adulthood to national border security. To make ends meet amid the ongoing delay, he has been forced to take casual work on Caye Caulker, a remote island that has left him separated from his family. “I really need my benefits. I believe I’ve served my time already, and waiting for it makes me frustrated that I have to seek another job,” Ack explained in an interview. “I believe the government can do better by facilitating our benefits as fast as possible. Five months is too much to wait.” For Ack and his fellow retired soldiers, their personal files have remained stuck at Price Barracks for half a year, with no visible movement in the benefits approval pipeline.
When approached with the veterans’ collective complaints, Francis Usher, Chief Executive Officer of Belize’s Ministry of Defence and Border Security, openly acknowledged the systemic delays. Usher explained that the multi-stage bureaucratic process, while designed to ensure accuracy in benefit calculations, creates unavoidable long wait times for retiring soldiers. He walked through the full approval chain a retirement file must complete before any payment is issued: starting at BDF headquarters, moving to the Ministry of Defence, then to the Security Services Commission, a body that only convenes once per calendar month. If a file arrives just after a monthly meeting, the veteran must wait a full 30 days before their case is even added to the meeting agenda. After clearing the commission, the file moves to the national treasury for a full review of the soldier’s entire career salary and increment history, then to the Ministry of Finance, the Public Service Commission, and finally back to the Ministry of Defence before payment processing can begin.
As a long-term solution to the backlog and delays, Usher confirmed that the government is working to digitize all service records for both the BDF and the Belize Coast Guard. The digitization project aims to eliminate the slow, clunky chain of physical file transfers that currently slows every step of the approval process. “The hope is that by doing that, it can speed up the process because we don’t have to wait for physical files to get to the ministry. It can then be an electronic review, a click of the button,” Usher said. However, he also admitted that the rollout of the new digital system is progressing far slower than officials and veterans would like. Usher sympathized with the veterans’ frustration, noting that after decades of service, retired soldiers have more than earned their benefits, but added that bureaucratic caution is necessary to protect public funds and ensure accurate disbursements. “But I also now understand the other side because we do have to be stewards of the public purse. We do have to make sure that we are administrating it responsibly,” he said.
For the time being, the delays persist. Many retired soldiers wait months for their earned benefits, and some have been stuck in the approval pipeline for more than a year, with no end to their wait in sight.