Commander of the Defence Force (Belize)

The Commander of the Defence Force is the professional head of the Belize Defence Force. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the Belize Defence Force.

Commander of the Belize Defence Force
Incumbent Brigader General Azariel Loria since 21 January 2022
Belize Defence Force
Reports to	Minister of National Defence
Appointer	Governor-General
Formation	January 1978; 47 years ago (January 1978)
First holder	Lieutenant colonel Brain W. Ayres
Deputy	Deputy Commander of the Belize Defence Force
Website	https://www.bdf.mil.bz

List of Chiefs

No.	Portrait	Commander of the Defence Force	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Ayres, BrainLieutenant colonel Brain W. Ayres	1978	1980	1–2 years	[1]
2		London, GrahamLieutenant colonel Graham London	1980	1982	1–2 years	[1]
3		Galloway, ChristopherLieutenant colonel Christopher C. Galloway	1982	1984	1–2 years	[1]
4		Smith, StarmerLieutenant colonel Starmer Smith	1984	1986	1–2 years	[1]
5		Veitch, TLieutenant colonel TDA Veitch	1986	1988	1–2 years	[1]
6		David, RomellyLieutenant colonel Romelly David	1988	1990	1–2 years	[1]
7		Usher, AllanBrigadier general Alan Usher	June 1990	1995	4–5 years	[1]
8		Arthurs, EarlBrigadier general Earl Arthurs	1995	1997	1–2 years	[1]
9		Garcia, RobertBrigadier general Robert Garcia	1997	17 November 2000	2–3 years	[1][2]
10		Borland, CedricBrigadier general Cedric Borland	17 November 2000	31 January 2005	4 years, 75 days	[1][2] [3]
11		Gillett, LloydBrigadier general Lloyd Gillett	31 January 2005	30 May 2008	3 years, 120 days	[3][4]
12		Tapia, DarioBrigadier general Dario Tapia	30 May 2008	1 February 2013	4 years, 247 days	[1][4] [5]
13		Jones, DavidBrigadier general David Nejemiah Jones	1 February 2013	26 January 2018	4 years, 359 days	[5][6]
14		Ortega, StevenBrigadier general Steven Ortega	26 January 2018	21 January 2022	3 years, 360 days	[1]
15		Loria, AzarielBrigadier general Azariel Loria	21 January 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 126 days	[7]