Breaking Barriers: Private Jensie Enamorado Becomes Belize’s First Female Aircraft Engineer in the BDF

Private Jensie Enamorado has etched her name into history as the first woman aircraft engineer enlisted in the Belize Defence Force (BDF). Her groundbreaking achievement was celebrated during a ceremony honoring her and her colleague, Private Roberto Cu, for successfully graduating from the prestigious Escuela de Formación de Suboficiales de la Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (EFSOFAH) in Honduras. Private Enamorado’s milestone reflects both personal triumph and a significant stride for gender representation within Belize’s military forces. Love News spoke with Chief of Staff, Major Roberta Usher about what this achievement means for not only the BDF but for women within the force. 

Major Roberta Usher, Chief of Staff, BDF: “I do know that this category is for non-commissioned officers, which are our soldiers, and they gain a technical bachelors in mechanical aviation, which is equivalent to an associate’s degree in aviation maintenance. So they did earn a degree and now they will come back to the BDF, be promoted, and work as engineers under the airwing. I do know that these two are the third graduates from this specific school. And Jensie Enamorado is the first female BDF engineer from the force. We have equal access within the BDF. We take the development of the soldiers and ensuring that we grab any opportunity for developing and training opportunities and its equal access for all genders. The members, if it’s a technical field within a specific unit, for example the air wing the soldiers that are within that unit gain preference or they get transferred to that unit to attend these technical schools or get these training opportunities. So these two, so Jensie was actually a volunteer soldier and came across to the regular element on and was placed under the air wing and went through this further education. Private Roberto Cu he has been with the air wing since he passed out as a recruit and then he got this opportunity because the airwing was privileged enough to grab this school for the technicians that we need. The women in the BDF, they’re achieving historic milestones, taking on leadership positions and we support the Women in Peace Security Agenda and we take every opportunity we can to create equal access across the boards and we’re very proud of all of our soldiers, but particularly our women currently doing all of these things.”

The accomplishment follows in the footsteps of Lieutenant Corporal Calles, who, in 2021, became the first Belizean to graduate from EFSOFAH. The addition of Enamorado and Cu to the BDF’s aeronautical engineering ranks strengthens Belize’s capacity for aircraft maintenance and operational readiness.