Photos: Minister Perinchief’s Regiment Visit

July 12, 2011

The Minister for National Security, Minister Wayne Perinchief and the Permanent Secretary for National Security, Major Marc Telemaque made an official visit to Warwick Camp last week. This was the first time that the Minister has been formally invited to Warwick Camp during a training camp. The visit coincided with the Bermuda Cadet Corps’ Annual two week camp.

The Minister and Permanent Secretary were escorted by the Commanding Officer for the Bermuda Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Gonsalves; Second in Command, Major Warren Furbert; The Adjutant, Captain Ben Beasley; and the Regimental Sergeant Major, WO1 Gavin Lee. The four members of the Regiment escorted the VIPs around the camp, stopping to take in areas of interest.

Of note, the VIPs visited the Operations Rooms and were given a demonstration of the Bermytrack system by Sergeant Major Dean Rubaine, the Senior Signals Instructor in the Regiment. The Minister was quite impressed when Sgt Maj Rubaine told him, “We are currently in the middle of our annual Signal Training Camp and we are focused on exploiting this system to maximum benefit. It is extremely user friendly and provides a plotting system of Regimental activities and signals use over the Island. The network identifies where the user or last location of the radio was; this is especially useful during training and operations. Furthermore it isn’t restricted to land and can be used in maritime operations and gives the direction of the travel.”

During a stop in clothing stores, the Quartermaster, Captain Graham Benjamin and the CO told the Minister and Permanent Secretary that the Regiment were beginning a transition from the current Combat Soldier uniform to the modern beige Multi Terrain Pattern uniform already in use by the British and American Forces on operations. The rollout of the uniform will begin in earnest next year at the same time as it comes into effect with British Armed Forces. The new uniform will also be less expensive than the current combat clothing and it will be issued to all recruits in 2012.

The Minister said he was aware that The Regiment has faced many challenges recently as a result of budget cuts and was pleased to see that they were responding well to the economic challenges. The CO explained that one of the Regiment’s top priorities for the next year is to maximise the enlistment of volunteers and is currently beginning its major recruitment drive prior to the draft scheduled for the end of summer. Before leaving Clothing Stores the CO seized the opportunity to present the Minister with a Regimental tie, to which the Minister replied, “Well I think I have earned it. Although I left here in 1964 to join the Bermuda Police I did my time.”

Moving to the 25m shooting range, the highlight of the visit appeared to be the mock casualty incident put on by the Bermuda Cadet Corps. The scenario involved the cadets setting off smoke grenades and “flash-bangs”. Subsequently, one of the cadets received a fake injury from the incident which galvanised the young soldiers to start their emergency medical procedure.

The cadets immediately evacuated the victim to a safe location and performed first aid trying to reduce the victim’s blood loss, treat the multiple wounds, and stabilise the patient. Unfortunately, the scenario worsened as the injured young man entered shock and the pulse weakened until it was unreadable. The young soldiers – who are well trained in First Aid – maintained professionalism, administered CPR and treated the shock as best possible. It is believed that the victim will make a full recovery thanks to the actions of the cadets.

The Commandant of the Cadet Corps, Major Henry Campbell reflected on the training the Cadets receive, “We put a high emphasis on first aid as it is an important skill for young Bermudians to have as it can be applied to many situations, the most common being road traffic accidents. First Aid also provides a good basis for command tasks and leadership training.”

“Throughout their time in the Corps the young soldiers are taught many activities that will make them better citizens, whether it is first aid, discipline, self-reliance, team work or community service. Of course, we still have fun, and it is rewarding for the Cadets as well as the staff.”

On the way into the Officers’ Mess, the Minister stopped when he noticed he appeared in one of the pictures with some of his former Police colleagues at a joint officers’ dinner. The Minster and the CO spent a brief time discussing how the two organisations had grown over the years and how they shared many of the same values.

The group then moved to the dining room to meet members of the Senior Command Team to discuss current Regimental matters, such as training, recruitment, and the variety of roles the Regiment undertakes in support of Bermudian community and overseas deployments, and areas of possible expansion.

Click to enlarge photos: