Soldiers Return From 10-Day Training In Canada
The Regiment’s future leaders returned from a ten day training exercise with the Canadian Army this weekend.
A total of 31 soldiers and staff from the Junior Non-Commissioned Officers [NCOs] cadre – who are being trained to take up leadership roles in the Island’s military service – flew in from Toronto on Saturday [June 22] after enduring cold, rain rappelling down sheer cliff faces and forced marches across rough terrain.
Pte Handreth McGowan, 24, a mother-of-two from Pembroke and a nurse in civilian life, was the only woman soldier on the trip to the Canadian armed forces training base in Meaford, Ontario.
She said: “I was treated just the same as everybody else – just one of the guys. The walking and the cold were the hardest – it was freezing. But if you can keep going through that, you can cope with anything, which is useful in civilian life too.”
Pte Kallon Simons said: “It was nice – we had urban training, breaching buildings and learned how to line up, go through doors and clear buildings.
“We had a lot of deep tank tracks we had to walk through – it was probably a ten-mile march every time. It was pretty gruelling. A lot of people wanted to give up because of the sentry duty because it was cold at night, but we all got through it.”
Pte Treshaun Correira added: “I loved it – it was really tough for the first couple of days because we had no sleep at all. But I’m glad I did it, although I’m pleased to be back and out of the cold.”
Pte Mark Prior, 21, who works in retail and lives in Pembroke, said: “It was fun, but challenging because I’ve never been so tired in my life. I’ve never worked on so little sleep. But now I know what I can do and that it useful across your life, whether in uniform or out of it.”
Lance Corporal Kenton Trott, 27, and a nightclub manager, helped train the soldiers, most of whom only finished recruit camp in January.
He said: “For a lot of them, it was their first time off the Island for training and to give them something new and exciting was good.
“They had a lot of rainy nights and hot and cold days, but they turned out a good cadre.”
Colour Sergeant Chauncey Durham added: “They did well – it was tough and colder than normal, but they fought through it and there were no disciplinary problems at all. I’m pretty proud of the way they performed.”
well done.we need many more like you.
complete waste of time and money!
The bermuda toy soldiers should be disbanded!
… You should be disbanded.
When we look at the social ills that exist in these islands, I would say that you can not ever beat discipline and training to be responsible young man and women.
These young man and women may not meet your standard, but I can assure you that they meet International standards and this is why they are taken overseas to be trained in International territory, so that they can be up to International standard.
Its unfortunate that you don’t see the value of what it exactly does in helping our young man and women to have self worth, amongst several other qualities of life.
@ Duane P. Santucci,
Good morning. Normally I agree with most of your comments, but I do slightly disagree with you on this topic. As a former solider, we did do some training, and a little discipline, but the training was no where near any International Standard.
What they did teach me was patience. I spent so much time waiting on our superiors, because they were so unorganized when it came to traning and certain things.
When you speak of social ills, the sad truth is that most of the guys who do need some discipline and structure, are never selected for the regiment.
I am not going to sit here and say the regiment is a waste of time, because I met many friends up there, however it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. One good thing of late is that these guys get paid way better than we did in the late 90′s & early 2000′s.
i agree with you nuffin but da truth cuz they dont go shoot no1 they dont go to war. just teaching ppl how to use guns and complain wen its gun killing in bermuda cuz they taught them how to shoot….all the army does is take ppl away from their home for 2 weeks to be slaves and pickup trees after hurricans.
Why don’t you say that to the Bermuda Regiment soldiers who took part in the UN Peacekeeping Mission during Sierra Leone’s civil war back in 2004-5?
truth you forgot they also march in those pretty looking sort of straight lines.
I would say there would be better value for money if this was training for full time soldiers but this is an exercise that is just like recruit camp where it is done every year to replace people who have already been trained. If these trips where for full time soldiers they could further their training for an experienced soldier rather then teaching a new soldier the same thing they taught the last one. The kind of training they receive should also reflect what their roles are actually used for thus streamlining them to actually suit our needs.
The roles they play also show that the numbers of the soldiers we currently have enlisted exceed that of our actual use. A smaller better trained full time regiment would better suit our requirements then it does in our current form.
Time will tell….(Shalltell)……because where do you think the training starts to be come full time? This is the starting point of becoming senior commanders in the regiment. You have confirmed you service in hte regiment (Zero) days or you would know better. All the full time staff have been on the same program.
These are our future leaders of the Regiment. Well look on the bright side, even you, have now added to the waste of time you claim we are. lol
Thanks
just shows how much of an a hole you are stupid comment from a sissy cry baby
If they were disbanded what would Bermuda do if there was another natural disaster or another riot. Sorry to break it to you but your mates wouldn’t be able to handle it all by themselves without the regiment.
Cry Baby – 1
d.o. – Zero
Name calling serious…..grow some. o my bad they dont sell any down town.
Its always to late when its gone. I tell people like u, no one thinks they need insurance either.
Why am I going to think you would understand this? I tried don’t worry life hasn’t passed you by completly….at least u know how to use a key pad on your device. “thats one up for you!
The Army didnt teach me that”.
Cry baby Out