‘Golden Generation’ Complete 50th Recruit Camp
The Bermuda Regiment’s “golden generation” finished their two weeks in Recruit Camp at the weekend, with friends and families applauding as the 50th anniversary recruits showed off some of the skills they have learned during their basic training.
Volunteer soldier Private LeeAnn Tucker was stunned when she was awarded the trophy for top recruit. The 23-year-old bartender and nanny from St George’s said: “I was really shocked when I heard my name.
Sgt Peter-Paul Taylor with some of the awards picked up by the winning 9 Platoon.
“I thought I did a good job, but I was amazed – really happy.”
Pte Tucker, from 8 Platoon, said she enjoyed drill instruction most – and was proud of the fact she finished the gruelling assault course with the rest of her section.
She added: “I have learned to control my mouth more – I have a lot more patience than before.”
And Pte Tucker said she was now looking at her options in the Regiment, including the medics, physical training instructor and training as a junior NCO.
Volunteer Pte Calshea Wilson is reunited with twin sons XaRaaj and XyArrj at the end of recruit camp.
The top platoon award was won by 9 Platoon, who collected a pile of medals and trophies on the way to the award.
Sergeant Peter-Paul Taylor – who has notched up best platoon for two years running – said: “It’s awesome.”
But the 25-year-old truck driver added: “The best feeling is that you can have a personal effect on a platoon so they can pull the best out of themselves.”
And Sergeant Taylor said the record number of volunteers had helped shape the positive attitude of the entire intake of trainee soldiers.
Recruit Camp’s top 9 Platoon celebrate after their win is announced.
Lance Corporal Andre Smith, who helped steer a section of 9 Platoon through Recruit Camp, added that his aim had been to get his soldiers through training as a team.
The 23-year-old car mechanic from Warwick added: “On the assault course, I wanted to get everybody through the obstacles. At the end of the day, they all did it. They faced their fears and they faced them together.
“I told my section I wanted to be in the winning platoon, but if we all got through the obstacles, we were all winners.”
And L Cpl Smith, who was conscripted and finished Recruit Camp himself only two years ago, said: “I see a lot of potential in them.”
Pte LeeAnn Tucker gets her award as top recruit from Governor George Fergusson.
Earlier, Governor George Fergusson told the crowds at Warwick Camp who watched the latest crop of soldiers in the passing out parade that he had been “very impressed” by the soldiers’ performance.
And he said the new soldiers – whether drafted or volunteer – that they had joined the Regiment “at a time when the Regiment’s standing in the community is very high and it’s in good shape itself.”
He told the recruits: “All of you are welcome to the Regiment – but it’s good to see for another year in succession a sharp increase in the number of volunteers.”
And Mr Fergusson, Commander-in-Chief of the Regiment, added: “I am hopeful that increasing numbers will sign for extensions.”
Family and friends watch the Bermuda Regiment passing out parade at Warwick Camp on Saturday.
Regiment Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Michael Foster-Brown said Regiment service embodied “duty and sacrifice.”
And he added that the military response to a double hit by Hurricanes Fay and Gonzalo in October last year – for which the Regiment was recently honoured with a CableVision community service award – underlined the value of the battalion.
He said: “This involved soldiers leaving their families as the second hurricane, stronger and bigger than the first, approached.”
He added: “The men and women on parade today are now part of that proud tradition that dates back to 1965, in our current guise, and has seen soldiers embodied at least once every three years, in addition to the routine support we provide to the Bermuda Police Service and other Government departments.”
A platoon await inspection as part of the final drill competition of Recruit Camp.
The newest soldiers in the Regiment will be on parade throughout the 50th anniversary celebrations, BR50.
They will take part in April’s peppercorn ceremony in St George’s, the Trooping of the Colour parade in June as part of the Queen’s birthday celebrations, and the annual Remembrance Day commemorations in November, as well as the convening of Parliament ceremony towards the end of the year.
Congratulations to all of the young men and women who successfully completed their Recruit Camp, and especially Private LeeAnn Tucker for winning the top recruit award, and to Sergeant Peter-Paul Taylor and his platoon for their award as Best Platoon.
Seeing these photos of this parade reminds me of the one I attended to watch my son on his Passing Out Parade. He was a very reluctant recruit and definitely never wanted to serve in the Regiment. He did not collect any awards, but I was amazed at his sense of pride on that day, and his subsequent pride in having served in the Regiment where he made friends for a lifetime and also learned to work as part of a team – a skill that has stood him in good standing as he progresses through life.
Thank you Bermuda Regiment for installing a sense of pride in our young people like Private LeeAnn Tucker and her fellow recruits, many of whom may not have wanted to join the Bermuda Regiment but will always remember the valuable life lessons they learned.
^yes men/women. The vast majority of which are not free thinkers who act under their own volition and who have weak morals.
If you had asked every single conscript before camp started if they could or would kill anybody most would have said no. Yet every single one of them took up arms and spent a week+ honing their skills on the gun range. “Shoot to kill” we are taught. “Don’t shoot to injure”…
If our ‘golden generation’ brushes to the side one of the most sacred creeds of ‘thou shalt not kill’ simply because the government tells them to, I shudder to think what they will do when they think nobody is watching.
But congrats on making it through these past two weeks. Hopefully none of y’all were assaulted…
You know the regiment is grasping at straws when they have to use catch phrases like, “Golden Generation”, and justify their existence by claiming to be an after hurricane brush clearing force.
Ugh I can’t stand the idea of a regiment in Bermuda. It makes no sense.
The comment from Unbelievable appears to be at odds with those of Sergeant Peter-Paul Taylor whose platoons have won top honours for two years in a row. It appears that he is a truck driver in his day job, and he is quoted as saying, “The best feeling is that you can have a personal effect on a platoon so they can pull the best out of themselves.” I have to wonder if serving in the Regiment has provided Sergeant Taylor with some life skills and man-management skills that he can carry with him for the rest of his life.
And how about Private LeeAnn Tucker who won top honours and comments that “I have learned to control my mouth more – I have a lot more patience than before.” I can think of quite a few young people who would greatly benefit from this young lady’s experience!
I’m trying to figure out what other organized activity for our young people requires the dedication and teamwork demanded by the Regiment. Yes, we have sports but not everyone is into sport. Like it or not, the Bermuda Regiment seems to have had a significant positive influence on these two young people – and that makes a heck of a lot of sense to me.
Ah, naysayers………take a look at that third pic of young people in the prime of life and their sheer joy at being good at what they do and tell me again the Regiment is worthless. And the Regiment did a lot more than brush after the hurricanes – including pulling a guy off a damaged boat at some risk to themselves.