Two-Week Camp Challenges New RBR Recruits
Royal Bermuda Regiment [RBR] recruits are building resilience and new skills as they progress through the two-week Recruit Camp 26 Bravo.
A spokesperson said, “Resilient characters are developing alongside newfound skills as the latest enlistees of the Royal Bermuda Regiment [RBR] progress through their two-week foundational training.
“Recruit Camp 26 Bravo has tested the cohort with demanding physical fitness activities and high-pressure scenarios – and the troops are meeting challenges head on.
“An overnight field exercise demonstrated the recruits’ grit and determination while live firing on the range at Warwick Camp required them to remain composed and diligent as their weapon drills were assessed.
“D’nyjah Pitt, 20, from St George’s, signed up to the RBR to help maintain his wellbeing.”
“I wanted to get some structure, be outside more and improve my fitness,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it so far. I like the discipline, especially the physical training in the morning.
“The foot drills have been a little difficult and I had a little trouble with the rifle assembly but I got the hang of it, I just had to practise.
“This experience is building my confidence and the speed at which I learn.”
The spokesperson said, “Tabari Burgess was a Lance Corporal in the RBR Junior Leaders [JL] from 2024 until this year and turned 18 last month, taking a spot among recruits in the adult battalion at his earliest opportunity.”
The Paget resident said: “Now that I’m here, I can see that much of what we learned in Junior Leaders has helped me in recruit camp. Everything we have learned with the rifle, we learned in JLs, so that was a really easy transition for me, along with some of the fieldcraft exercises.
“What has been challenging is the physical fitness part. JLs is a youth programme so while there is a lot of physical training, it’s nothing compared to this.”
The spokesperson said, “Ana Sanchez is originally from the Dominican Republic and has lived in Bermuda for seven years. She said her experience of recruit camp has been ‘very challenging but good’.
“The 30-year-old Pembroke resident, who has three children and works in housekeeping, enjoyed the overnight field exercise and being on the range.”
“A day-and-a-half out camping was good,” she said. “I have never experienced sleeping like that before. The live firing was exciting. I’d never had the opportunity to shoot a rifle and when I did, I felt good.”
The spokesperson said, “Elmer Martinez, from Southampton, is a Bermuda College hospitality management student who enlisted to add more structure to his life.”
“I wanted to do something that would be meaningful, something I could be a part of and look back on with pride,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed everything – the physical aspects, the learning. I’ve developed a lot of new skills.”
The spokesperson said, “The 19-year-old noted that he has seen already how regimental life can nurture traits such as discipline, time management and emotional control.
“Sergeant Luke Swan, 33, is the recruits’ platoon sergeant and has enjoyed observing progress among the rookies as well as in the RBR’s junior non-commissioned officers who have taken on command roles for the camp.”
“Subordinate development has always been my thing,” he said. “Watching the new Lance Corporals and seeing their development – where they’ve come from and where they’re going – it’s humbling, and it’s great to be a part of their journey.”
The spokesperson said, “Sgt Swan, an insulator at BAC in civilian life who is also a DJ and part owner of COA Entertainment, praised the newcomers for their hard work during the overnight exercise this week.”
The Southampton resident said: “There were many times when they could have given up, they could have said, ‘I’m tired, I’m over this’ but they showed mental fortitude that would have inspired anyone.”
The spokesperson said, “The recruits were preparing for a section drill competition this afternoon and an operational fitness test tomorrow morning before camp dismissal later in the day.
“For information on joining the Royal Bermuda Regiment, visit rbr.bm, call 238-1045 or contact the Recruiting Team at rbr.recruiting@gov.bm.”
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