Governor visits Regiment troops in North Carolina

The Governor and the incoming Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment have paid a visit to troops training at a US Marines base in North Carolina.

Governor George Fergusson and Lt Col Michael Foster-Brown - who will take over the top job at Warwick Camp next month - visited the troops with Col Richard Smith, the assistant Military Attaché at the US Embassy in Washington.

They spent three days touring the sprawling Camp Lejuene as Regiment soldiers made the most of the state-of-the-art training facilities being used during Island Warrior 13.

His Excellency, who is Commander-in-Chief of the Regiment, and the two senior British officers watched medics get put through their paces in a hi-tech simulation lab which mimicked a disaster zone, complete with flashing lights, power failures, smoke, explosions and screams,  while they battled to save the lives of casualties.

Later, they watched soldiers on the range hit targets up to 400 metres away and the Guns and Assault Pioneers work with a huge floating bridge, which extends to more than 300 metres.

Mr Fergusson said: “The facilities here are clearly superb and the feedback we’re getting from our US Marine hosts about the quality of training and commitment to the Regiment is very good – and they’re not just saying that to be polite.”

He added he had been just as impressed by the cool heads of the medics as they fought to save seriously wounded ‘casualties’ – surrounded by noise and sometimes plunged into darkness, all under the eagle eye of US Navy instructors, also known as Corpsmen.

Mr Fergusson said: “They also had to take into account their own safety and that of their patient in the attack zone.

“The training officer asked the hosts if, based on what they had seen, they would let our people go out on patrol with their people – the answer was ‘yes’.”

Col Foster-Brown, a 20 year British Army veteran with command experience and on his first visit to a Regiment training exercise, said: “I have been reassured and impressed by the enthusiasm of the troops involved in Island Warrior 13.

“I am very much looking forward to working alongside them.”

Col Foster-Brown added that one of his priorities was to boost the number of volunteers in the Regiment.

But he said: “Chatting to the troops, not many are volunteers, but despite that they seem to be enjoying what they’re doing.

“They seem to relish the chance to employ military skills in a very testing environment.

“Despite initial misgivings some of them may have had, they are pleased to be here and working very hard.

“Hopefully, they will take that back with them to Bermuda – I am convinced they get a huge amount from the Regiment in terms of personal development, leadership, team spirit, self-discipline and self-confidence.

“These are all things parents would hope for their children. Regiment training is of benefit not only to the wider Bermuda society, but to employers as well.”

Col Smith said: “It’s a seriously impressive camp. The range of tasks, breadth of activity and the complexity of the overall plan has been genuinely excellent.

“It’s something you could easily imagine a regular battalion of the British Army doing.”

Lt Col Brian Gonsalves, who has commanded the Regiment for four years after his original term was twice extended, said he was confident he had left the Regiment with standards in line with regular UK and Canadian forces.

“I am extremely proud of what we have achieved in the last few years. The Regiment has many fantastic, dedicated and skilled soldiers who are committed to doing their very best and who are totally dedicated to the Regiment and its mission.

“All, by continuously sacrificing their time for our Regiment and our country, make a major contribution not only in the military sphere, but to the Island as a whole.