It’s no ordinary life in the Regiment

It’s not every day you get a trio of hi-tech aircraft worth a shade over $160 million in total as your personal transport.

But you don’t really have normal days in the Bermuda Regiment.

The US Marines — a fine bunch, in my view — were kind enough to transport Regiment soldiers to a training area at their Camp Lejuene in North Carolina in two V-22 Ospreys and a Sikorsky Super Stallion helicopter.

An Osprey — the world’s first tilt-rotor aircraft — best described as the lovechild of a helicopter and an aeroplane — comes in at around $67 million.

The Super Stallion, the western world’s largest helicopter and which can carry a 16 ton payload, is a snip in comparison at just $26.1 million. And I really, really, want one.

Hurricane relief

The airborne experience, however, like most things in Bermuda’s defence force, had a serious purpose. The Regiment has become the ‘go to’ unit for Caribbean islands hit by natural disasters like hurricanes.

And — as Staff Officer Major Joe Carnegie pointed out — boarding and disembarking safely from helicopters, commonly used in support of overseas humanitarian missions, is a handy skill to have.

Part of the training involved delivering relief supplies to a town purpose-built by the Marines for training in urban warfare and populated by Regiment soldiers in civilian clothes whose role was to test soldiers’ responses in stressful situations.

But it wasn’t entirely without light relief. One Sergeant Major — who shall remain nameless in order to protect the guilty —  played the town drunk, complete with a range of realistic accessories and showed acting skills worthy of an Oscar as he tested the patience of the soldiers in the relief force to the limit.

The Regiment chose Camp Lejeune for a reason – the massive range of facilities on offer and their closeness meant every unit of the Regiment could get specialist training at a cost-effective price.

In contrast with Jamaica, where everything the Regiment needs has to be shipped out, much could be bought on site, like food, which was a whole lot cheaper than boxed MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).

And the place is immense — it covers an area of 244 square miles, boasts 80 live firing ranges and three Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training areas. It’s also got a huge shopping mall. Well, it is America.

But there wasn’t a whole lot of time for shopping — the Boat Troop practised manoeuvres with the US Coast Guard, while Assault Pioneers learned the safe use of explosives and how to deploy a massive floating temporary bridge.

Other soldiers practised infantry tactics and live firing, while the medics got a workout from the US Navy, which supplies the Marine Corps with its medics.

And the Motor Transport troops trained on massive seven-ton trucks and Humvees, the workhorse of the US military, while the Regimental Police worked with the Marines Police.

Speaking to the Marines, many of them veterans of war zones and trouble spots around the world, they were genuinely complimentary about the work ethic and enthusiasm of Bermuda’s soldiers.

And this was from a branch of the military that, just into our second week, lost two of their number in combat in Afghanistan. They’re serious people whose good opinion counts.

And the long hours, hard work and high stress helps the troops develop skills and gain life experience that can only help them dealing with the problems of civilian life and the workplace.

My only complaint is the early starts — I am not a morning person.

The Battle of the Somme (1916) started at 7:30am, or 07:30hrs in military speak. The result? Disaster and the biggest single day’s loss of life in British Army history.

The Battle of Trafalgar (1805) on the other hand, kicked off around lunchtime. Result? The French navy got hammered and — for more than a century — Britannia really did rule the waves.

The moral? Things go better after a bit of a lie in and a leisurely breakfast. There is much, I feel, that soldiers can learn from the Royal Navy.

And Trafalgar still annoys the hell out of the French, which is a bit of a bonus, really. n