Recruit to tweet on Regiment training

A total of 130 new recruits joined the Bermuda Regiment on Sunday.

And the latest intake of soldiers boasted the highest-ever number of volunteers – a total of 40, half of them women.

Regiment CO Lt Col Michael Foster-Brown said: “We are delighted with the number of volunteers this year.

“It shows our message that the Regiment is a worthwhile and valuable organisation is getting through.”

Col Foster-Brown added that – in another first for the Regiment – a new recruit will post a daily update on his training on social media.

He added: “It’s a recruit’s view of the whole experience and we hope it will help demystify the Regiment and its training.”

Col Foster-Brown was speaking as the island’s newest soldiers mustered at Warwick Camp for two weeks’ basic training.

He said: “We as a Regiment – and particularly the staff looking after the latest intake – are really looking forward to it.

“It’s really rewarding experience watching them develop over the two weeks.”

Enrico Durrant, 19, from Sandys, volunteered to serve in the island’s defence force.

He said: “I did it because I wanted to better myself – I’m really looking forward to it. I’m interested in computers and IT and I’m keen to get into that in the Regiment.”

Hannah-Lynn Johnston, 18, a sales assistant in a fashion store in civilian life, said: “It’s a learning process.

“It’s a totally different perspective on things and I want to better myself, mentally and physically. I’d really like to become a medic.”

Conscript Matthew Hollis, 25, from St David’s, whose grandfather Brendan Hollis is a former Regiment CO, said: “I’m not nervous about it at all.

He added: “I’m looking forward to the shooting. I’m certainly not in shape, so I’m also looking forward to getting fitter.”

A Regiment career offers recruits opportunities to travel, acquire skills useful in civilian life, test themselves to their limits and competitive rates of pay, as well as a $300 bounty for new volunteers. For more information, call 238-1045 or visit www.bermudaregiment.bm.