Royal Bermuda Regiment Soldiers traveled to Barbados in February 2024 to train defense and security personnel on how to handle public disorder situations. ROYAL BERMUDA REGIMENT
THE WATCH STAFF
The Royal Bermuda Regiment trained police, prison and defense personnel from seven other Caribbean nations on how to teach public order techniques, part of a longstanding practice of regional collaboration. Two Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers traveled to Barbados recently to lead the training as part of the Regional Security System, a coalition of Caribbean member states that work together to address common security issues.
The soldiers taught security personnel from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia. “Ten people from Regional Security System member states were selected for the train-the-trainer course in Barbados so that they, in turn, can pass on the knowledge and skills to colleagues and harmonize practices across the RSS [Regional Security System] network,” a spokesman for the Royal Bermuda Regiment told Bernews, an online news site in Bermuda.
The course involved instructional techniques, lesson preparation and role-playing games that the soldiers can take back to their own countries’ security personnel. After the Barbados course, the trainers taught a basic public order course to 21 students from eight other RSS partner nations. “The points to get across are for the students to think about safety first, to trust in their equipment, and to look out for the individuals around them,” said Colour Sgt. Sergio White of the Royal Bermuda Regiment training team.
Senior Sgt. Alvin Titus of the Royal Police Force of Antigua & Barbuda, who took part in 2023 training, noted the value of “aligning procedures across RSS member states … It’s very important that we have the same standard, that we are all on the same page in terms of how we deliver public service to the citizens of our countries,” he said, according to Royal Gazette, a Bermuda newspaper.
The Regional Security System formed in 1982 among eastern Caribbean nations to improve their ability to render mutual aid. In 1983, joint RSS forces deployed for the first time, alongside personnel from the U.S. and Jamaica, to restore order in Grenada during a period of political upheaval. More recently, the organization – the sole regional security organization with the responsibility and expertise in coordinating combined operations in response to threats to national and regional security – performed these functions on behalf of CARICOM under the Treaty on Security Assistance.
Although, Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory, isn’t a member, the Royal Bermuda Regiment has worked closely with RSS member nations. “The RSS was first formed more than 40 years ago out of a need for a collective response to security threats … It aims to ensure the stability and well-being of member states, to help maximize regional security for the preservation of social and economic development,” a Royal Bermuda Regiment spokesman told Bernews.
The two-week exercise at the RSS training center in Barbados was designed to equip security forces – including police and prison officers – with the tactics required to safely maintain public order and to create a standard for techniques across the RSS network, according to a Royal Bermuda Regiment news release.
Lt. Cmdr. Brian Roberts, RSS director of training, said: “The RSS is happy with the public order training conducted by the Royal Bermuda Regiment. The professionalism and expertise of the RBR team was profound and was instrumental in the successful attainment of the training objectives. I commend the team for a job well done and we look forward to future engagements and strengthening of our partnership.”