Royal Bahamas Defence Force Marine Aaliyah Newbold holds a defensive position while scanning the surroundings during exercise Tradewinds 25 in Trinidad and Tobago. SGT. SYMONE SIMON/U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
THE WATCH STAFF
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is readying a contingent of 150 recruits to bolster its ranks, many of whom are drawn from students who participate in the National Youth Guard programs in Bahamian high schools. The recruitment drive is designed to funnel recruits into a new training process that emphasizes military training and to address a long-standing personnel shortage. Bahamian National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said the new class of recruits was expected to join the RBDF by the end of May 2025.
Munroe told reporters that the recruitment drive has been “very fortunate” to draw upon recent high school graduates who served in the National Youth Guard, an ROTC-type program. The Youth Guard has largely filled the gap, Munroe said, according to the Nassau Guardian, a Bahamian newspaper. The government is also anticipating recruits to fill openings in the police force and prison system, Munroe said. “We’re finding, fortunately, that the National Youth Guard is proving a very effective feeder system.”
The recruits’ previous training has exposed them to a “minimal amount of militarization,” Munroe said. The Bahamian government wants to double the size of the RBDF to better patrol the nation’s waters, reported Our News, a Bahamian television broadcaster, on May 25. The National Youth Guard, run by the Ministry for National Security, “is a youth program focused on equipping young people with the tools needed to assist the nation with the help of private and public agencies during national emergencies, such as natural disasters,” according to its website. The drive is the latest step to address attrition in the RBDF. Recent legislation raises the retirement age, allowing RBDF personnel to serve until the age of 60. The Defence Force has also bolstered its ranks by recruiting reserves, according to BahamasNational.com, a Bahamian news website. The RBDF is also drawing recruits from its Ranger program, a 30-year-old youth auxiliary wing for young people that has more than 1,000 members.
This initiative aims to enhance national security and ensure adequate staffing across the country’s primary law enforcement and defense bodies, according to the Nassau Guardian and other outlets. Former RBDF commander Commodore Dr. Raymond E. King recently told Bahamian state radio that he would like to expand the RBDF’s presence. “I would have done several human capital projections as a young officer for the command and the number we would have settled on is some 3,000. Three thousand, optimal, to really fulfill our mission because as we move into those regions – the north, the southern, central – you want to duplicate HMBS Coral Harbour and you want to run each facility as a base. It requires manpower, logistics, equipment, everything to duplicate it,” King said before his recent retirement.
The Bahamas spends roughly 0.8% of its Gross Domestic Product on defense, according to 2023 estimates, the latest available. The RBDF had 1,700 members in 2024, according to the CIA World Factbook.