The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) celebrated its 60th anniversary in September 2025, honoring retired veterans as it launched a public education campaign to raise awareness of the unit’s importance to the Atlantic island’s security and resilience. “Our 60th anniversary year is a year of opportunity,” said Lt. Col. Duncan Simons, the RBR’s commanding officer, according to the Royal Gazette, a Bermuda newspaper. “Not only is this year an opportunity to draw attention to the regiment as we celebrate this milestone but it also presents an opportunity for the National Security and Defence Review, which will soon commence.”
Simons told the Gazette he hoped the campaign would bring “greater clarity around Bermuda’s defense requirements on land and its waters” and enable the RBR to deliver the “most appropriate and efficient capability possible.”
The RBR’s September 1, 1965, formation from two territorial units — the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Rifles — evolved over decades to incorporate women into its ranks in 1981 while steadily professionalizing its operations. The 350-member mostly reservist unit is primarily concerned with coastal defense and disaster relief operations but has taken on a greater role in maritime patrols in recent years.
As a British Overseas Territory, the United Kingdom is responsible for Bermuda’s defense. Although the RBR has a relationship with the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence, which provides training and support, Bermuda’s governor is its commander-in-chief. The unit, which is largely funded locally, also has a longstanding relationship with the U.S. military, highlighted by the annual Island Warrior exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The U.K. in June 2025 released its Strategic Defence Review, which outlines the country’s defense priorities, including Caribbean and Atlantic overseas territories such as Bermuda. “The Caribbean is particularly important, given the U.K.’s obligations to the defense and security of its Overseas Territories. The U.K. continues to provide humanitarian and disaster relief as a priority, when necessary,” the document states.
Elsewhere in the 144-page white paper, the U.K highlights its close collaboration with the U.S., stating the U.S. is the U.K.’s closest defense and security ally. The document proposes continued collaboration around the world, including the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean and Atlantic approaches to North America. Aside from Bermuda, the Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas form a first island chain of security for the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic regions. “The U.K. should work with (the U.S.) to maximize the relationship’s potential as a force multiplier in renewing deterrence: modernizing their respective military forces; leveraging the U.K.’s niche capabilities and overseas bases; connecting the Euro-Atlantic with key allies in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen collective security in both regions; and building collective defense industrial capacity,” the review states.
The RBR in 2021 created a Coast Guard unit, which has increased maritime domain awareness. Its longstanding training and collaborative relationships with the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard and the British Armed Forces have increased the readiness and force capability of the force. Speaking at the anniversary ceremony, Simons said the upcoming defense review and the public education campaign “will chart our course for the next decade so that the service we provide to Bermuda grows stronger and becomes more attractive to volunteers, and that our regiment, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, is increasingly valued by our people.”