Leadership As Bermuda is a
British overseas territory, and defence is therefore the responsibility of the
United Kingdom, the Royal Bermuda Regiment is under the control of the
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the island. However, pay and financing is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Security. The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) is listed in the
British Army Order of Battle as number 29th in order of precedence. The RBR traditionally was number 28th in the order of precedence but due to the first time listing on the order of precedence of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment which is the newest Combat Arm/Corp.
Manpower The Regiment's original strength was about 400, including all ranks. Following discipline problems during an exercise in the West Indies, a report on the unit was commissioned from
Major-General Glyn Gilbert, the highest-ranking Bermudian in the
British Army. Maj-Gen. Gilbert also took into account the difficulties the regiment had experienced in meeting its obligations when deployed during the civil unrest of 1977 (its existing strength did not allow for a reserve). He made a number of recommendations, including the increase of the Regiment's strength to a full battalion of about 750, with three rifle companies (A, B, and C) and a support company. As the support functions (Regimental Quartermaster Stores and Internal Security Stores, Signals, Armourers, Motor Transport, Boat Troop, Gun Troop/Assault Pioneers, Medics, cooks, et cetera) and the Band now fell under Support Company (commanded by the Regimental Quartermaster), the battalion headquarters was no longer considered a company in its own right. Initially, the three rifle companies rotated through the role of training company. Eventually, C Company was renamed permanent Training Company. Recruits spent their first year in Training Company, then transferred as a unit to whichever rifle company was losing its third-year conscripts, or were reassigned individually to other sub-units. As of the early 2020s, the regiment's strength-level was about 350 personnel who had a total training commitment of 30-days per year. • Regimental Headquarters • HQ Company • A Company • Logistics Company • Training Wing • Coast Guard One of the units amalgamated into the Royal Bermuda Regiment, the BMA, was nominally an artillery unit, although it had converted to the infantry role in 1953. Other than a ceremonial
Gun Troop, equipped with two
25-pdr. field guns, the Royal Bermuda Regiment is wholly an infantry unit.
Conscription rifles, prior to a shoot at
Warwick Camp, during the 1994 Recruit Camp. Although its predecessors had been organised and recruited along Territorial Army lines (engaging volunteers for part-time service who were able to be embodied for full-time service in the event of war or other emergency) from the 1920s (1921 for the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, and 1928 for the Bermuda Militia Artillery) to the 1950s (1957 for the Bermuda Rifles and 1960 for the Bermuda Militia Artillery), excepting during the Second World War (when general conscription of military aged males for the duration of the war was introduced), low recruitment led to conscription by ballot being introduced in the 1950s to make up any shortfall in volunteers (the Defence Act, 1949, had included the machinery for conscription, should it prove necessary, requiring all British males between the ages of 18 and 25 who were resident in Bermuda to register for conscription), and this continued with the Bermuda Regiment after 1965. Although any legally resident Commonwealth national might volunteer, only British nationals resident in Bermuda were liable for conscription (later further limited to those British nationals resident in Bermuda who held Bermudian status, as per the Defence Act, 1965, Section 12, amended by 1997:37 effective 6 May 1999; and by 1998:32 effective 13 July 1998). As per the
"Bermuda Report" for 1965 and 1966: As young men wishing to avoid conscription could be expected to avoid registration for conscription, the ballot actually relied upon the colony's birth register, resulting in occasional conscription of the deceased, or of young men who had been born in Bermuda to foreign parents and who therefore did not have British nationality or Bermudian status, and were not liable for conscription. The mechanism of conscription used by the Bermuda Regiment was similar to the system that had applied for the
Militia in the British Isles (or "Home" Militia) from the 1850s under the Militia Act 1852, although resort to the ballot was not made before the Home Militia was replaced in 1908 with the
Special Reserve. Except where specially provided for by the separate Regulations of the Bermuda Militia Artillery, the Regulations of the Home Militia Artillery applied to the Bermuda Militia Artillery, also, when it was raised in 1895. The majority of the Bermuda Regiment was made up of
conscripts up to July 2018, making it unique among all of the land forces under the British Crown. Conscription was based on a random lottery of men through the ages of 18 to 23, with exemptions granted to Police and Prison officers, members of the British regular forces (or men who have served for two years), church ministers, prisoners or those judged to be of "unsound mind". Both Bermudians and non-Bermudians criticised conscription for its alleged sexism and similarity to slavery (a sensitive issue given the historic background of Bermuda), and this has been noted in the
British Parliament. At its height, three-quarters of the strength of the Bermuda Regiment was made up of conscripts, although many soldiers, whether they initially volunteered or were conscripted, elected to re-engage annually after their initial three years and two months term of service was completed, with some serving for decades (such as WO2 Bernard Pitman, who retired in 2013 after forty years of service). In 2018, the
House of Assembly of Bermuda voted to abolish conscription under the Defence Amendment Act, 2018, effective of 1 July 2018.
Recent assessments Towards the end of 2005, the regiment took part in a fitness for role exercise, this time in the form of an inspection by the
Ministry of Defence. The review noted that equipment was substandard and major items would be deemed to be unserviceable by 2010 (half of the vehicles and signal equipment were noted to be "out of action") and that
command and control was poor, though it also noted high morale and firearms proficiency.
Royal Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders and the Bermuda Cadet Corps The Bermuda Regiment operated its own
Junior Leaders programme for many years, starting with nineteen boys who passed out at
Warwick Camp on 19 December 1969, thereafter forming the Junior Leaders Company. In 2012, due to financial constraints, the Bermuda Cadet Corps was disbanded and replaced by the resurrected Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders. Many of the Bermuda Regiment's officers, warrant officers and NCOs began their service in the Junior Leaders, including former Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Gonsalves. A bill was tabled in the
House of Assembly of Bermuda in 2015 to formalise the organisation of the Royal Bermuda Regiment's Junior Leaders. ==Operations==