The Islands’ soldiers are undergoing intense training as hurricane season gets underway to ensure they can handle anything nature can throw at them, and their employers have been invited to see the benefits of the troopers’ training.
Cayman Islands Regiment troopers are honing the skills they learned in the first part of the year in their annual camp.
And they are to deploy this week on a realistic exercise to deal with the fictional “Hurricane Carter” – named in honour of the last commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Roger Carter.
Lieutenant Colonel Graham Muir, Carter’s successor, said the work-up period had also been used to highlight the regiment to the employers of volunteer reservists and underline the skills that can easily transferrable to civilian life.
Muir, a former professional soldier in the British Army, said, “One of the employers I was speaking to, who runs a property development company, said he would definitely be encouraging other members of his team to join the Regiment.”
He said, “Employers get better trained, more confident employees back in the workplace, with first aid skills and leadership skills.
“All of that enhances their value to their employers.”
Muir added that service instilled teamwork, discipline and resourcefulness, which also made reservists better all-round employees.
Employers get taste of army life
He said that guests also got the chance to view the regiment’s array of trucks and machinery, as well as try out heat-in-the-bag MREs – Meals Ready to Eat – which sustain soldiers in the field.
He added, “It was a chance for us to say ‘thanks’ to employers and let them see the valuable work the reservists do.”
Muir was speaking as troopers took part in their nine-day annual camp, which started on Tuesday, 16 June.
The briefing day for employers and visitors was held at the Agricultural Grounds in Lower Valley. Visitors included Governor Jane Owen, the regiment’s commander-in-chief, as well as employers in construction and telecoms firms, government agencies and the commanding officer’s advisory group, which includes people with expertise in welfare, disaster response and medicine.
Muir said, “The governor always has been, and continues to be, a great supporter of the regiment and we are delighted she was able to come up and express her thanks for what we do.”
On Friday, troopers packed up their kit and equipment and fan out across the island including setting up camp at Barefoot Beach in East End.
They will rig makeshift shelters using waterproof ponchos and bungee cords and practice humanitarian aid and disaster relief skills in conditions as close as possible to the real thing.
Muir said, “We have nine days to evaluate our routines for the storm season.
“They are designed to assess our response to a major storm and offer reassurance to the government that we’re ready and able and refreshing the skills we trained for in the first six months of the year.”
Test of resilience
Muir said living under ponchos in the heat of summer, exposed to the elements and the island’s insect life, also tested the resilience of reservists.
“It tests organisational and individual resilience with the heat and other natural hazards they might encounter.”
Muir added, it was important to underline that the largely part-time regiment offered a valuable reservoir of reservists “trained in disaster relief”.
He said the regiment added “cost effective national resilience” that government and partner agencies could draw on in times of national need.
Muir highlighted that the regiment’s role involved the use of complex equipment which needed skill and concentration.
He said the service needed sufficient personnel to be able to regularly rotate troops to maintain operational readiness and efficiency.
Muir said in April that the regiment mustered more than 70 reservists and was keen to double that number by next year.
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