A group of Bermuda police officers trained alongside Regiment soldiers in North Carolina.

The six firearms officers joined the troops at the US Marines’ Camp Lejuene to take advantage of state-of-the-art training facilities — including a high-tech live firing house and outdoor firing ranges far longer than are available in Bermuda.

The house features live fire rooms spread over three storeys and moveable targets for officers training on room-to-room clearance of buildings.

Bermuda Police Service firearms training officer Pc Brian MacNab said: “This is not something we can do back home — we can simulate it, but we don’t have the facilities for live firing, so the experience is great.

“We are grateful to the Regiment for inviting us. They have given us the freedom to organise our own timetable so we can get the maximum out of the trip.”

The former UK Army Commando said the police were training for the first time with new 7.62mm Ruger M-77 rifles donated to the police service by the Regiment.

The senior officer on the team, Sergeant Terry Trott, said that his men also assisted the Regiment during the public order training phase of the two-week camp.

Sergeant Trott added: “The Regiment has made things a lot easier for us because when we arrived, all the facilities were booked for us and we’ve also had the opportunity to meet the right people who can be of assistance in the future.

“We have a valuable partnership with the Regiment and arrangements like this work very well.”

Regiment Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Michael Foster-Brown said: “The Regiment works closely with the Bermuda Police Service and we’re always looking for ways to extend that cooperation — that has been evident out on the water with our Boat Troop and at big Island events.

“Having the Police along on training exercises like this is cost-efficient and good value for the taxpayer as we were able to provide flights, real life support and transport at very little extra cost to us.”