Training methods have been improved at the Royal Bermuda Regiment, national security minister Wayne Caines told the House of Assembly on Friday.

Mr Caines said the second recruit intake of 2018 has taken the total soldiers recruited this year to 65, up from 60 last year.

He told MPs: “This RBR cohort’s conversion to military life is like no other before it. Recruits have been given more time to undergo less training in order to attain a higher standard.

“Training has being assessed by the training team and validated by recruits on an ongoing basis.

“More time has been dedicated at the start of recruit training to teach the RBR’s values and standards, its equality and diversity policy, service complaint and disciplinary processes, as well as terms and conditions of service so that soldiers are well aware of the expectations of them and their fellow soldiers.”

The minister said “great changes” would be brought to the Regiment in the next 12 months.

He said: “The Regiment will restructure and train so that it better delivers operational effect in assisting the civil authority in the area of humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and in the maritime domain.

“It will work more closely with its partners in Bermuda and overseas to ensure interoperability and it will increase its investment in the training and education of its soldiers so that as their capability increases so will the capability of the Regiment.

“This recruit class, the men and women of the Regiment, and the people of Bermuda will be the beneficiaries of these changes.”