An intensive two-week programme for the latest recruits of the Royal Bermuda Regiment began this week as the battalion’s newest members became familiar with Warwick Camp and had a taste of military life.

Four women and 13 men undertook orientation and kit issue on Sunday afternoon for the training that will transform them from civilians into soldiers.

Lieutenant Samuel Hewitt, who is Second-in-Command, Headquarters Company and the platoon commander for Recruit Camp 26 Bravo, said: “We’ll focus on the basic skills and drills of being a soldier, covering elements as simple as making a bed and dress standards all the way through to firing rifles on the range.”

Lieutenant Hewitt, from Sandys and a project manager in civilian life, added: “At the beginning, I’m looking for the recruits to bond with each other and show a level of teamwork and cohesion.

“It’s very important for them to start working with each other and understand that each one of them has an objective to achieve but they must do that together.

“By the time they leave, the recruits will be instilled with a different level of discipline, a different level of fitness and a different level of mental robustness.”

The RBR said that over the next two weeks, the recruits will develop skills in foot drill, weapon handling and fieldcraft.

It added that they will be challenged by tough physical fitness exercises and called upon to remain calm under pressure as their limits are tested in scenario-based serials.

One of the recruits, Shasta Saunders, said: “I’m looking forward to becoming a part of the community with people here, to increasing my cardiovascular health and to having a good time.”

Ms Saunders, a 33-year-old from Warwick who works as a reinsurance analyst, is also enrolled in a premedical course at the Bermuda College.

She said: “Prior to being here, I heard that there is a strong sense of community among soldiers, that it will be challenging, it will test my character and ultimately reveal who I am — my true self.”

Marseille Williams, a part-time cashier from St George’s, said that by enlisting she had “heeded the advice” of her cousin — a serving soldier who suggested that she could benefit from being in the Regiment.

The 18-year-old looked forward to bonding with the other females and vowed to do her best during physical challenges, saying “People look at me and see I’m smaller, I’m younger but I feel like I can at least show out in the physical aspect.”