When the Bermuda Regiment Band and Corps of Drums? Director of Music, Major Barrett Dill, exits the gates of Warwick Camp for the last time today, it will be with a proud history behind him, no trappings of his military life as mementoes, and certainly no tears or regrets.

In accordance with the adage, ?When one door closes, another one opens?, the popular music figure is marching firmly into civilian life without a backward glance. While he has thoroughly enjoyed every moment of uniformed life, he has decided that the time has come to close this long and glorious chapter and open a new and very different one.

?It has been 35 years now, and I have accomplished all of my dreams in this sphere, so it is time for me to pursue new ones,? he says. ?It is time for me to relax and enjoy some of the fruits of my labour.?

?Relaxing? in Major Dill?s book means becoming a full-time student at the Bermuda College in January, where he will complete the final semester of his Business degree, and also continue his French studies with a view to ?spending some time at the Sorbonne in France? sometime.

?Life is about a continuing learning process, regardless of age,? he says. ?When I was younger I had three dreams: To be a musician; an accountant; and a writer. I have accomplished the first; I will graduate with a minor in accounting and a major in management; and my professors have said I am already a writer. So, my focus is going to be my studies, and then I will decide which area to pursue.?

Surprisingly perhaps, having been born into a musical family and spent almost his entire life associated with music, Major Dill also plans to put the subject out of his mind for a very long time ? apart from enjoying selections from his extensive library of CDs, that is.

?Now it is a matter of not listening to music with a critical ear, but purely for pleasure,? he says.

Classical music, and composers Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi in particular, is his favourite genre, but he also enjoys jazz, modern, R&B and pop.

Even so, one cannot help but wonder if such a dramatic change of life will not be a jolt. Not so, says the Major.

?Friends who have retired from the Regiment before me have warned me that it is not an extraordinary transition. On the contrary, they have said that Regiment life stands them in good stead in a civilian capacity.?

Indeed, it is very definitely a case of ?onward and upward? where the retiring Major is concerned.

Of course, it is impossible not to look back on what can only be described as an illustrious career, during which he experienced so many adventures, reached the pinnacle professionally, and made a host of lifelong friends in many lands along the way.

Major Dill was born with music in his genes. His father was a trumpet player, and his older brother Kenneth was first a clarinet player in the Regiment Band, and ultimately its Director of Music. So it was not surprising that at age nine he joined the North Village Junior Band, where he played bugle and trumpet until, at age 14, encouraged by Kenneth, the talented youngster walked into Warwick Camp on January 26, 1971 to become a Junior Bandsman, and its lead cornet player.

?The uniform was ?one size fits all?,? the then-slightly built teen recalls, ?but I distinctly recall being so proud to be a member of the Bermuda Regiment Band. I felt on top of the world ? an experience that has stayed with me all the way through my career,?

At age 18, following his first boot camp, Barrett Dill became the Regiment?s youngest Lance Corporal, and in 1980 he bade farewell to a telecommunications career in civvy street to join the permanent staff with the rank of Colour Sergeant.

Thereafter, the rise to the top was a steady climb. First came a four-month course at the Royal Marine School of Music in Deal, Kent from which he graduated with a First Class Musician (honours) certificate. Four years of intense study at Kneller Hall, the Royal Military College of Music in Twickenham, successfully led to his graduation in December, 1987 with a Bandmaster?s degree. Regarded as the cr?me de la cr?me of military music schools, the dedicated Bermudian learned to play every military band instrument to performance standard, as well as composing and more.

Six months later, he successfully passed examinations to become an Associate of the Victoria College of Music (AVCM) ? a very different learning experience because it involved church orchestras and choirs.

Promoted to Bandmaster in September, 1988, the then-Captain Dill was appointed Director of Music in 1992, and three years later attained his final rank of Major.

An immaculately groomed, familiar figure at the head of all local appearances of the Band, Major Dill has also led its members on numerous overseas tours of duty, including training with the US Marine Corps in North Carolina, the Jamaica Defence Force in Kingston, and the Danbury Brass Band in Connecticut.

In fact, it was on his very first visit to Jamaica that he fell in love with the island, and today numbers it as his ?second most favourite destination in the world? after Bermuda.

Touring with the Band was extensive and exhilarating, and included destinations as diverse as Colorado, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Honolulu. With the Golden 8 Fanfare Trumpeters, Major Dill performed in Canada, Switzerland, Germany and France.

In fact, he says that today his palm pilot is ?almost full? with contacts he has made over the years.

?I have good friends in Davos, Strasbourg, Jamaica, Birmingham and Deal, Kent, to name but a few,? he says. ?I have never burned my bridges, so I can easily go to any one of them and make my presence known.?

Ask him for the highlights of his 35-year career, however, and Tattoos rank at the very top.

?This year?s Tattoo in Bremen (where Bermuda?s performance was rated Best in Show) was my greatest delight because we had just about the full gamut of Bermudian society involved: the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band, the Bermuda Regiment Band, the gombeys and Robert Simons, the steel pan player. To see Bermudians so unified and putting on a Bermuda show in Germany was really wonderful. In fact, one of the participants said to me, ?You know, Dill, this is the first time I have travelled with white people, and these guys are all right.? It brought delight to my heart that everybody came together as one Bermuda.?

In fact, racial harmony is a subject close to Major Dill?s heart.

?One of my good friends is Dr. George Cook (of the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band), and he and I have had many discussions about racial issues here on the Island. Major Stephen Caton is not only a colleague but also a very close friend. We never, ever discuss things with a superior attitude. Each time there is mutual respect.?

Participation in the 2003 Edinburgh Tattoo was another extremely proud occasion for the Director of Music, and he describes the moment when the castle gates opened to reveal the Bermudians marching forth to huge acclaim as ?sending chills up and down my back?.

Other favourite moments include 1998?s Rochester International Marine Tattoo, when the Bermuda Regiment Band was invited to participate alongside the US Marines; and being invited to Atlanta to perform at the Convention Center celebrations marking the city?s successful bid to host the Olympics.

But the recent, hugely successful tattoo at Dockyard was surely the crowning achievement in a splendid career ? as evidenced by the subsequent flood of complimentary correspondence received in its wake.

Many confessed that the moment when the Director of Music officially handed over his baton to his successor, W.O.1 (BM) Dwight Robinson, induced tears and lumps in the throat.

A keen footballer, Major Dill served as the regimental coach for four years in the 1980s, and was also a founding member of the Bermuda Regiment Charitable Trust.

And now, as the bemedalled officer who composed The Bermuda Regiment Song, fanfares and more, and who has three times been named the Bermuda Regiment?s ?Most Outstanding Officer of the Year? ? the latest in tandem with Major Caton, co-executive producer of the October Tattoo ? prepares to resume civilian life as a married father of three, he takes with him the good wishes of all of his colleagues, and the gratitude of an admiring public.

Yet it is the inscription on the gift presented to him by the Regiment Band which pleases Major Dill most: ?I am Berrmudian, need I say more??