The controversy over the appointment of Lt. Col William White as Commanding Officer of the Regiment is just one in a long line of spats over the top job.

In February 1999 The Royal Gazette reported how Sen. Burch appeared to call for the resignation of his successor as CO of the Regiment, Lt. Col Patrick Outerbridge. He was speaking after reports that a group of mainly black Regiment officers had fallen out of step with the CO and Royal Anglian Regiment staff officer Major David Napier.

Sen. Burch was backed by the Premier Jennifer Smith, but criticised by Opposition minister Michael Dunkley, who accused him of sowing dissent in the ranks.

In November of that year this newspaper reported that a conflict over the appointment of the next CO of the Regiment had broken out. Majors Nicholas Moore and Eddie Lamb were reported to be rivals for the top job amid controversy over the way each had been promoted through the ranks.

In April 2000 it was reported that officers were unhappy that Maj. David Gibbons was being considered as the next CO alongside Eddie Lamb and Maj. Larry Mussenden. It was suggested by sources quoted at the time that racial divisions within the Regiment played a part in the controversy.

Major Gibbons was eventually announced as the new CO, and was followed into the top job by Major Lamb in 2002. It was the decision about who should follow on from him that sparked Sen. Burch's remarks this week.