Fewer recruits have been up for Regiment duty this year in comparison to past years as the Regiment revamps to face the future.

Larry Burchall, the civilian head of the Defence Department, said the key reason this year's recruitment list was shorter is that it only includes names of young men who are being called for the very first time.

In the past the fall recruitment call - which is published in local newspapers - has included upwards of 1,300 names as Regiment lumped new recruits with others deferred in the past for medical and educational reasons and with the names of those who had dodged their duty.

But since the Regiment began prosecuting absentee soldiers in court last year, Mr. Burchall said the response to this year's call has already improved.

And Government hopes that changes proposed in last year's Throne Speech reducing the required time to be served from three years to two and the overall number of recruits will encourage young men to look upon their military service more positively.

"The fax has been going crazy all day," Mr. Burchall told The Royal Gazette on Friday - the day the recruitment call was made public.

Also included in the Bermuda Government Official Notices last week were 72 defaulters who were called to service in 1999.

If these men do not attend Warwick Camp on October 2 for their medical examination - or produce a suitable reason for deferral or release from service - they will be prosecuted, said Mr. Burchall.

"If need be we will apply the law," he said.

Last year, Regiment began sending Regiment dodgers through the legal system where they could face thousands of dollars in fines and months in prison for failing to report.

But Mr. Burchall said the Defence Department stopped that process in March in order to concentrate on the next recruitment call.

Between November and March, 44 would-be dodgers were dealt with, he said. Thirteen of the men were dealt with through normal Regiment channels but 31 ended up in court.

Those numbers probably would have been higher, he added, but some of those thought to be dodgers replied with factual answers justifying their lack of attendance.

But the process of taking the dodgers through the courts was laborious, Mr. Burchall said.

Should the department face more than 100 cases requiring prosecution it would be very time consuming" and possibly overwhelming.

Much more desirable is that young men reaching 18 embrace their legal duty, he added.

"We feel at 18, you're eligible to vote, and now eligible for all kinds of things you were once denied till age 21. We want recruits to treat (Regiment duty) as we do. That it is the right thing to do. It's what you are supposed to do," said Mr. Burchall.