The Commanding Officer (CO) of Bermuda Regiment says he is in no doubt that re-vamping the Bermuda Regiment will be a difficult task -- but said it is the right way for the country to go.

Lt. Col. David Gibbons took over responsibility for the part-time force in July with the main task of altering its direction and making it more modern.

Although soldiers are still to be trained in riot control, they will now be trained to deal with natural and man-made disasters, such as oil spills, hurricanes, plane crashes and boating incidents.

Not only would that better equip the Island in times of great need, but it would also provide the soldiers with additional skills, such as bridge building, which could lead them to new careers.

Reformed Regiment faces new mandate And perhaps most importantly, it would help to motivate the conscripts and keep them enthused at a time when the regiment is being forced to prosecute scores of non-attenders.

However, Regiment recruits are also likely to take over the static guard outside the Cabinet Office in Hamilton and the Premier's official residence -- a proposal which has faced some criticism from people, including former CO Patrick Outerbridge, who said the proposal is not workable.

Replacing the present Police guard with full-time soldiers is a daunting task that has far greater implications than at first perceived, said CO Gibbons.

But with careful planning, he believed it could be done and could work extremely well.

It could take as many as between 15 and 18 soldiers to safeguard the properties, depending on how it was to be done, and, for a part-time army of conscripted soldiers, that creates major changes.

First of all the willing and appropriate manpower has to be found and employed, then their job descriptions, powers and responsibilities decided.

It may call for new legislation to be introduced, and additional administration staff to be appointed.

Their pensions, health insurance, employee welfare, holiday entitlement, sickness, moral, promotional prospects and, of course, the boredom factor, must be taken into consideration, besides their general working hours and shift patterns.

It is possibly one of the biggest tasks ahead of the Colonel, who has set himself a Spring target of presenting various options on implementing the review recommendations to Government and Government House.

He said the Premier had requested static guard outside her home on evenings Monday to Thursday, and over the weekend from Friday night to Monday morning.

The Colonel said using soldiers as static guard would enable the stretched Police service to utilise those additional officers.

He added: "There is a lot of work to done, we are in no doubt about that. We will be coming up with probably three scenarios just for static guard alone.

"There are so many aspects and issues to consider - how much is it going to cost?, how many staff will we need?, how many hours will they work at a time? and so on.

"Then there are operational things to consider, such as how do we check they are there?, and how do we check they are doing their jobs properly? The issues we have to look at are very far-reaching.

"We have to be able to supply answers in our plans as to what would happen if something did go wrong at one of the guard points. "There are so many wonderful permutations to the review. It is going to be very interesting.'' But Lt. Col. Gibbons said he believed taking the static guard away from the Police was the right decision. However, the guarding of Government House will remain with Police.

And he said there was no doubt that Bermuda needed the locations guarding.

He added; "The Premier's residence should be guarded because she should be able to feel confident and comfortable that she was not going to be troubled by people who should not be there.

"It would not be right to allow any Joe Bloggs to just go up to her front door to ask her questions or speak their opinions when ever they felt like it.

It is her private residence and should be treated as so.

"Equally, there are very valid reasons for guarding Cabinet Office. We have panhandlers on the streets and they could create problems there, as could other people.'' As part of the massive review, the regiment is also likely to receive a full-time boat troop, which could assist Marine Police and the coastguard, and some full-time Military Police officers.

Recruitment for full-time soldiers will begin within the present army ranks, and the Colonal is in no doubt he already has a number of skilled boat enthusiasts who would jump at the chance to make a career of it.

But whether or not he will find his static guards at his disposal so easily, is yet to be seen.

However, they may not be employed solely to act as guards. The possibilities are there to make their roles more varied.

And whether or not the regiment will be able to take full-time soldiers with criminal records is yet to be decided. If it were not, that would instantly reduce the number of possible candidates on the Island.

Colonel Gibbons added: "We have been stagnant, so this review is very much needed.

"It is unlikely that we will be invaded, so having soldiers running up and down Ferry Reach pretending they are being invaded by Cubans is not all we should be concentrating on.

"These changes will greatly benefit the regiment, the soldiers and the community as a whole.

"I have already made contact with the fire brigade to see if there is any common ground or possibilities where we could help them.

"Belco is another area. We don't for one minute want our guys thinking they can start climbing poles and picking up wires, but they could certainly be trained to assist in times of need. "There are a lot of issues to consider and we can be very flexible.'' The Colonel asked for patience and open minds and said, in time, people would begin to reap the benefits of a more modern army, designed specifically to the needs of Bermuda.

He added: "It is a very big task, nobody believes differently.

"But it is very workable and we are not being asked to perform miracles here.

"One of the hardest things for us to do is narrow down the possibilities, so we don't over-stretch ourselves "I'm definitely glad that this review has come during my tenure as Commanding Officer.

"I came on board to specifically address these issues and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action.'' Lt. Col. David Gibbons