The first steps in expanding the role of the Bermuda Regiment on the water were taken this weekend with the launch of a Joint Marine Exercise.

The Regiment's boat troop, the Police Service's marine section and emergency response unit, Customs, Agriculture and Fisheries, Harbour Radio and the Emergency Measures Organisation will all be taking part in the 10-day exercise.

Central to the exercise's mission will be greater coordination among these organisations in policing of the shoreline and territorial waters and in search and rescue.

Deputy Governor Tim Gurney, Regiment Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Patrick Outerbridge, and Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay toured the exercises' headquarters on White's Island in Hamilton Harbour and inspected the boat troop's bivouac tents after the launch.

Members of the troop will be given intensive training in communications, boat boarding and searching, and navigation.

The elite troop will also be given such specialised training as an introduction to narcotics by the Police, local legislation, practical handling of the Police's Blue Heron, and oil pollution clean up.

Friday and Saturday's 24-hour exercise is where they will put all they have learned to use in an intensive test organised by Government Security Officer Martin Law, and the Regiment's officers.

The exercise will involve operations from within Hamilton Harbour, all the way out to the reef line and beyond.

Mr. Law said the departure of the UK, US, and Canadian military had left the Island without an all-round capability on the water.

In the opening briefing, he said the British Ministry of Defence had commissioned a study two years ago which recommended an expanded role for the Regiment to fill the gap.

"This is just to see where we are lacking,'' Mr. Law explained. "This is a joint venture by all the possible agencies that have an interest in maritime matters. We want to be working together rather than separately.'' The 16 member boat troop is commanded by Capt. William White and has attached to it one signaller and one medic for the exercise.

A Regiment spokesman said: "These soldiers are very enthusiastic and really switched on. They're going to be operating anywhere up to 15 to 20 miles offshore.

He added: "The important thing is that at the end of the exercise there will be a report that will be sent to Government assessing what we have to do and what lessons have to be learnt. We're going to take it forward.

Joint exercise pools Island's military muscle "There is a lot of expertise available in Bermuda,'' he said. "But it has been fragmented. This is the first opportunity to share it around.'' Commissioner Lemay said: "This is an opportunity to get the Police, Regiment, Harbour Radio and the others to see how we can pool our resources. It's going to be very intensive.'' Specialists from the various Government departments will conduct the courses, but there will be an open door policy for their colleagues to see how the other departments operate.