Turning the Regiment into a full-time unit and giving it increased responsibilities should attract enough volunteers that conscription is no longer necessary, according to the Minister of National Security.Wayne Perinchief outlined the plans following the Speech from the Throne, in which Governor George Fergusson outlined Government plans to abolish mandatory military conscription.The speech said: “The Government will further amend the Defence Act 1965 to provide for an expanded full-time element in the Regiment and an end to conscription. The focus of a 21st Century Bermuda Regiment will be on an enhanced maritime role, greater engagement in border control and increased operations with the other uniformed services.”Mr Perinchief will set out “the timetable for the end of conscription and the transition to a modernised Regiment” during the course of 2013, according to the Governor.Expanding on the plans in an interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr Perinchief explained: “We have started a review of the role of the Regiment, the Police and Border Control. Out of that, what we wish to formulate is a strategy for the Regiment to have a full-time, 24-hour-a-day component tasked with an emphasis on the maritime part of our border control.”The Regiment has struggled to attract enough volunteers in the past — something that Government has pointed out when defending legal action launched by Bermudians Against the Draft against mandatory military conscription.Asked how that issue would be overcome, Mr Perinchief replied: “By using volunteers full time we will phase out the need to have conscription. We have never had enough volunteers, but with the scaling-down of the Regiment in size and having a full time commitment we feel we will get enough volunteers.”Addressing a press conference shortly after the Speech from the Throne, Mr Perinchief expanded on the plans further, saying: “The creation of a full time Bermuda Regiment will capitalise on the existing nucleus of key professionals that are presently full time employees.“Ending conscription is a nod to the change in role for the Regiment that this Government will continue to devise in consultation with all affected parties. This is a change whose time has come, and which forms part of a wider strategy to complement the hard work of the police, to strengthen the role of border control and to realise a more efficient means of keeping Bermuda safe.”Mr Perinchief also tabled the Defence Amendment Act 2012 in the House of Assembly. It will allow soldiers to elect to be tried in Magistrates’ Court in future if they get into trouble at the Bermuda Regiment.Currently, military officers mete out discipline, but under the proposed legislative changes, soldiers will have a choice.Fines for failing to turn up for military service will also be increased from $900 to $2,000, and the age limit for conscripts will be raised from 33 years to 35 years old.Further details will be given, and the Act debated in the House of Assembly, at a later date.Larry Marshall Sr, spokesman for Bermudians Against the Draft, said he would like to study the proposals in more detail before making any comment.