The Regiment is offering a $300 incentive payment for all qualified volunteers who sign up for, and complete, 2014 recruit training in a drive to increase the number of volunteer soldiers.Volunteers must be aged 18 to 45, must not have been previously drafted into the Regiment and will have to be vetted by the police, Major Warren Furbert said.“It has to be someone brand new to the system,” he added.Adjutant Major Ben Beasley said volunteers will undergo the same three-year and two-month term that drafted soldiers complete.“It is exactly the same as the conscripted person except they’ll get that bonus,” Maj Beasley said. “The training is the same across the board with the same level of professionalism.”While the Regiment does not have a specific goal for a number of volunteers, “the more the merrier as long as they qualify”, Maj Furbert said. He also noted that volunteers do not have to be Bermudian to sign up, as long as they are legally resident on the Island.Maj Furbert explained that the draft for the Regiment was originally intended to fill out the ranks of a primarily volunteer force. The new monetary incentive is part of an effort to increase traditionally low volunteer participation rates, he said.Maj Beasley added: “The need for people to volunteer is becoming more important especially in our role as a support to the Police Service. We need people who volunteer to put the needs of the nation before their own.”Maj Beasley also outlined some of the benefits of serving in the Regiment.“The skills that you get are life skills, and more specifically employable skills,” he said. “If your job [in the Regiment] requires specific training, whether it’s clerical, mechanical, we’ll invest the time and money in you, which is then transferable to when you leave.”He also highlighted the opportunity to travel and play on sports teams with the Regiment, as well as the sense of satisfaction he said the experience brings.“It’s hard work and we make no bones about that, but anything worth doing has a challenge to it,” Maj Beasley said. “You get the satisfaction of doing something good and worthwhile with your time for those who may not be able to help themselves.”Volunteers will start in January 2014 with recruit training camp. Those interested in volunteering can call Chief Clerk WO2 Daley at 238-3885.