The Junior Leaders and the Bermuda Regiment joined forces over the weekend for a training exercise at Ferry Reach.

According to a Regiment spokesman, the Junior Leaders spent time honing their skills in the field and acting as ‘enemy forces’ as their older counterparts in the Regiment practised their battlefield command skills.

They also had the opportunity to try out the Laser Tag system, which records hits from laser-equipped rifles.

A total of 27 Junior Leaders, as well as adult instructors and parents, took part in the exercises, held from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.

Junior Leaders’ Lance Corporal CaVon Raynor, 14, from Somerset, said: “I’ve enjoyed it very much. We’ve been helping the Regiment doing section training.

“I was hiding in bushes, waiting until they got close then surprising them. We also practised camouflage and concealment, assault training and patrolling.”

The youths worked alongside the Regiment’s Potential Junior Non-Commissioned Officers cadre, who were practising simulated section attacks and fieldcraft.

Regiment Captain Preston Gill, a former officer in the Canadian Army, said: “They came off recruit camp and this is very challenging. They have to learn how to be an infantry soldier and a commander — it’s more than other armies would expect from their soldiers.

“We have a good mix in the PJNCO, including Bermudians, non-Bermudians and four women, who are doing very well.

“We’ve got people from the professions and others who don’t have a job at the moment.

“But they’re all here for the same thing — looking to give back to Bermuda and get some military training and adventure. They’re becoming a team and learning life skills, time management, leadership and self-discipline.”