Defence Department officials have launched an extensive manhunt for draft dodgers, using Government records including social insurance, after nearly 900 men refused to answer conscription this year.

"These people have cars, bikes - have jobs and go on vacations. This is how we will find them," Defence administrator Larry Burchall told The Royal Gazette.

Mr. Burchall has enlisted the aid of an Island defence force veteran, Sergeant-Major (Warrant Officer Second Class) Chauncey Durham, to carry out the hunt.

Sgt. Major Durham served in one of the Bermuda Regiment's predecessors, the Bermuda Militia Artillery, in addition to having held a large number of posts within the Regiment in his nearly 40-year military career. He was reassigned from the Regiment's armoury where he maintained the Island's stock of military weapons.

Mr. Burchall had previously told The Royal Gazette: "We will be applying a lot of pressure - investigation, checking," he said.

Threats of prosecution were acted on earlier this year after the January Recruit Camp yielded approximately 100 soldiers, out of 377 called to duty.

The Bermuda Regiment is suffering from a weak retention rate and needs a surplus of recruits as experienced privates abandon the unit.

Mr. Burchall said the dodgers were split into two categories, the first being those who might have missed the call-up or been off the Island.

He called the second group "bothersome".

"They're away for, let's say four years in school, then return and they don't come to the Regiment," he said.

"It's that group in particular that we're targeting and we're going on their job sites. These are not people sitting on a wall, they are sitting at desks and wearing ties. There's a popular misconception that (the dodgers) are guys out on the walls.

"If (the second group) were decent citizens, they would respond (to the call-up). The first person we found was a travel agent at Meyer," he said.

Sgt. Major Durham said that when he walked in, the entire office stopped working.

He said: "I called the employer first, to tell them who I'm looking for and that way, the employers are in the picture. That poor kid was shaking."

Sgt. Major Durham said he approaches the dodger and hands them a letter, which explains how the dodger is violating the Defence Act and the potential consequences such as prosecution.

Mr. Burchall said: "They know that they should come to Regiment, they are simply trying to slide by."