For 90 rookie soldiers the good life came to an abrupt halt yesterday.

The Christmas and New Year celebrations must have seemed a distant memory as they showed up for the Bermuda Regiment's annual Recruit Camp.

Regimental Police, clad in white gloves and red caps, greeted them bright and early with scowling faces and blared orders.

For the next two weeks the conscripts will get more of the same as they endure square bashing, drill and weapons training.

The 13 who failed to answer yesterday's call-up could face a spell in the guardhouse.

At the double! Rookie soldiers scramble to answer call-up The day kicked off at 8 a.m. when the Regimental Police (RPs) opened the gates and the new recruits gathered near the flag pole.

The regiment's Recruit Training Team, or RTT, separated the conscripts in sections before moving to a live fire demonstration.

The process, called "Squadding'', took only a few minutes. RTT commander Major Brian Gonsalves said the conscripts had a few moments to organise their gear in the barracks prior to the demonstration. RTT is a training structure and not a conventional military unit. It is used to teach Recruit Camp instructors prior to the arrival of the conscripts.

When the conscripts arrive, RTT evolves into a chain-of-command -- which sets out who is in charge at what times and during what activities.

A further unit, called Training Company, is then formed when the conscripts acquire the ability to soldier. Major Gonsalves, while serving as RTT commander, is the Training Company officer in command.

After the live fire demonstration, the conscripts were given a "tour'' of the camp.

During the tour, conscripts ran around Warwick Camp, something they will do a lot of in the coming days.

Major Gonsalves said by yesterday afternoon the conscripts were practising drill and weapons recognition. He added the two-week camp had to be comprehensive because the basic training period was much shorter than it was for other armies around the world. "There are the fundamentals that you have to do to be a soldier.'' When The Royal Gazette noticed the Regimental Police were not shoving the conscripts, Major Gonsalves said the Bermuda Regiment had adopted a different approach.

"The days of man-handling are over. It's mind over matter. In your face, but no more of that man-handling. Unless we're on an operation somewhere and it's about protecting you. Let's say an officer told you to go and you just sit there -- and there's a bullet coming your way.

"Then he's going to move you. To save your life. It's about protecting your soldier's lives at that point -- and if you don't like it, then you should have moved in the first place.'' Major Gonsalves laughed.

THE BIG SCRAMBLE