alarm bells throughout the community.

According to stories which appeared in The Royal Gazette last week, a number of officers have written to Governor Thorold Masefield and Premier Jennifer Smith to complain about the performance of Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel Patrick Outerbridge and Regiment staff officer Major David Napier.

Added to that are reports that the majority of the unhappy officers are black, while Lt. Col. Outerbridge is white and Major Napier is a white British officer who has been seconded to the Regiment.

The officers are reportedly unhappy with the direction that the Regiment is going in and feel they are being left out of the decision-making process.

The Bermuda Regiment is in many ways a microcosm of Bermuda. The same tensions that exist in the broader community between whites and blacks and Bermudians and non-Bermudians may well exist in the Regiment as well.

At the same time, the Regiment has, since it was founded, been one of the great integrating forces in Bermuda society.

Capt. Wayne Smith, a Bermuda Regiment officer and the new ADC to the Governor, said in the Mid-Ocean News last week: "If we are ever to reach a point in Bermuda where we are to optimise race relations, clearly organisations like the Regiment can help, because you meet people you don't otherwise meet and work together towards a common goal.'' The other strength of the Regiment is the disciplined structure which it provides. Any military organisation requires a chain of command which works effectively and flexibly to meet the challenges with which it is confronted.

The old army adage that you "lead, follow or get out of the way'' means that different ranks of the Regiment must provide leadership to lower ranks on the one hand and be able to follow orders from senior ranks on the other.

Modern managers recognise that the best way to achieve results is to devolve some responsibility to the people on the ground, provided they have the tools and training to make good decisions.

This may seem contradictory in a military environment. But it can also be made to work and is the direction that most modern military organisations are going. Efforts to give lower ranks more responsibility will cause some unhappiness among those who perceive they are losing power.

Change is never easy to accept and moves away from "square bashing'' to problem-solving may be a difficult adjustment for some officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, to make.

But they should also remember that they have to execute the decisions which have been made; if they do not like them, they should be able to argue their case with the Commanding Officer. If they are overruled, they must live with whatever decision is made. By the same token, the senior ranks also have to lead by example and show they are prepared to make the same effort that they call for from the other ranks.

It is to be hoped that the Defence Board sub-committee tasked with the job of examining the unhappiness within the Regiment remembers this when it conducts its inquiry. Its job must be to determine what role the Regiment needs to perform, to listen to both sides' views on how that can be achieved and then to ensure those in charge have the support they need to meet the goals set.