Bahamian Defense Forces

[M1A2U2]

anyone got pictures and info on the BDF?

[Dave the Dawg]

Royal Bahamas Defence Force
Ministry of National Security
Coral Harbour Base
P. O. Box N 3733
Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas
aciso@RBDFGov.com
242 - 362-1818
242 - 362-2824

DAVY ROLLE, Commodore, Royal Bahamas Defence Force:
http://www.thenassauguardian.net/temporaryimages/tm12789.jpg


"[O]n Tuesday [July 8, 2003], onboard the HMS Iron Duke, Sub-Lieutenant Glenn McPhee, received the prestigious Admiralty binoculars, an award given to officers who demonstrate the highest level of ability during training at the British Royal Navy College in the United Kingdom."
http://www.thenassauguardian.net/temporaryimages/tm19478.jpg


Commodore Rolle with the Deputy Prime Minister:
http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/BahamasWeb/press.nsf/3f53994c333c0ea506256a6f0062ae29/1546a3862c737c4405256c1e005ae3ac/Body/0.212!OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=jpg

[flickme]

The Bahamas have a defense force?? Hum...interesting.

[EvanL]

Most Carribean nations have DF's.
In Trinidad they have a defence force as well. there very corrupt and poorly trained.

[Dave the Dawg]

Most Carribean nations have DF's.
In Trinidad they have a defence force as well. there very corrupt and poorly trained.
Actually, only about half do.

Cuba (http://www.cubagov.cu/otras_info/minfar/default.htm) and the Dominican Republic (http://www.secffaa.mil.do/) have full fledged armed forces.

Jamaica (http://www.jdfmil.org/index.htm), Trinidad & Tobago (http://www.ttdf.mil.tt/), Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and Barbados have small Defence Forces (with a 125-man Army, Antigua probably has the smallest formal army in the world). Haiti's army was disbanded in 1994-95. It, like the others (Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines), has a police force which has paramilitary roles. I went to Infantry Officer Basic Course with a police inspector from St. Kitts.

Jamaica and T&T routinely have minor disputes over islands that occasionally threaten to turn into mini-wars. Given the state of the T&T military, as EvanLloyd mentioned, most Trinidadian commentators think a conflict would be a comedy of errors.

[EvanL]

Most Carribean nations have DF's.
In Trinidad they have a defence force as well. there very corrupt and poorly trained.
Actually, only about half do.

Cuba (http://www.cubagov.cu/otras_info/minfar/default.htm) and the Dominican Republic (http://www.secffaa.mil.do/) have full fledged armed forces.

Jamaica (http://www.jdfmil.org/index.htm), Trinidad & Tobago (http://www.ttdf.mil.tt/), Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and Barbados have small Defence Forces (with a 125-man Army, Antigua probably has the smallest formal army in the world). Haiti's army was disbanded in 1994-95. It, like the others (Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines), has a police force which has paramilitary roles. I went to Infantry Officer Basic Course with a police inspector from St. Kitts.

Jamaica and T&T routinely have minor disputes over islands that occasionally threaten to turn into mini-wars. Given the state of the T&T military, as EvanLloyd mentioned, most Trinidadian commentators think a conflict would be a comedy of errors.
Jamaica and T&T dont have disputes with eachother, although im sure thats not what you meant.
Most of their problems lie with Venezuala and the oil rich southern coast of Trinidad.
There Coast Guard/Navy is a joke.
When i was living there a team from the RCMP came down to teach them how to properly board boats, and while they were there a venezualan fishing trawler was illegally fishing in trinidadian waters. The RCMP officers wanted to take advantage of this situation and volunteered to go along with them. They got into the boats and ready to go and all of the T&T Coast Guard personell involved got jitters and backed off.

[M1A2U2]

no, the BDf actually consists of just over 1000 men

[Dave the Dawg]

Error on my part: Trinidad's current dispute is with Barbados, and is mainly over fishing zones.

[admar2]

come on now, what does Jamaica need a DF for?

rofl

[EvanL]

come on now, what does Jamaica need a DF for?

rofl
What did Haiti need a DF for? :backhand:

[Dave the Dawg]

come on now, what does Jamaica need a DF for?

rofl

From 1987, so a bit out of date:
Jamaica experienced no direct military threat during its first twenty-five years as an independent state; in the early 1980s, however, it had to deal with indirect threats to its national security interests posed by Cuban activities in Jamaica and by the events in Grenada. The Seaga government handled the issue of the Cuban presence in Jamaica by expelling the Cubans and breaking diplomatic relations. Seaga's concerns about Grenada's undemocratic practices in the 1979-83 period and its close ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union also prompted his government to take a more active regional security role. Jamaica did not, however, sign the 1982 memorandum that established the Regional Security System (RSS) in the Eastern Caribbean. When Maurice Bishop was overthrown and assassinated by the short-lived Coard-Austin regime in October 1983, the Seaga government's concern turned to alarm. Jamaica joined several members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States in an appeal for United States military intervention in Grenada to restore order and democracy, and then participated in a joint United States-Caribbean military operation in Grenada. Jamaica, whose population favored the joint military action by a 56-percent majority, also provided the largest Caribbean contingent (250 troops) to the peacekeeping force in Grenada from late October 1983 to June 1985. The Seaga government continued actively to support security cooperation among the Commonwealth Caribbean islands by having Jamaican troops participate in regional military exercises, such as "Operation Exotic Palm" in September 1985. In addition, Jamaica cooperated with the United States and RSS-member states on regional security matters, by holding joint military and narcotics interdiction exercises and by offering some training and technical assistance to the Eastern Caribbean. Like most Caribbean nations and many other nations worldwide, the JDF's missions include - besides being ready for combat - internal security, international peacekeeping, disaster relief and counternarcotics operations.