Cayman Regiment

The Cayman Regiment is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. It is a single territorial infantry battalion of the British Armed Forces that was formed in 2020.

History
On 12 October 2019, the government announced the formation of the Cayman Regiment, a new British Armed Forces unit. The Cayman Regiment was planned to become operational in 2020, with an initial 35-50 personnel of mostly reservists that are locally recruited and likely initially trained as engineers. The expected growth of the Regiment is expected to see an increase of personnel to several hundred. One of the main goals of the Regiment would be humanitarian relief, responding to natural disasters on the island as well as regionally to events such as hurricanes. However, the Regiment is to be assisted by the UK Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is to likely be in the form of logistical advice and support and further along include operational training and equipment. It was said to be in ways similar to the Royal Bermuda Regiment, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, the Falkland Islands Defence Force and Royal Montserrat Defence Force and is to be linked with the British Army Corps of Royal Engineers. A team of experts from the UK Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will deploy to Cayman before end of year for operational needs assessment, to begin the advisory and support roles and to determine a suitable location to base the Regiment.

On 15 October 2019, Government of Bermuda issued a statement that the Royal Bermuda Regiment is ready to assist the Cayman Regiment and to share their experiences, as the Cayman Regiment builds.

in mid-November 2019, the team from UK's Ministry of Defence from 131 Commando Squadron Royal Engineers, 40 Commando Royal Marines, and Royal Navy arrived in Grand Cayman to begin work on setting up the Cayman Regiment.

In mid-December 2019, recruitment for junior and commanding officers began, with the commanding officers expected to begin work in January 2020 and the junior officers to begin work in February 2020.

In December 2019, Turks and Caicos Islands Governor Nigel Dakin had announced that they will also follow the Cayman Islands in the formation of the Turks and Caicos Regiment. the Turks and Caicos Regiment will operate similarly to the Cayman Regiment and the Bermuda regiment and the roles of the Regiment will also be the same as their British Overseas Territories counterparts. The Turks and Caicos Regiment also will be assisted by the UK Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

In late January 2020, the first set of senior officers and junior officers were chosen. The Commanding Officer was announced to be Lieutenant Colonel Simon Watson, who was formerly an Officer for Royal Dragoon Guards. The Second in Command is Simon Spiers. The Staff Judge Advocate and Regimental Legal Advisor is Andre Mon Desir who was the Supreme Court Judge in Trinidad and Tobago and also a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. The first six Jr. Officers were chosen, these six will be sent for training in mid February 2020 to Bermuda with the Bermuda Regiment, and thereafter onwards to the United Kingdom for additional officer training at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. An additional 50-60 personnel will be recruited and will also be sent for training in Bermuda with the Bermuda Regiment in early Summer 2020. The Regimental Sergeant Major also known as a Warrant Officer Class 1 had also been appointed although name had not been publicly released its to be noted that the individual has had 13 years of Non-Commissioned Officer experience in the British Army with Operational Tours of Duty, Training, and Recruitment.