Cpl Vanderpool and Cpl Symonds - Video Series
Two recently-promoted Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers highlighted how the organisation presents opportunities for growth as a series of videos was launched to encourage others to join.
Corporal JD Symonds said he sees himself progressing within the unit and Corporal Joliza Vanderpool believes her role in the RBR helped her to make a shift in her civilian-life employment.
The two are among a number of people who share their thoughts in a string of short films designed to support recruitment efforts. The videos are being released on YouTube and social media platforms over the coming weeks, ahead of the Regiment’s next recruit camp in February.
Cpl Vanderpool is posted to Regimental Headquarters and attached to Training Wing, where she is a clerk.
In the video, she says: “To me, the Regiment is like a home away from home. You come up here, you get to build relationships with the other people that are up here as well, and it becomes like a brother-slash-sisterhood.”
Off-camera, the 31-year-old explained how the duties of a clerk include ensuring personnel files are up-to-date, inputting soldiers’ attendance information and collating documents for lessons.
A chef by trade, Cpl Vanderpool is taking time away from the kitchen in her civilian job and instead is in the hospitality industry as a hotel receptionist and night auditor.
She said: “With the job that I actually got, I want to say that I was given the position on a trial basis to begin with, because I had the administration background in the Regiment.”
Cpl Vanderpool, from Paget, described the RBR as “a growing and learning experience”.
She said: “We also get to travel and make money at the same time, so it’s a win-win situation.
“I’m being paid to get on a plane and work in a foreign country – work that I’ve been taught how to do at home; so, it’s an opportunity to grow and you can prove to people that you have grown by showing what you’ve learned or being able to teach other people what you’ve learned.”
Corporal Symonds, from Sandys, is a full-time member of the RBR Coast Guard.
Having joined the Regiment in 2018, he stayed thanks to the opportunities.
The 27-year-old said: “When I came, I came directly into Boat Troop, as it was called back then, which developed into Coast Guard.
“Ever since I joined, I have had nothing but opportunity – I’ve had training opportunities, I’ve had work opportunities, it’s just been amazing.”
He told potential recruits: “You will always gain something from it, there is never a time when you come in and don’t learn anything.
“With the amount of opportunity that’s here, there is always going to be something that’s going to benefit you.”
Cpl Symonds is confident there is room for him to grow further in the Regiment.
He explained: “With the career management officer and being the soldier that I am, they’re already planning out a path for me to advance my career, and it sounds really good.”
In his video, Cpl Symonds notes: “You come in thinking that you understand what it is to be a soldier, what it is to be part of the Regiment, and it completely twists once you get in; you find a sense of family.”
The RBR’s next recruit training package will run from February 11 to 23, 2024. All Bermuda residents aged 18 to 52 are encouraged to apply.
- For more information or to join, visit bermudaregiment.bm or call 238-1045.