BDF / UK MoD Strategic Leadership Course
BDF Media Release| 11 Sept19
Photography credit: BDF Media
The Barbados Defence Force and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence conducted a Strategic Leadership Course in the Hodgson Hall Conference Room, St Ann’s Fort, over the period 2 – 6 September 2019. The Course was delivered by Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Taylor from the UK Defence Academy and Dr. Iftikhar Zaidi from Cranfield University’s Centre for Defence Management and Leadership. The Course itself was geared towards providing opportunities for senior officers and officials, drawn from the Defence and Security sectors, to acquire further knowledge that enable the enhancement of their strategic leadership skills.
The Course is part of HQ BDF’s strategic level studies programme, a trajectory of activities with international, inter-ministerial and inter-agency partners, intended to help enhance collective understanding and response capacities to the risks and threats that exist in the modern interconnected security environment.
The Course was based on a blended approach of lectures, discussions, case-studies and exercises, where participants were encouraged to share their leadership journeys, drawing on personal insights, challenges and solutions. The Course, an export version to one run in the UK, is premised on the fact that leadership is a critical factor in all forms of organisations and is a rapidly changing and diverse discipline. Leadership challenges in the strategic environment are marked by a larger scale of input and effect.
The Course’s participants were drawn from the Barbados Defence Force, the Prime Minister’s Office, Dominican Republic Military Academy, Jamaica Defence Force, Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, Royal Grenada Police Force, CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Belize Defence Force, Royal Barbados Police Force, the Headquarters of the Regional Security System, Royal Cayman Islands Police Force, Barbados Prison Service, Royal Montserrat Defence Force, St Kitts and Nevis Defence Force, Department of Emergency Management, Barbados Fire Service, Barbados Immigration Department, Civil Aviation, Customs and Excise Department and the Grantley Adams International Airport.
Highlights
Commodore (Cdre) Errington Ricardo Shurland was appointed Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 1 September 2021. He enlisted in the BDF in February 1984 and in a military career spanning over 34 years, has served in various operational and administrative appointments.
Colonel Glyne Grannum joined the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 18 October 1985 and underwent career development training at the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School, Chilliwack and the Combat Training Centre, Gagetown New Brunswick, Canada. He subsequently attended the Infantry Training Centre and the Signal Wing in Warminster, UK (PCBC and RSO Courses respectively), the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy; the Lester Pearson Canadian Peacekeeping Centre, the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, Kingston, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Toronto, the National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army People’s Republic of China and the Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies, National Defence University, Washington. He also attended a Defence Resources Management programme at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, Canada. In addition to being a qualified infantry officer, Col Grannum is a qualified Regimental Signals Officer and a former Operations Officer and Finance Officer of the BDF.
Colonel Banfield joined the Barbados Battalion of the South Caribbean Force in 1941 having just left the Cadet Corps at Combermere School, and was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1942. He was a Platoon Commander and a Company Commander during the war and served in Barbados, Dominica (as part of the Gale Force), St Lucia and St Vincent.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Colin Marshall is a graduate of the St Michael, and was born on the 5 November 1969 and enlisted in the Barbados Defence Force on 16 August 1994. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in August 1997, Corporal in 1999, Sergeant in 2007, Color Sergeant in 2014, Warrant Officer Class Two in 2017 and Warrant Officer Class One in 2020. He was Most Outstanding Student on Junior Leadership Course in 1998, the Most Outstanding Student on Junior Non Commissioned Officer Cadre in Jamaica in 2000, best at Leadership on the Search Adviser Course in Jamaica in 2007 and the Most Outstanding Student on the Warrant Officer Course in Jamaica in 2015.
