HIV/AIDS COMMITTEE
The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) formally established its HIV Education Programme in 2002 with the aim of sensitising its members about HIV and AIDS, whilst promoting the maintenance of a healthy work environment through the protection of the well-being and physical and emotional health of all its members.
Knowing that the workplace is a strategic environment for HIV/AIDS prevention and care education, the BDF HIV Committee has been unrelenting in its drive to coordinate innovative activities that focus on:
- Halting the transmission of HIV.
- Preventing the sexual transmission of HIV through behavioural change.
- Promoting healthy living through activities that help to develop a sense of camaraderie amongst BDF employees.
Some of the key accomplishments of the BDF HIV Programme are:
- Implementing the BDF HIV Policy in 2006
- Creating the BDF HIV Programme logo in 2008.
- Coordinating the first Regional Military/Civilian HIV Conference in 2006
- Conducting annual Peer Education and Counselling seminars.
- Spearheading community sensitisation campaigns through the placement of HIV prevention messages on benches, banners and billboards in high traffic areas around BDF bases.
- Coordinating the production of the HIV/AIDS awareness theatrical play “It’s Up To Me” in 2009 (written by Carla Springer of Sayge Theatre Productions and produced by Acute Vision Incorporated).
- Expanding the BDF HIV/AIDS awareness programme model to include other organisations such as the Barbados Cadet Corps and the Royal Barbados Police Force.
- Conducting food bank drives for persons living with or impacted by HIV.
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.
