BDF Field Medical Facility Receives $36K
BDF Media Release| 27 July 2020
Photography credit: Able-bodied Seaman Tramaine Bryan
The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) recently received a $36,000.00 donation of equipment and stores from the Rotary Club West (Barbados) to enhance the operational capabilities of its Field Medical Facility (BDF FMF). The handover ceremony held at the Officers’ Mess, St Ann’s Fort was attended by the President and immediate Past-President, Mr Trevor Williams and Mrs Jean St John respectively and Chief of Staff BDF Colonel Glyne Grannum.
Colonel Grannum expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Rotary Club West and described the donation as a celebration of the partnership between the two organizations. He further mentioned that the strategic outreach and vision of the Club to make such a donation, will certainly assist in making the BDF FMF more efficient in its primary role of responding to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response events locally and regionally. Overall, the donation will support the BDF Field Medical Facility’s objective to receive its Type 2 certification.
Mrs Jean St John, immediate Past-President acknowledged the sentiments expressed by Colonel Grannum and added that the BDF and the Rotary Club West are a family and they will always seek to assist with such initiatives where feasible. She further noted that such a project will not only benefit Barbadians, but given the current expectancy of this season’s severe Atlantic Weather Systems, it will also support any response efforts in the Region.
During the ceremony, and given the recent COVID-19 restrictions, the occasion was used as an opportunity by the members of the Rotary Club West present and its immediate Past-President Mrs Jean St John, to transfer the symbolic Rotarian medallion to new President Mr Trevor Williams.
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.
