In 2011 several soldiers, through their own initiative and personal expense, started a small agricultural project which produced vegetables at Paragon Base and St. Ann’s Fort. This produce augmented what was begin purchased by the BDF for use in its kitchens.
In 2013 a small agricultural garden was also established at the Coast Guard base, HMBS PELICAN, and this project produced cabbage, cucumbers, soya beans, chives, thyme, marjoram, dill, sweet basil, lettuce, paw-paw, passion fruit and bananas.
It is envisioned that the BDF’s Farm Project will expand to include a wider variety of fruits, vegetables and root crops and incorporate the rearing of chicken, rabbits, black belly sheep and pond cultivated fish.
The main objectives of the Farm Project are to reduce the Force’s food bill and provide a wider array of produce in the aim of improving the health of the members of the Force.
Green house farming at St Ann’s Fort
Garden farm at St Ann’s Fort
BCG Farming Project
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.
