Midshipman Ernestine Cleare-Rolle of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is the newest addition to the Officer’s Corps after successfully completing Naval Officer Training in England.
The rigorous eight-month training course is designed to prepare naval/military cadets for the important leadership and management positions they will assume throughout their careers in the Defence Force.
The course was conducted from February 13 to October 12 at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) in Dartmouth, England.
At BRNC, the young officer was trained in areas such as Leadership, Navigation, Strategic Studies, Meteorology, Ship Technology, Maritime Operations, Ethnicity and Diversity, Fire Fighting, Chemical, Biological, Radiation, Nuclear, and Damage Control.
The course was carried out in three phases.
The militerisation phase, which is the first segment of the training, involved two major exercises: Basic Leadership Development (BLD) and Assessed Basic Leadership Exercises (ABLE).
These programmes are aimed at promoting leadership training and simulated crises situations to access their critical thinking abilities under pressure.
The second phase was the Marinisation phase.
This consisted of lectures in Strategic Studies (Naval History) and Maritime Operations (Tactical Operational Planning).
This training segment culminated with the Maritime Leadership Exercise (MARL), where participants are assessed while performing the duties of the Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, Navigation Officer and Officer of the Watch on a Picket Boat that is used as a training vessel.
The third and final phase, the Initial Fleet Time (IFT) Phase is a 10-week sea training programme for Midshipmen. Midshipman Cleare-Rolle was assigned to HMS Illustrious, a Landing Platform Helicopter vessel. This vessel has the capability to land and stow helicopters, as well as launch and recover Royal Marine Landing craft for amphibious assaults.
A 2000 graduate of the R. M. Bailey Senior High School, Midshipman Cleare-Rolle joined the Defence Force in August 2004, and was initially assigned to the Band section of the Force.
The young officer was officially welcomed on her return by Commodore Roderick Bowe, who presented her with a book entitled “Naval Leadership – Voices of Experience.”
