The Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment is the home defence unit of the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

of the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

. It is a single

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

, formed in 2020.

Background

The Turks and Caicos Islands, as a British Overseas Territory, are defended by the United Kingdom.

History

Governor

Nigel Dakin Nigel John Dakin (born 28 February 1964) is a British diplomat currently serving as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. He assumed office on 15 July 2019 in a swearing-in ceremony before the territory's House of Assembly. On 15 December 2 ...

announced in early December 2019 that the Turks and Caicos was going to build its own defence regiment, the Turks and Caicos Regiment, with the assistance of the United Kingdom

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, similar to the

Royal Bermuda Regiment The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), formerly the Bermuda Regiment, is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single territorial infantry battalion that was formed on the amalgamation in 1965 of two originally ...

, the

Cayman Islands Regiment The Cayman Islands Regiment is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. It is a single territorial infantry and engineer battalion of the British Armed Forces that was formed in 2020. History 2019 On 12 ...

, the

Royal Montserrat Defence Force The Royal Montserrat Defence Force is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. History Raised in 1899, the unit is today a reduced force of about forty volunteer soldiers, primarily concerned with civil Defence and ...

, the

Falkland Islands Defence Force The Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) is the locally maintained volunteer defence unit in the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory. The FIDF works alongside the military units supplied by the United Kingdom to ensure the security ...

, and the

Royal Gibraltar Regiment The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is part of British Forces Gibraltar for the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It was formed in 1958 from the Gibraltar Defence Force as an infantry unit, with an integrated artillery troop. The regiment is ...

. The Turks and Caicos Regiment, like the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Cayman Islands Regiment, would focus on increasing the nation's security, and, in times of natural disasters, the regiment would be trained in engineering and communications. In mid-December 2019, a team from the

United Kingdom Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to ...

was on Turks and Caicos to start building the regiment. It is projected that the Turk and Caicos Regiment will become operational sometime in the third quarter of 2020. In spring 2020, a Security and Assistance Team from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence arrived in Turks and Caicos to assist with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the

2020 Atlantic hurricane season The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season featured a total of 31 tropical or subtropical cyclones, making it the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record. All but one cyclone became a named storm. Of the 30 named storms, 14 deve ...

, and to help build the new Turks and Caicos Regiment. In early June 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Ennis Grant was appointed as commanding officer of the new Turks and Caicos Regiment. An additional five permanent staff and forty reserve posts consisting of non-commissioned officers and marines will be recruited later in 2020. Major John Galleymore was appointed as Second-in-Command of the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment.

Commanding officers

As of January 2020, the commanding officer is Lieutenant Colonel Ennis Grant.

References

{{The British Army Regiments of the British Army British colonial regiments Military units and formations established in 2020

Background

History

Commanding officers

See also

References