Twenty-five soldiers have been dismissed from the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) in the last two years for failing drug tests and six would-be soldiers also ran afoul of the force’s drug policy during the last selection process for recruitment.
This was revealed by Chief of Staff Colonel Alvin Quintyne as he addressed 72 recruits for 2011 at Paragon, Christ Church. He explained that these actions came in the wake of the introduction of a drug testing policy two years ago.
Quintyne explained that he needed to be “comfortable” that soldiers could carry out their duties when they were deployed in support of the police or any other agency in any exercise where arms and ammunition had to be employed.
“If those individuals are under the influence of drugs their judgement will be impaired and they are not only a threat to themselves and to their colleagues, but most of all they are a threat to the community,” he said.
Quintyne said that all soldiers, himself included, were subjected to the drug test and where an individual had tested positive for drugs, due process was followed, with the individual being given the right to have their B-Sample tested. Following investigations, once drugs have been found in their system they would be dismissed from the BDF.
He therefore urged the recruits to refrain from the use or abuse of illegal drugs as they would be tested and disciplined in accordance with the provisions of the force’s Drug Abuse and Prevention Policy and the Defence Act.
“The uniform that you wear as soldiers does not grant you any exemptions from prosecution for offences against the laws of the land . . . ,” the BDF head said.
He told recruits that the BDF would be committed to seeing after their welfare and they were required to be committed and loyal to Barbados and to its flag, urging them to take the oath of allegiance seriously and to observe the values and code of conduct of the BDF by displaying the core values of commitment to duty, loyalty, integrity, respect, courage, discipline and selfless service.
The new batch of recruits, of which 11 are female, included two holders of Bachelor of Science degrees and several others with very good CXC qualifications, Quintyne said, adding that it was hoped that some graduates from this batch would be used to fill existing vacancies in the force.
He disclosed that there were about 174 individuals waiting to be processed for the next batch of recruits.
The present batch of recruits will pass out on August 27, following five months of intense training.
