THERE ARE various opportunities and advantages of life in the military; it is far more than marching, taking orders and getting to carry around large guns.
After more than a month’s hiatus, Street Beat is back with a look at the Barbados Coast Guard.
Able-bodied seaman Shem Nicholls is a senior engineer aboard the HMBS Trident, the newest ship in the fleet. His responsibilities include making sure the ship is in tip top shape and that everything is running smoothly. He said the job could be difficult but he loved it.
“I’m responsible for the maintenance of the vessel and I guide the other three engineers on board. Sometimes it can be hard, because it’s just that when there are problems; you got to be up until they are rectified. I am often up for long hours without sleep,” he said.
Nicholls said another challenge was the pace and cost of modern technology. Because things became obsolete so quickly and their replacements so expensive, he said sometimes it was difficult to find parts for pieces of equipment on board. But the hardest thing of all was the toll the job took on family.
“One of the hardest things about the Coast Guard in general is spending so much time away from your family but you find the crew becomes your family,” he said.
Nicholls has been in the Coast Guard for seven years; an engineer for six and has been serving on the Trident for two ? and a half. He said he has had the “privilege” of working on the HMBS Rudyard Lewis as well as on a small boat flotilla, but his current post is special.
“I like the family environment. For any youngster interested in this life, you got to love it, you got to train and you got to have a strong work ethic,” he said.
Another specialized job on board is the cook. Ordinary Seaman Laron Seales fills that role, a role he said he was not looking to fill in the first place.
“I am one of the cooks in the Coast Guard and the main cook on the HMBS Trident but I was beaten into submission. I didn’t want to be the cook but I had a talent for it. There was an incident when one of the cooks was injured and they asked me to fill in. They liked what they tasted so it was decided I was the man to do it from now on,” he said.
Now he is the man of the kitchen, Seales said he was determined to give his best because “if they aren’t happy, then I’m not happy”. He said the job was like any other, complete with privileges and downfalls.
“You get a bit more rest than the other sailors as my main job is to cook but it can get tough when the sea is rough. In here, your senses are heightened so you can feel like you will throw up. Plus, I don’t eat meat so preparing certain dishes – like pork with cloves – can offset me,” he said.
Another peeve of his is sailors who take him for granted by refusing to wash up after themselves.
“I wash what I use but I see it as disrespectful when you get up early to cook and someone eats and just throws the plate in the sink,” he said.
Seales, now serving four years in the military, said there was nothing he wouldn’t attempt to make and he was a believer in constant self-improvement. As such, he said the Coast Guard was allowing him to study at PomMarine Hospitality Institute.
Finally, we have the commanding officer, Lieutenant (CG) Ryan Alleyne. He joined the Commando Squadron – now known as Special Ops – in 1994 before joining the Coast Guard three years later.
At 37, he has travelled to Holland, England and the United States and has sailed across the Atlantic Ocean twice.
“I am still considered a young officer as most of the others are older, but once you have the requisite qualifications, you can be an officer from 18,” he said.
Alleyne said he had had a good career thus far but it can be stressful being an officer.
“Sometimes you can command as many as 60 men and you have to be a doctor, psychologist and more as you have to understand each individual under your command and make sure they can work together as a unit while completing their individual tasks,” he said.
However, he said one of the joys of command was seeing youngsters you trained rise in the ranks. He had words of advice for youth seeking to join the military.
“It is alright to want discipline, but discipline does not begin in the military, it begins at home, school and in the community, we just maintain it. A good education is also important because without it, you can become stagnated. Finally, the military is a career, not an 8 to 4 job. If you put your heart into it, you will make it; if you come just to earn a dollar, you won’t,” he said. [email protected]
