Cayman troopers are settling in to their temporary home at the headquarters of the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force as the soldiers prepare to join a major security operation for a Commonwealth conference next month.
Five of the six-person strong Cayman contingent arrived in the country’s capital of St John’s on Thursday, 15 Oct. On Friday, they were given a briefing by the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda at the Camp Blizzard military headquarters on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting support plan.
Captain Nathan Dack, the regiment’s logistics officer, said, “It’s going well. We’re on an orientation phase at the moment and we’ve had the day to situated ourselves into the camp. We will start building up to group training in the next few days and the next week.
“The troops are really pleased to be able to travel and represent the regiment abroad. They’re delighted to get involved, to network and meet counterparts in the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force and other organisations.”
7,000 delegates
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2026 is expected to attract up to 7,000 delegates and King Charles III. Top figures from the British government are also expected to attend the meeting, which will run from 1-4 Nov.
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Troops from the Royal Montserrat Defence Force, who will work in support of the Cayman troops, have already arrived. More from the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment are expected to arrive later.
Dack said, “We will be training in event management and what we will be handling is the logistical side of things – management and control – and we will be working alongside the police here to do that.”
He added, “It’s starting to ramp up. It’s relatively quiet at the moment, but over the next few days, more groups will be arriving in the lead-up to the event.”
Dack said that he and the troops, to be joined by Major Paris Goldsbury, the Cayman regiment’s executive officer, next week, were determined to represent Cayman well.
He added, “There are always challenges with working in a new environment and with lots of different organisations but, in terms of the tasks we’re being asked to do and the role we will play, that’s something we’re keen to get involved in and there’s certainly no lack of enthusiasm.
Dack said, “We will be representing Cayman at the highest levels of the Commonwealth and we have no intention of letting our country down.”
Regiment ‘professional and credible’
Goldsbury said the regiment was “really proud” to be invited to help and that it was proof of “the growing recognition around the region of the professional and credible force” that the regiment had become in just a few years.
She added the regiment, although primarily tasked with humanitarian aid and disaster relief in Cayman, also had a wider regional role.
The regiment sent a team to Jamaica in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Melissa a year ago to assist with recovery work.
Goldsbury said the Cayman troops, who will not be armed, would assist on the ground with access management for delegates escort duties and movement of authorised personnel.
She said she and Dack would be based in the event’s operations centre, “behind the scenes, being able to see the bigger picture, everything that’s happening”.
Goldsbury added that the event would involve some of the regiment’s core capabilities, including “general duties”.
She said, “That’s all about developing disciplined adaptable soldiers who can conduct a range of tasks, often in support of civil authorities.”