From the Cradle
Recruit Training in Newcastle
by Second Lieutenant Godfey Sterling

Nestled in the cool quiet hills of St Andrew is the Jamaica Defence Force Training Depot. To many, the often referred to Hill station, conveys an aura of mystique and a place of hardship delicately woven to form the developmental core of a young progressing Defence Force. Factors such as its high altitude and remote siting have kept many casual visitors away. Those who do journey to the Jamaica Defence Force Training Depot are inevitably on a quest for higher  learning.

Chief Justice of Jamaica Hon. Lensley Wolfe inspects a recruit intake Passing Out Parade.

At the training depot, you are either a trainee or a trainer. As a trainee the distinction between night and day blurs into long hours of hard work and play. Here class and creed give way to comradeship and esprit de corp. and, whilst the metamorphosis from a civilian into a disciplined, obedient and alert military person leaves many questions unanswered during the early stages of training, all look forward to earning the right to be, and bear the responsibility of being a soldier in the Jamaica Defence Force. To the trainers it is the opportunity to save and or bring out the true potential of some of our young countrymen and women. Thus, the greatest reward for him or her is the successful transition of his or her charges from civilians to capable military personnel. For both groups Passing out Parade Day publicly symbolizes a bold and progressive step in the building of a Force capable of fulfilling its roles.

From recruit to soldier at last!

Thus when the sun sets and another intake marches off Sir William Gomm Parade Square, high above the plains of Liguanea it is not an end but a beginning that is symbolized. The beginning of a new way of life for those trained and the injection of rejuvenating lifeblood into a young but historically well endowed Jamaica Defence Force. Finally, to those being trained "…. Take generously from the wealth of experience and knowledge at your disposal…" and to the trainers "…keep the fire brightly burning on the hill so that those who have eyes may see the light…". Although shrouded in the minds of many, it is the beacon on the hill for the Force in its drive forward.