Head of British Army in TCI

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 27, 2023 – The Turks and Caicos recently hosted the head of the British Army who has now been made a member of the local regiment.  

Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff  (CGS) spent a mid-March weekend in the country and it’s a visit Governor Nigel Dakin hopes will be rewarding for the TCI Regiment in the future.  The Governor said as much in the Instagram post announcing the visit.  

“He is now an Honorary Colonel of our Regiment.  That’s an enormously important step for us because it gives our Regiment a champion working at the very top of UK Defence,” Dakin said. 

The visit also included Lord Mark Lancaster, Former Minister for UK Armed Forces who Dakin acknowledged had championed the petition for OTs to even have their own military forces. 

The men met cordially with the Regiment and then saw them in action officially.  The Premier was also part of the meetings, so too the Maritime Police and Radar, the Tactical Firearms Unit and National Security Secretariat Dakin explained.  The top man was impressed with the regiment as he told Dakin how proud he was to be associated with the troupe.

One stop in the tour was Dockyard, the Providenciales community where so much grief was felt and caused over the past year.  Also a suspected have for illegal migrants and contraband. 

“Very pleased to see this relationship established before leave. It says much about the distance already traveled and it bodes very well indeed for the Regiment’s future.”  He said.  Fitting that Dakin’s last guests should be Britain’s security experts considering his investment in Border security in the TCI during his tenure.

Dakin will bid the country farewell by the end of March.