Military history of Jamaica

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is the small but professional military force of Jamaica. The JDF is based upon the British military model with organization, training, weapons and traditions closely aligned with Commonwealth realms. Once chosen, officer candidates are sent to one of several British or Canadian basic officer courses depending upon which arm of service they are selected for. Enlisted soldiers are given basic training at JDF Training Depot, Newcastle or Up Park Camp, both in St. Andrew. As on the British model, NCOs are given several levels of professional training as they rise up the ranks. Additional military schools are available for speciality training in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The JDF is directly descended from the British West Indies Regiment formed during the colonial era. The West Indies Regiment was used extensively by the British Empire in policing the empire from 1795 to 1926. Other units in the JDF heritage include the early colonial Jamaica Militia, the Kingston Infantry Volunteers of World War I and reorganized into the Jamaican Infantry Volunteers in World War II. The West Indies Regiment was reformed in 1958 as part of the West Indies Federation. The dissolution of the Federation resulted in the establishment of the JDF.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) comprises an infantry Regiment and Reserve Corps, an Air Wing, a Coast Guard fleet and a supporting Engineering Unit. The infantry regiment contains the 1st, 2nd and 3rd (National Reserve) battalions. The JDF Air Wing is divided into three flight units, a training unit, a support unit and the JDF Air Wing (National Reserve). The Coast Guard is divided between sea-going crews and support crews. It conducts maritime safety and maritime law enforcement as well as defence-related operations. The support battalion contains a Military Police platoon as well as vehicle, armourers and supply units. The 1st Engineer Regiment provides military engineering support to the JDF. The Headquarters JDF contains the JDF Commander, Command Staff as well as Intelligence, Judge Advocate office, Administrative and Procurement sections.

In recent years the JDF has been called upon to assist the nation's police, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in fighting drug smuggling and a rising crime rate which includes one of the highest murder rates in the world. JDF units actively conduct armed patrols with the JCF in high-crime areas and known gang neighborhoods. There has been vocal controversy as well as support of this JDF role. In early 2005, an Opposition leader, Edward Seaga, called for the merger of the JDF and JCF. This has not garnered support in either organization nor among the majority of citizens.^[1]

References

1. ^ Jamaica

• Black, Clinton V. 1983. The Story of Jamaica. London: Collins Educational.
• Ledgister, F.S.J. 1998. Class Alliances and the Liberal-Authoritarian State: The Roots of Post-Colonial Democracy in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Surinam. Trenton: Africa World Press.
• Morales Padrón, Francisco. 1953 2003. Spanish Jamaica. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers.
• Williams, Eric. 1964. British Historians and the West Indies. P.N.M. Publishing Company, Port-of-Spain.
• Sawh, Gobin, Ed. 1992. The Canadian Caribbean Connection: Bridging North and South: Influences, Lifestyles. Carindo Cultural Assoc., Halifax.

Further reading

• Jamaica Defence Force Senior Officers Biography
• Ships of the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard
• Jamaica Defence Force Aircraft
• Jamaica Defence Force History
• Jamaica Gleaner - Change of Guard
• Land Forces of Britain, The Empire and Commonwealth
• Michener, James, A. 1989. Caribbean. Secker & Warburg. London. ISBN 0-436-27971-1 (Especially Chap. XI. "Martial Law in Jamaica", pp. 403–442. Semi-fictional but mainly accurate).
• Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5.
• Barringer, Tim., Forrester, Gillian. and Martinez-Ruiz, Barbaro. 2007. Art and Empancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. ISBN 978-0-300-11661-8

External links

Jamaica portal

• Jamaica Defence Force website
• Jamaica entry at The World Factbook
• History of Jamaica - Offers a history of the island from 1494 to the present.
• Jamaica - Entry from the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia on Jamaica.
• Jamaica Jamaica