The Tribune

SUB LIEUTENANTS Allen Dixon and Elizabeth Simms are the newest officers of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

They recently returned home after successfully training at the Officer Candidate School in New London, Connecticut.

The rigorous 17-week Coast Guard course, sponsored by the United States International Military Education Training Programme (IMET), was conducted at the United States Coast Guard Academy from August 4 through December 7, 2011.

The course is designed to educate and train officer candidates to ensure that they possess the moral, intellectual and physical qualities required for commissioning, as well as the leadership potential to serve effectively as naval officers.

The course curriculum included academics, leadership and management, nautical science, health and physical readiness, military customs and courtesies, traditions and Coast Guard history.

Both officers participated in a two-week sea trip aboard the Barque Eagle.

The vessel, a 295-foot training vessel built in Germany in 1936, was acquired as a war prize at the end of the Second World War.

This segment of the course focused on the training of candidates for life at sea.

They were able to try out all the knowledge acquired in the classroom, including damage control techniques, calculation of sunrise and sunset, giving helm orders, over board drills and other key safety procedures.

In completing the course, Sub Lieutenant Simms achieved a new milestone for the RBDF, as she is the first female officer to attend the Officer Candidate School.

She is a 15-year veteran of the service who was previously attached to Defence Force Headquarters.

Sub Lieutenant Dixon is a 17-year veteran of the service who was attached to the Supply Department prior to being selected for officer training.