Editing Bermuda (section)

===Military and defence===
{{main|Military of Bermuda}}
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2019}}
[[File:BVRC-Great-War-Contingent 1914.jpg|thumb|The First [[Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps]] Contingent, raised in 1914. By the war's end, the two BVRC contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength.]]
[[File:Rembrance Day Parade Bermuda.jpg|thumb|Remembrance Day Parade, Hamilton, Bermuda]]

A former [[Imperial fortress]] [[British Overseas Territory|colony]] once known as "the Gibraltar of the West" and "Fortress Bermuda", defence of Bermuda, as part of the British [[sovereign state]], is the responsibility of the British Government.

For the first two centuries of settlement, the most potent armed force operating from Bermuda was its merchant shipping fleet, which turned to [[privateering]] at every opportunity. The Bermuda government maintained a local (infantry) militia and fortified coastal artillery batteries manned by volunteer artillerymen. Bermuda tended toward the Royalist side during the [[English overseas possessions in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms|English Civil War]], being the first of six colonies to recognise [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] as King on the execution of his father, [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], in 1649, and was one of those targeted by the [[Rump Parliament]] in [[An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego]], which was passed on 30 October 1650. With control of the "army" (the militia and coastal artillery), the colony's Royalists deposed the Governor, Captain Thomas Turner, elected John Trimingham to replace him, and exiled a number of its Parliamentary leaning [[Independent (religion)|Independents]] to settle the [[Bahamas]] under [[William Sayle]] as the [[Eleutheran Adventurers]]. Bermuda's barrier reef, coastal artillery batteries and militia provided a defence too powerful for the fleet sent in 1651 by Parliament under the command of Admiral Sir [[George Ayscue]] to capture the Royalist colonies. The Parliamentary Navy was consequently forced to blockade Bermuda for several months 'til the Bermudians negotiated a peace.

After the [[American Revolutionary War]], Bermuda was established as the Western Atlantic headquarters of the ''North America Station'' (later called the [[North America and West Indies Station]], and later still the ''America and West Indies Station'' as it absorbed other stations) of the [[Royal Navy]]. Once the Royal Navy established a base and dockyard defended by regular soldiers, however, the militias were disbanded following the [[War of 1812]]. At the end of the 19th century, the colony raised volunteer units to form a reserve for the [[Bermuda Garrison|military garrison]].

Due to its isolated location in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]], Bermuda was vital to the Allies' war effort during both [[world war]]s of the 20th century, serving as a marshalling point for trans-Atlantic convoys, as well as a naval air base. By the Second World War, both the Royal Navy's [[Fleet Air Arm]] and the [[Royal Air Force]] were operating [[Seaplane]] bases on Bermuda.

In May 1940, the US requested base rights in Bermuda from the United Kingdom, but British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] was initially unwilling to accede to the American request without getting something in return.<ref>Martin Gilbert, ''Churchill and America''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.</ref> In September 1940, as part of the [[Destroyers for Bases Agreement]], the UK granted the US base rights in Bermuda. Bermuda and [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] were not originally included in the agreement, but both were added to it, with no war material received by the UK in exchange. One of the terms of the agreement was that the airfield the US Army built would be used jointly by the US and the UK (which it was for the duration of the war, with RAF Transport Command relocating there from [[Royal Air Force, Bermuda, 1939-1945|Darrell's Island]] in 1943). The US Army established the [[Bermuda Base Command]] in 1941 to co-ordinate its [[USAAF|air]], anti-aircraft, and [[United States Army Coast Artillery Corps|coast artillery]] assets during the war. The US Navy operated a [[USN Submarine Base, Ordnance Island, Bermuda|submarine base]] on [[Ordnance Island, Bermuda|Ordnance Island]] from 1942 through 1945.<ref name="bermuda-online.org" />

Construction began in 1941 of two airbases consisting of {{cvt|5.8|km2|1}} of land, largely reclaimed from the sea. For a number of years, Bermuda's bases were used by [[US Air Force]] transport and refuelling aircraft and by [[US Navy]] aircraft patrolling the Atlantic for enemy submarines, first [[Kriegsmarine|German]] and, later, [[Soviet Navy|Soviet]]. The principal installation, [[Kindley Air Force Base]] on the eastern coast, was transferred to the US Navy in 1970 and redesignated [[Naval Air Station Bermuda]]. As a naval air station, the base continued to host both transient and deployed USN and USAF aircraft, as well as transitioning or deployed Royal Air Force and [[Canadian Forces]] aircraft.

The original [[NAS Bermuda]] on the west side of the island, a [[seaplane]] base until the mid-1960s, was designated as the Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex. It provided optional anchorage and dockage facilities for transiting US Navy, [[US Coast Guard]] and [[NATO]] vessels, depending on size. An additional US Navy compound known as [[Naval Facility Bermuda]] (NAVFAC Bermuda), a submarine-detecting [[SOSUS]] station, was located to the west of the Annex near a Canadian Forces communications facility in the Tudor Hill area; it was converted from a US Army coast artillery bunker in 1954 and operated until 1995. Although leased for 99 years, US forces withdrew in 1995, as part of the wave of base closures following the end of the [[Cold War]].

Canada, which had operated a war-time naval base, [[HMCS Somers Isles|HMCS ''Somers Isles'']], on the old Royal Navy base at Convict Bay, St George's, also established a radio-listening post at Daniel's Head in the West End of the islands during this time.

In the 1950s, after the end of World War II, the Royal Naval dockyard and the military garrison were closed. A small Royal Navy supply base, [[HMS Malabar (shore establishment)|HMS ''Malabar'']], continued to operate within the dockyard area, supporting transiting Royal Navy ships and submarines until it, too, was closed in 1995, along with the American and Canadian bases.

[[File:HMS Ambuscade in Bermuda.jpg|thumb|[[HMS Ambuscade (F172)|HMS ''Ambuscade'']] at the [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda|Royal Naval Dockyard in 1988]]]]
Bermudians served in the British armed forces during both [[World War I]] and World War II. After the latter, Major-General [[Glyn Gilbert|Glyn Charles Anglim Gilbert]], Bermuda's highest-ranking soldier, was instrumental in developing the Royal Bermuda Regiment. A number of other Bermudians and their descendants had preceded him into senior ranks, including Bahamian-born Admiral [[James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier|Lord Gambier]], and Bermudian-born [[Royal Marines]] Brigadier A. John Harvey. When promoted to brigadier at age 38, following his wounding at the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]], Harvey became the youngest-ever Royal Marine Brigadier. The [[Cenotaph]] in front of the Cabinet Building (in Hamilton) was erected in tribute to Bermuda's Great War dead (the tribute was later extended to Bermuda's Second World War dead) and is the site of the annual [[Remembrance Day]] commemoration.

Today, the only military unit remaining in Bermuda, other than [[Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps|naval]] and army cadet corps, is the [[Royal Bermuda Regiment]], an amalgam of the voluntary units originally formed toward the end of the 19th century. Although the Regiment's predecessors were voluntary units, until 2018 the modern body was formed primarily by conscription: balloted males were required to serve for three years, two months part-time, once they turn 18. Conscription was abolished 1 July 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 June 2018 |title=MPs Pass Bill To Abolish Regiment Conscription |url=http://bernews.com/2018/06/mps-pass-bill-to-abolish-regiment-conscription/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804054247/http://bernews.com/2018/06/mps-pass-bill-to-abolish-regiment-conscription/ |archive-date=4 August 2022 |access-date=15 March 2020 |website=Bernews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnston |first=Paul |date=23 June 2018 |title=House votes to end conscription {{!}} The Royal Gazette:Bermuda News |url=http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20180623/house-votes-to-end-conscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910053536/http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20180623/house-votes-to-end-conscription |archive-date=10 September 2019 |access-date=15 March 2020 |website=The Royal Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>

In early 2020 the Royal Bermuda Regiment formed the Bermuda Coast Guard. Its 24-hour on-duty service includes search and rescue, counter-narcotics operations, border control, and protection of Bermuda's maritime interests. The Bermuda Coast Guard will interact with the rest of the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Bermuda Police Service.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 February 2020 |title=Launch of Bermuda Coast Guard |url=https://www.gov.bm/articles/launch-bermuda-coast-guard |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308115633/https://www.gov.bm/articles/launch-bermuda-coast-guard |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=8 January 2021 |website=Gov.bm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-14 |title=Minister Caines On Bermuda Coast Guard |url=https://bernews.com/2020/02/bermuda-coast-guard/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Bernews}}</ref>