Commander of the Defence Force (The Bahamas)

Commander Defence Force of Bahamas
Emblem of the Bahamas Defence Force
Incumbent Raymond King since 21 May 2020
Royal Bahamas Defence Force
Formation	October 1976;48 years ago (1976-10)
First holder	William Swinley
Deputy	Deputy Commander Defence Force
Website	Official website

The Commander of the Defence Force is the professional head of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the Defence Force. The current commander is Raymond King, who was appointed on 21 May 2020, after serving as acting commander since 16 October 2019. ^{[1] [2]}

List of commanders

•   Acting

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Commodore William Swinley (?–2014)	October 1976	1981	4–5 years	[3] [4]
2		Commodore Christopher Belton Royal Navy	1981	1983	1–2 years	[3]
3		Commodore Leon L. Smith	1983	1997	13–14 years	[3] [5]
4		Commodore Davy Rolle	1997	2006	8–9 years	[3]
5		Commodore Clifford Scavella	1 November 2006	21 January 2010	3 years, 81 days	[3]
6		Commodore Roderick Bowe (born 1961)	21 January 2010	15 March 2015	5 years, 53 days	[6]
–		Commodore Tellis Bethel	15 March 2015	1 May 2017	2 years, 47 days	[7] [8] [1]
7			1 May 2017	16 October 2019	2 years, 168 days
–		Commodore Raymond King (born 1968)	16 October 2019	21 May 2020	218 days	[1] [2]
8			21 May 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 292 days

References

1. Smith, Sloan (16 October 2019). "New acting RBDF commander". ewnews.com. Eyewitness News. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
2. Thompson, Lindsay (21 May 2020). "Prime Minister Welcomes a New Commander of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force". bahamas.gov.bs. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
3. "Former Commodores". rbdf.gov.bs. Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
4. "The Bahamas' First Commodore William Swinley Passes". Bahamas Press. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
5. "PM lauds Commodore Leon Smith for 'positive leadership' of RBDF". Bahamas Local. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
6. "Commodore Roderick Bowe BSc. CMELI (Retired)". rbdf.gov.bs. Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
7. Bahamas, Jones (3 May 2017). "Commodore Bethel Heads Largest RBDF Promotion Exercise". jonesbahamas.com. The Bahama Journal. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
8. "Commodore Tellis A. Bethel, MALIC,". rbdf.gov.bs. Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Retrieved 10 May 2021.