Pres­i­dent George Maxwell Richards has pro­mot­ed Com­mand­ing Of­fi­cer of the Cadet Force Lt Col Patrick E Tay­lor, to the rank of colonel with ef­fect from May 1. His ap­point­ment comes as cadets cel­e­brate 101 years of ser­vice. Col Tay­lor is a ca­reer of­fi­cer who en­list­ed at St Mary's Col­lege, Port-of-Spain. He be­came an of­fi­cer cadet in 1979 and re­ceived his com­mis­sion as a sec­ond lieu­tenant by 1980 as the en­sign to the colours. He has been ap­point­ed to var­i­ous posts, such as com­pa­ny com­man­der, ad­min­is­tra­tive/train­ing of­fi­cer, bat­tal­ion com­man­der, forces quar­ter­mas­ter and an­nu­al train­ing camp com­man­der.

He was award­ed the Caribbean Cadet Medal in 2006 and was ap­point­ed Com­man­dant of the Cadets on No­vem­ber 1, 2010. Colonel Tay­lor re­ceived his in­stru­ments of ap­point­ment and badges of rank from the Min­is­ter of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty, Sen­a­tor Brigadier John Sandy at a cer­e­mo­ny at Tem­ple Court, Port-of-Spain.

In at­ten­dance were Min­is­ter in the Min­istry of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Sen­a­tor Sub­has Pan­day; Karen Piper-Tay­lor, Tay­lor's wife; Per­ma­nent Sec­re­tary in the min­istry Jen­nifer Bou­caud-Blake; Roy Au­gus­tus, spe­cial ad­vis­er to the min­istry and WO1 Grant­ley Dick, of the Cadet Force Di­vi­sion.