Commander of the Defence Force (The Bahamas) explained

Post:	Commander Defence Force
Body:	Bahamas
Insignia:	Bahamas Defence Force emblem.svg
Insigniacaption:	Emblem of the Bahamas Defence Force
Incumbent:	Raymond King
Incumbentsince:	21 May 2020
Department:	Royal Bahamas Defence Force
First:	William Swinley
Deputy:	Deputy Commander Defence Force

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.

List of commanders

	Portrait	Name	Term of office
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Commodore William Swinley	October 1976	1981	years	^[1] ^[2]
2		Commodore Christopher Belton	1981	1983	years
3		Commodore Leon L. Smith	1983	1997	years	^[3]
4		Commodore Davy Rolle	1997	2006	years
5		Commodore Clifford Scavella	1 November 2006	21 January 2010
6		Commodore Roderick Bowe	21 January 2010	15 March 2015		^[4]
–		Commodore Tellis Bethel	15 March 2015	1 May 2017		^[5] ^[6] ^[7]
7			1 May 2017	16 October 2019
–		Commodore Raymond King	16 October 2019	21 May 2020		^[8]
8			21 May 2020	Incumbent

Notes and References

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