Sharon Alfonso — first female colonel in TT

SHARON ALFONSO has become the first female Lieute-nant Colonel in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment. Last Friday, National Security Minister Martin Joseph handed out letters of promotion in the top rank to Alfonso and nine of her male counterparts at a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters, Staubles Bay. Two Coast Guard Commanders were promoted during that ceremony.

There was a delay in promoting the officers. It was under active consideration when Howard Chin Lee was the Minister of National Security. Minister Joseph said when he went to Teteron Barracks last week, he asked what human resource matters were outstanding. When told that promotions in the top ranks were outstanding for some time, Joseph promised to deal with them. “I dealt with that right away. Now I am focused on dealing with having promotions in the Police Service. You see, when promotions are made, they give encouragement to persons to be more productive. It also creates room for further elevation in the lower ranks,” Joseph said.

Alfonso has had a distinguished career in the Regiment. She is Comptroller of the Household at the Prime Minister’s residence and has served in that position under two Prime Ministers — Basdeo Panday and Patrick Manning. She has also served as Defence Force public relations officer and headed a company at Teteron. Her biggest goal is to command a battalion. She attended military school in Canada and Indiana, United States. Contacted yesterday, Alfonso said she was very happy with the promotion to become the first woman to attain such a rank. “I am grateful to God and this promotion represents a personal satisfaction in my life.” Alfonso enlisted in the TT Regiment on June 1, 1980, as a private. On October 17, 1981, she was promoted to Second Lieutenant. Two years later, she was made a Lieutenant.

In 1987, Alfonso rose to the rank of Captain and in 1994, was made a Major. Ten years later, she rises to Lieutenant Colonel, the first time a woman has reached the rank in the TT Defence Force. The other officers promoted to Lieutenant Colonel were — Neil Bennett, the Staff Officer, Land Forces; Ken Maharaj, Commanding Officer, First Battalion, Camp Ogden; Colin Mitchell, Commanding Officer, Service Support Battalion; Zephrine Maillard, Commanding Officer, Engineering; Albert Griffith, of the Special Crime Unit headed by Brigadier Peter Joseph; Anthony Phillip-Spencer, Assistant Chief of Staff; Rodney Smart, Commanding Officer, Second Battalion; Ricardo Garcia, Defence Force Training Academy, and Michael Clarke, Operations.

Phillip-Spencer was aide-de-camp to President Arthur NR Robinson for several years before returning to the Regiment when Max Richards assumed the Presidency last year. Two of the officers, Bennett and Clarke, were absent on Friday because they were abroad. The two new Coast Guard Commanding Officers are Kirton Huggins and Mark Williams.  Williams is following in the footsteps of his father Commodore Mervyn Williams, who was once Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard, and later became Chief of Defence Staff.