MUST USE BRAINS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 203, 28 August 1942, Page 2

MUST USE BRAINS

PRESENT-DAY ARMY

SCHOOLS OF INSTRUCTION

(By P. R. CUMING)

To say that education and the army have become practically synonymous terms may be overstating the position, but there is no gainsaying the fact that brain has rapidly superseded brawn in modern warfare. True, brawn and physical courage count in a tight corner, but brains always provide the winning factor in the end. In the present conflict army schools of instruction hold a unique and verv important place. In fact, they are indispensable to victory. When New Zealand's fighting forces swung over to mechanisation close on a year ago, the first necessary step was the establishment of an armoured fighting vehicle school The army took the sensible view that while text-books are all right in their place, the instructors for the new school should be men with practical experience of modern fighting conditions. It brought back from the Middle East New Zealanders who had actually fought with mechanised equipment, and had learnt in the hard school of experience under field conditions. For the commandant of the new school thp Dominion Government secured on loan from the Imperial Army the services of an officer of long experience in tank warfare, including battle experience in the Libyan Desert There was no doubt that the school was started on right lines. Important Part Played Now, after almost a year's existence, the school can be said to have played a part of paramount importance in the mechanisation of our fighting units. First pupils in the science of tank warfare were men of the Ist N.Z. Army Tank Brigade, who attended the initial mechanical, gunnery and wireless courses. Thev are now carrying out their tactical and collective training under the command of a brigadier with a fine record of hard-won experience gained in Greece and the Libyan Desert. W hen cavalry regiments changed to mechanised units overnight, thev commenced to send selected N.C.O.'s to the school to learn in the shortest time possible all there was to learn about armoured fighting vehicles. N.C.O.'s pass out from the school, and in turn become instructors in their own units.

A visit to this school for soldiers would certainly have a heartening effect on those at present pressing for education in the army. What the men learn at this school wiil undoubtedly be of advantage to them in civilian life. For example, young mechanics have an opportunity to learn more about tneir trade and can keep their hand in at the workshops of the school's technical wing. Again, the six weeks' electricians' course provides a conscientious student with a sound grounding in electricity. In the wireless wing, too, students learn Morse operating, and in the driving and maintenance wing they are taught the maintenance and care of engines. Courses in gunnery teach the students to use their head and eye. It is a development of brain as well as of sound physique at the A.F.V. School. Splendidly Equipped The school is splendidly equipped, but a recent record influx of students has severely taxed accommodation. The army is making every effort to remove handicaps in this connection, and it can certainly be said that, as the school is the focal point of training as far as mechanised units are concerned, it merits every consideration. The large numbers of students that have already passed through the school make an impressive total, but unfortunately cannot be detailed because of reasons.

An army school of instruction certainly dispels the idea held by some sections of the public that presentday soldiering in New Zealand is an easy life and tends to make thf> I rain sluggish. A modern soldier mast use his brains. It is this mental alertness that is going to assist him materially when democracy has triumphed and he returns to civilian life. The army schools have an immediate job to do in the war, but at the same time they are laying a foundation for the future.