Exercise In Aust. For N.Z. Troops

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31112, 15 July 1966, Page 1

Exercise In Aust. For N.Z. Troops

Elements of the Ist Infantry Brigade Group would participate in “Exercise Tasman 5” in Australia this year, said the commander of the group (Colonel D. J. Aitken) in Christchurch last night.

About 140 soldiers would leave early in October for a month’s training with Army units in Australia. Colonel Aitken said that in the last two years, the brigade, formerly known as the Combat Brigade Group, had been one of the main beneficiaries of the Army’s new re-equipment programme. The group expected to have

light aircraft, as recommended in the recent White Paper on defence, within the next 12 months. A plane with a short takeoff and landing was being sought. Although the American Helio Courier had been mentioned as a likely choice, Colonel Aitken said he understood that several planes were being considered. The recently acquired Bell Sioux helicopters were giving useful service to the brigade. The Ist Infantry Brigade Group was an effective field army which could be mobilised for service overseas at very short notice, he said. It was not, like the battalion at Bumham, a replacement training group for service in Malaysia or Vietnam, although many of the men in the brigade had served in one or other of these countries. Next February Colonel Aitken will put the members of the brigade into Waiouru Military Camp for one of the largest field exercises to be held there for some time. In the next few days, Colonel Aitken will visit units of the brigade in Canterbury and discuss training with them.