THE DEFENCE FORCES

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 471, 1 April 1909, Page 8

THE DEFENCE FORCES

»- OFFICERS'TRAINING CORPS. AT UNIVERSITIES AND HIGH SCHOOLS. PROVISIONAL REGULATIONS. In pursuance of the spirit of Imperialism which is leavening tho organisation and training of our army of defence,, the Now Zealand Defence Council has issued provi'sional - regulations for tho establishment of Officers' Training Corps at the universities and high schools of tho Dominion. Tho primary object is to provide students with a standardised measure of elementary military training, with a view to their eventually accepting commissions in the Reserve of Officers, or the Defence Forces. Yonng men who, on being recommended for commissions in the Resorve of ■ Officers or tho Defence JForces, can produco certificates of • proficiency obtained in tho Officers' Training Corps, ■ will be exempted from a portion of the probationary training, or from certain examinations, required from other officers. By means of tho facilities thus offered to men who wish to serve their country with the . least possible interference mth their civil careers, it is hoped that tne supply of officors may bo increased, and that all arms and services may not only be complete in officers on mobilisation, but also have a surplus 'in tho junior commissioned ranks in order to make good tho losses which will occur in war. The value of the proficiency certificates lies in their being the guarantee of from two to four years' consecutive training of a nature calculated to produce good officers. The scheme will therefore not bo fully operative for a considerable time; tho period botween the formation of the Officers' Training Corps and tho dates when tho first batch of cadets, having undergone the required training and obtained certificates, aro qualified to obtain the exemptions referred to, must bo > regarded as one of transition. The regulations .have been drafted with a view to covering this period of transition, and are therefore provisional; any charges introduced in the system of training and administration of existing university and high schoool corps' must necessarily be' gradnal. Constitution of the "0.T.C." Tho Officers' Training Corps will consist of the volunteer or cadet corps of those universities and high schools whoso application to furnish a contingent to the Officers' Training Corps is accepted by the Defence Council. Where- two or more com- ; panies are maintained tho senior company may be designated the "0.T.C.," or where the older cadets aro distributed as officers and N.C.O.'s among otho- companies they may . for the "0.T.C." purposes be carried on a special roll and permitted to serve with other, companies.' Any existing self-con-tained university ' volunteer corps, and the university companies which have hitherto formed part of local volunteer units, may be transferred, in their present formations, to ' the Officers' training Corps. . Similarly, the existing volunteei corps and companies, and the cadet corps, of high schools may be transferred to the Officers' Training Corps. At universities and High schools whore there: has hitherto been no military organisation, units may be formed at any time for inclusion in the Officers' Training Corps with the approval of the Defence Council. Any university or school contingent may apply to the Defence Council for permission to join the Officers' Training Corps; but no contingent will be admitted unless it accepts the regulations herein laid down, and is in' the opinion of tho .Defence Council capable ! of efficiently. carrying out the work prescribed. Similarly the Defence Council may dispense with the membership of any university or school contingent, should they consider that its retention as a part of the Officers' Training Corps, is not desirable in view of the object "with which that corps is established. ',7.1 V • Control. ■ The Officers' Training Corps will, for purposes of organisation and control, be directly under the O.C. district; the training will, be under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff. University and school authorities will retain their present powers of supervision and discipline. Organisation. The Officers' Training Corps will be organised in two divisions:— . (i) Senior Division, composed of uni'.ersity companies (either adults or cadets); (ii) Junior Division, composed of high schools and colleges. Training. He object of all training in the corps will 6e to bring the largest possible number of cadets up. to tho standard of proficiency indicated by the syllabus laid down for the examination for military certificates 'A" and "B." Each unit will be trained by its own officers under the .general direction of the Chief of the General Staff, General and District Instructional Staff acting as instructors. Training will comprise:—(a) Instructional parades and exercises; (b) musketry; (c) annual training in camp. Parades will be as laid down by General Regulations or General Orders from time to time. The Senior Division should be encouraged to attend as many parades as possible prior to the annual training in camp. The musketry training to be performed by units of the Senior Division will be the same .as that to be laid down, for the Defence Force. Cadots' of the Junior Division will undergo the musketry training laid down for the Defence Cadets Force. Camps of not less than six or more than fourtoen days' duration will be held annaally for units at convepieiit centres, under arrangements .made by commanding officers of units in consultation with the Officers Commanding Districts, and if possible in conjunction with other universities, colleges, or high • schools. Officers will, when necessary, be appointed by tho Defence Council to 'command brigades, or _such other units as may bo formed provisionally for purposes of training in camp, and to fill staff appointments in connection with camps. ■ All contingents of tiio Officers' Training Corps will be inspected by officers deputed bj tho Chief of the General Staff, and annuallj by tho Inspector-General.

THEIR MORAL OBLIGATION.

In the . course of ■ a goneral conversation with a representative of The Dominion yesterday, Colonel A. W: Robin, C.8., Chief of the General Staff, mentioned that the reports of the officers commanding the various military districts went to show that technical schools were.having a bad effect on recruiting for tho voluntcors. "Wherever these technical classes havo been established," ho remarked, "volunteering has fallen off. • A largo percentage of these technical students aro receiving tho benefit of freo secondary education. ' One' would imagine that having received so 'much from the Stato they would feel that a sacrifice of somo sort, one night per week in military training, for example, would be a slight return for such benefits." "Is not tho preparation of the militia rolls purely a routine matter, and of no special significanceasked The Dominion representative. "Purely a routino matter," replied the jolonel. "Tho rolls arc simply being revised and brought up to dato."