OFFICERS TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 235, 22 June 1918, Page 10

OFFICERS TRAINING

VALUE OF TERRITORIAL FORCE. A very successful exercise for cadet and territorial officers of tlio Napier District wan held (luring the past week. Some 20 officers availed themselves of the opportunity for securing instruction from the Director of Military Training (Lioutenant-Colond J. L. Sleoman, 1.G.5.),' and practical work, defence, attack, outposts, etc., was carried out for four days. At the conclusion of the course, the director expressed himself as highly satisfied with the work, and explained that tho object of holding such exercises was, first, to help these officers, many of whom would shortly serve al; tho front, and, secondly, to increase th'i future efficiency of tho Defence Force. , !. The outstanding feature, of this courw was tho fact that tho officers attendiui; paid their own expenses and the cbn.vso was run without a. single penny bc'm; rpquirpfl from the Defence funds. Colonel Sleeman emphasised thf fact Ijhni; few people in the Dominion' sufficiently appreciated the enormous value the.' cadet and (erritorini (raining had had towards the efficiency of the Expeditionary Force camp? and r.he Expediticmiiry Force in itself. It had steadily fp-ri -the latter force with well-trained 01/ioers, n.c.o.'s. and men. lust training year n.'ione sending nearly 500 officers sind 14,000 men from its ranks, and still retninyiif almost its original strength l>y the e/.Torts of those ■responsible for its administration and training.