Cadet School suspended

Ruapehu Bulletin, 10 September 1991, Page 5

Cadet School suspended

As from December, the Regular Force Cadet School will be suspended. This is a cost saving measure as a result of the recent budget cuts in defence expenditure. The School produces the future long term noncommissioned officers, from carefully selected 17 year old cadets. "The savings are considerable. The cost to run one six-month long course is $1.5 million", said Major Rick McDonald, the Officer Commanding, "But the word is 'suspended', which means in the right social climate the School will re-open", said an Army spokesperson. "The 120 staff and recruits will be redeployed to other Army units". The Cadet School has a Patron room full of items donated to the School from old class patrons. The hundreds of items of memorabillia

and historica! items donated to the School by ex-patrons and others will be entrusted to the Queen Elizabeth II Army Museum while the School is closed. This includes, Charles Upham's battle dress jacket complete with his VC medal ribbon and bar, VC winner Lt Ngarimu's sandbrown belt, and Brig Page's All Black rugby jersey. The Regular Force Cadet School made history this year by accepting female cadets. Regular Force Cadet School was established in 1948 in Trentham essentially to train junior non-commissioned officers and tradesmen to replace those from World War II who were retiring. The School moved to Waiouru in 1952, where it has remained. Since the first intake in 1948, over 5,000 cadets have graduated from the Regular Force Cadet School.