Buddies mark 50 years as weekend warriors

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 624, 20 February 1996, Page 6

Buddies mark 50 years as weekend warriors

By

Michele

Monaghan

Meet W02 Fred Briggs and Corporal Peter Muller. Between them they have served nearly 50 years of Territorial service in the New Zealand Army. "And we don't intend to hang up our boots yet," laughs Fred. The pair were in Waiouru last week as cooks for a 16th Field Regiment Exercise and Artillery's Annual Field Exercise (AFE). With a 4am start and a 9pm finish it is always a long day for the catering staff, they said. So what makes them do it? "It' s the camaraderie. You get away. with a whole lot of jokers. You work hard, you play hard," Mr Briggs said. The pair belong to 4 (g) Medium Battery based in Hamilton. "It's like one big whanau. Over the years we've always had kaumatua and now the young fellas look at us. It's not just the Army side, it's in the civvie side. If anyone gets into trouble we' re all there," Mr Briggs said.

Being a Territorial is becoming harder and harder with many employers reluctant to allow time off work for training. "A lot of people are giving up because they're fighting to get time off." "You wangle your holidays and your sick leave and any lieu days owing to you to get away to train. Not just AFE, but throughout the year to remain efficient," said Fred. A lot has changed in the last 20 years. Defence spending was reduced and Territorials lost a lot of benefits and incentives. There is some sacrifice from families. Fred recalled the days when he milked cows for a living. "My family had to get up at four in the morning while I was away playing weekend warrior," he said. The financial gain may be minimal, in fact some TF lose money because of not being paid for normal work, but they say it's worth it. "It's totally different to what you do in civvie street," Mr Briggs said.