Major had 'a gutsful' of Waiouru

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 669, 14 January 1997, Page 3

Major had 'a gutsful' of Waiouru

An Army officer has "had a gutsful" of Waiouru and wants to quit the army and is prepared to take his case to civil court. Major Barry McLauChlan says his career is splitting up his family and is preparing a bid for freedom in a test case before a civilian judge, challenging a requirement that he stay in the Army until the end of next year. He spent Christmas moving his wife and two pre-school children from Waiouru to Christchurch. His lawyer is preparing an application to the High Court for a judicial review of a two-year "return of service" obligation which the Army says arose from a substantial training investment in Major McLauchlan. This follows an impassioned plea to the Army from his wife, Ali, who has suffered three miscarriages while at Waiouru and decided to move to Christchurch to be close to medical expertise and the rest of her family. Although Major McLauchlan, 35, says he is prepared to pay his way out if necessary, the Army wants him to serve his time in return for a year which he spent at an elite officer-training school in England. It has responded to his application for release by removing him from running tactical training courses at Waiouru, to what he describes as a paper-shuffling job previously done by a lower rank officer. His commanding officer, Colonel Ian

Marshall, acknowledged earlier that he might have to be employed under duress but recommended he not be released as the credibility of the return of service principle was at stake. He had become disillusioned when he received an order in England posting him at short notice back to Waiouru, where he had already served two-and.-half years. He said he and his wife had been looking forward to a posting to Hobsonville. Major McLauchlan, a trained lawyer whose 14 years as an infantry officer have included peacekeeping duties in Iran, sees the requirement as a "prehistoric" trapping of an outdated Defence Act. He suggested that if the Army was so concerned about its expenditure of public money, it should save taxpayers the cost of defending itself against a legal challenge which he believes will become a test case. Army spokeswoman Major Fiona Cassidy said there were other ways of addressing Mrs McLauchlan' s concerns. Mtn road crash A 35-year-old Wellington woman was airlifted to Wanganui hospital by the Transrail Rescue Helicopter on Friday after she lost control of her bicycle due to brake problems and fell off the 9km bridge on the Ohakune Mountain Road. The woman fell about eight metres onto boulders, suffering head and chest and shoulder injuries. Her husband cycled about 10km for help.