115

A.—2

Enclosure. The Duties and Responsibilities of the Inspectors-General of the Home and Oversea Forces. 1. The duties of the Inspector-General of the Forces were defined by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee as "those of review and report upon the practical results of the policy of the Army Council within the financial limits laid down by the Cabinet. His field of action would cover the United Kingdom and those portions of the Empire where troops under the control of the Home Government are stationed. He must form a judgment, either personally or through his staff, as the Army Council may direct, on the efficiency of officers and men, on the handling of troops, on the standard and system of training, on the suitability of equipment, and generally on all that affects the readiness of the forces for war." 2. It was also proposed that " the Inspector-General should attend, or be represented, at all manoeuvres or considerable reviews of troops," and that "he should prepare a cai'eful annual report to the Secretary of State and Council by the Ist November in each year." 3. It has recently been decided to intrust the foregoing duties to two officers — one the Inspector-General of the Home Forces,* whose field of action lies within the United Kingdom and Channel Islands; and the other the Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces, whose field of action covers those portions of the Empire outside the United Kingdom, other than in India, where troops under the control of the Home Government are stationed. The Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces combines with his inspectional duties those of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the Mediterranean. The Inspector-General of the Home Forces. 4. To enable the Inspector-General of the Home Forces to discharge the functions assigned to him it is necessary that, under instructions from the Army Council, he should — (a) By means of inspection, ascertain whether the training, instruction, and preparation of the Army for war, as laid down by regulations, are fully carried out in the various commands at Home, and whether a uniform standard of efficiency is attained; (b) advise as to changes in regulations bearing on (a); (c) by inspection, either personally or through subordinates, keep the Army Council informed of the state of the Army at Home as regards both personnel and equipment. 5. The functions of the Inspector-General of the Home Forces should be exercised with due regard to a general system of inspection applicable to the whole Army, this system as carried out consecutively by Regimental Commanders, Commanders of Brigades and Divisions, General Officers Commanding-in-Chief, and the Inspector-General himself being of a progressive nature. In every case the object of an inspection is to ascertain the results achieved by an officer responsible for the efficiency of the unit or body of troops concerned. It is the duty of an Inspecting Officer to bring omissions and defects to notice, but this should be done without fettering the initiative or trenching on the responsibility of the Commanding Officer in regard to the training of his men. 6. A multiplicity of inspections of the same troops in exercises of the same nature tends to confusion, and unnecessarily shortens the time which would otherwise be available for training. Purely formal inspections are of little value, while the rehearsal of an inspection by the commander of the unit or body of troops about to be inspected defeats the object of the inspection, and is therefore prohibited. 7. To enable the Inspector-General of the Home Forces to make his own inspections and those of his subordinates conform to the general system, General Officers Commanding-in-Chief will forward to the Army Council by a fixed date in each year a programme of the training oi the troops in their commands. This information should reach the Inspector-General sufficiently early to enable him to fix the dates of his visits and to lay his proposals before the Army Council. Long or formal notice of these dates need not necessarily be given to the local military authorities. It is desirable that the method of training squadrons, batteries, and companies by their Commanding Officers should occasionally be observed by the Inspector-General of the Home Forces and the subordinate inspectors concerned. 8. Theoretical instruction in winter includes war games, lectures, winter reconnaissances, and schemes worked out on the ground. During this period the Inspector-General and his subordinates should arrange visits to the various commands; but there should be no interference with the work in progress. If, however, any marked innovation, whether advantageous or otherwise, is observed, the Inspector-General should report to the Army Council, who would call attention to it in a memorandum issued to the commands as soon as the winter training is concluded. 9. When periodical inspections of Divisions, Cavalry Brigades, or concentrated units of Artillery are ordered by the Army Council, they will be conducted entirely by the InspectorGeneral, who, for the purpose of these inspections, will set his own schemes. The selection of the troops thus to be inspected will be made annually by the Army Council, and the requisite funds provided in the allotment for field training in the Army estimates. 10. The direction of Army manoeuvres or staff rides of an important character held in the United Kingdom, for which funds are specially provided by the War Office, should, if the Chief of the Imperial General Staff is not present, be intrusted by the Army Council to the InspectorGeneral of the Home Forces, unless the manoeuvre or staff ride is being conducted by a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief senior to the Inspector-General in military rank. 11. In addition to the duties enumerated above, the inspection of coast defences and the supervision of the training of the Reserve units and of the Territorial Army will form part of the functions of the Inspector-General of the Home Forces.

*The present Inspector-Oeneral of the Forces, who was appointed before the division of duties had been approved, retains that title, but his successor will be styled "Inspector-General of the Home Forces."