ARMY EXERCISE BEGUN AT BURNHAM CAMP

Press, Volume C, Issue 29536, 10 June 1961, Page 15

ARMY EXERCISE BEGUN AT BURNHAM CAMP

It was by no means certain that the New Zealand Army would adopt tee pentropac divisional organisation, raid tee Chief of the General Staff (Major-General L. W. Thornton) in his opening address to senior Army officers attending Exercise Waitara. which opened at Bumham Military Camp yesterday.

Visitors for the exercise, considered the most important of the year., included tee Minister of Defence (Mr Eyre), diplomatic and allied forces representatives, and about 120 senior Regular and Territorial Force officers. General Thornton said that tee pentropic organisation, which was adopted last year by the Australian Army, was an important item on tee study list of the two-days-and-a-ibalf phase of tee exercise. He said that a probable switch by the New Zealand Army to this type of organisation had been the subject of considerable conjecture since it was introduced at last year's exercise. U.S. Change But. said General Thornton, information had been received from tee United States Army, which used a similar system, that it was proposing to amend its pen tropic organisation more into line with that used by most of the member nations of N.A.T.0., including the United Kingdom. “This switch will be completed over tee next few years. The American reonganisation win mean tee resumption of the ‘triangular’ system of three brigades within a division,” said General Thornton. Although the pentropic organisation remained' the basis of study for Exercise Waitara. formation commanders could decide themselves whether to use pen tropic or standard British organisation when they examined the lessons of tee exercise and translated them into the year’s training programme, he said. General Thornton emphasised teat no decision had yet been taken on the organisation that would be adopted by the New Zealand Army—penitnopic or otherwise. Common sense and practical principles would produce sound, reasonable solutions to tee problems put during tee exercise, he said. General Thornton suggested there was a tendency to regard logistic support as a matter for experts. “Methods perhaps, but the commander must understand the system and know how it works. Without this knowledge a commander is fighting

at a distinct disadvantage.” he said. "Though the exercise is entirely hypothetical in setting and situation, it is set in South-east Asia as a background for the New Zealand Army in collective defence,” said General Thornton. Dissident Minority Using a country—“lnland" —4he exercise dealt with a situation where for two years a dissident minority aided by foreign governments had been usurping the authority of the "Inland” government and had succeeded in taking over the more remote areas of the country. Against this background was the introduction of a New Zealand division as part of a United Nations force to a province of “Inland” where insurgent pressure had collapsed the local government but had not succeeded in establishing absolute control. Problems were introduced by playlets in which commanders were seen collecting information for particular operations. Groups of officers attending the exercise then made their own plans for carrying out each operation and presented them for discussion with much use being made of maps, diagrams, and charts. General Thornton said that although the exercise was set in South-east Asia with a worthy “enemy,” he did not expect any deductions beyond the purpose of the exercise or the drawing of any conclusions beyond it. “I should be very surprised if any groups of senior New Zealand officers ever did agree unanimously with the directing staff solutions.” he said.