Territorials impress in Army exercise

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32542, 27 February 1971, Page 15

Territorials impress in Army exercise

(Bn

W. H. WATMUFF)

Exercise Sabre, the major 1971 exercise for the First Infantry Brigade Group, the Army’s top fighting formation, ended at Waiouru on Friday with a review of the brigade and its supporting armour by the Chief of the General Staff (Brigadier R. J. H. Webb).

For 14 days more than 4000 troops, two-thirds ; of them territorials, had slogged their way around the vast, rugged training l area through a variety of' manoeuvres designed to. test their combat skills. ’ ■ : And, whether the general i told them so or not, the im-1 pression of many regular soldiers was that the territorials i went about their jobs with i considerable efficiency and 1 enthusiasm—after the initial 1 period of griping was over. It must have seemed a littie strange to World War II men to see today’s young ’ soldiers march into camp < with their longish hair, side-1 bums and occasional beards. 1 Yet, as was later shown, 1

these things in no way impaired their efficiency. As one officer put it* “Territorial soldiers can gain a lot from participating in these training camps and I think in the main they generally appreciate this. However, you will always get the individuals who are, and seemingly remain, ‘anti* this or the other. What gets them, I believe, is boredom. "If you keep them busy and show them they are doing something worth-while they do respond very well," he said. BETTER TRAINING Brigadier R. H. F. Holloway, the commander of the Combat Brigade Group, said the response of the territorials to some of the sophisticated techniques had been

quite remarkable and this he attributed to the better training given to national servicemen and to the strategic adaptability of the troops. “There’s no doubt about it. No matter what you might hear about the long-haired, aimless, anti-establishment youth outside, today’s young volunteer soldiers ate every bit as good as their fathers or grandfathers. Given something interesting to do they respond very well indeed,” he said.

The brigadier’s sentiments were echoed at Linton Camp, 90 miles south of Waiouru, where the Logistic Support Group was kept busy during the 14-day period provisioning the Combat Brigade. Although the day-to-day pressure at Linton was not as constantly keen as at ‘The sharp end” at Waiouru the troops were not allowed to relax. In addition to carrying out their various specialist duties they underwent considerable general training.

The health of all the troops in both camps was particularly good, although it was felt by medical officers that 12 out of 14 days of fine weather contributed towards this. SURGERY IN TENT

At the casualty clearing station at Waiouru, 32 operations were performed in the tent operating theatre by some of the country’s leading medical men who were fulfilling their annual territorial obligations. Of these barely half a dozen were the result of injuries sustained in field training. Most involved “cold cases” involving the removal of appendixes, hernias, varicose veins and tonsils.