Big Territorial group includes 29 women

Press, 29 July 1978, Page 21

Big Territorial group includes 29 women

Twenty-nine women are among more than 280 territorial soldiers who began their basic training at Burnham Military Camp on Tuesday. It is the biggest group of Territorial Force volunteers to begin the three-month course at Burnham since 1975.

According to the officer commanding the Recruit Training Depot (Major B. G. Dilger) about 9 per cent of; them can be expected to drop out — most within the first three weeks.

“A few 7 people find they can’t hack the military discipline, and they can be out within 24 hours if they wish.” He said there had been a considerably bigger intake in

April, 1975, w’hen about 475 recruits started the course. The drop-out rate had soared ito 23 per cent on that occa- : sion, but that had been the exception rather than the rule.

i The recruits wnll spend six) [weeks in general training,! then another six training : with the corps of their ‘ choice. About half of the [new intake were likely to. [choose the infantry, said; [Major Dilger, and together; iwith the catering and medi-j cal corps candidates, they; probably would be trained at Burnham.

Those who chose other corps might be transferred to other parts of New Zealand for the second six weeks.