CADET TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 123, 18 February 1919, Page 6

CADET TRAINING

SOME RECENT CRITICISM COLONEL CAMPBELL IN REPLY Colonel-G. 1,1.I ,1 . C. Campbell, Coast Dofonce Commander, speaking to a Dominion importer yesterday, replied to some recent criticism of the; new scheme of cadet instruction,' as outlined by Colonel Slceman at a meeting of garrison officers in Wellington. He mentioned particularly a letter signed "S. Miles," which appeared in The Dominion of Saturday last. "It is not correct to assume that this new scheme of training has taken three, years to prepare," said Colonel Campboll.-- "In any cafe it is obvious that any scheme afi'ecti.'i.T tho general welfare of the youth of New Zealand, as this does, should not be promulgated without very careful consideration. Colonel Sleeman, in my opinion, acted wisely when he took time to, consult representative civil and military officers in various parts of the Dominion before promulgating his scheme. Your correspondent questions the advisability of separating the trained from the untrained youths iu the country districts, and states that he found it impossible to carry out this method of instruction under the old scheme of training. This objection, even if sound, would not necessarily condemn the proposed new system. But it is obvious that some system of grading must be adopted, otherwise first year cadets V'Ould be squadded with five-year cadets and progressive training would be rendered quite impossible. Your correspondent, moreover, should be awn re that the training of country cadets has been entirely suspended for the last year_ or more.

"Your correspondent states that the new scheme "artfully throws the onuo of efficiency on the public." That is exactly what is desired, though I du not see where tho artfulness comes in. We certainly hope to. enlist the sympathy and support of the public. Unless Ihe co-operation of the public in promoting health and good citizenship among the boys is secured, any scheme that may bo brought forward, no matter how.good it is, is bound to be a i'uilij-e. Tho writer of the letter states that on a former occasion he applied for the more rational and human* training of boys, and that he strongly opposed the abolition of the Junior Cadet system. .Apparently he was not successful in securing the sympathy of the authorities, and I suggest that this is the cause of his somewhat inverse criticism of the proposed new scheme,

_■ In reference to, the question of Swedish dnh, the writer perhaps has not been fully informed. There is no better instructor in .physical drill than Captain Brocks, who is now engaged in training squads of Territorials and Cadet officers and .non-commissioned officers. These officers'and'non-commissioned officers will form tlio instructional cadre of the. future physical Gaining scheme, if the eelieme is adopted. Your correspondent is not more happy in his reference to the Senior Cadet 4-ho is forced to ride to the country drill .centre jn wet -weather hi shorts, for the reason that, as I have already said, drills are at present entirely suspended in 'the country, and the cadets are not asked to rido anywhere. "I would like to -supplement my answer to your correspondent with a "few remarks of my own. The- scheme- that has been put before the j.ublic by Colonel Meeman deals not merely with military lnstnichou, but with, the physical and moral instruction of tlio youth of tho country. In my opinion ' this , scheme should ultimately form part of a very much moro comprehensive system It can only succeed if the civil authorities co-operate with the military authorities, and the public with both.' The-moral training must begin lief ore the cadet comes to Senior Cadet age. The difficult problems of sex segregation, in the schools and the municipal housing miestion are closely allied to the training which is proposed in the scheme I am discussing:. "I would just add that no scheme can bo successful unless it appeals to (lie sporting instincts of our young people. It will be necessary to arrange for some system of competition and reward This cannot be done without certain expenditure, it is essential that competition anions individuals, squads, and units should enter into our.training.system if we are to secure efficiency. Tliis element of competition, I think, should bo a matter for the Government to provide and control, and should not bs left to the voluntary effort of a few individuals and ot the public

COLONEL SLEEMAN AND CADET TRAINING (To tho Editor.). Sir,—lu Saturday's Dominion a very bitter-and unjustifiable attack was made on tho Cadet schemu foreshadowed by tho Director of Military Training. As one present at tho meeting whero the colonel explained the new scheme, I cannot allow such misrepresentation and mis-statements to ba made by "S. Miles" without contradiction. This, because, as probably Mr. Miles is well aware,'an olficei' is not permitted by the lung's Regulations-to 'defend himself against such attacks.

..Mr. Miles,states that Colonel Sleenian is unfamiliar with the conditions of country Cadet units; . that he should travel more; that the last scheme of Cadet training was almost impossible to carry out in country, areas, etc. I do not propose to deal with his letter in its detail, or to express my opinion of Mr, Miles's good taste in his most persoual remarks, but will leave the -readera of your paper to judge the value of •Mr. Miles's oilier opinions by these few statements. Colonel Sleenian emphatically stated that it was not his scheme, but the result of the collection of opinions from over a hundred New Zealand oilicers. This also appeared in the newspapers afterwards. Experienced New Zealand officers like Colonel Campbell, Coloiwl T. W. M'Donald, Major Cresswell, and others, stated at his meeting that it was exactly the scheme required to improve Cadet, training. Although 1 am unaware of his yearly mileage i am cjuito sure that few officers who have ever been in New Zealand have covered so much of the Dominion on inspection duty, or have penetrated to more of the distant areas from Whangarei to the Bluff. I am equally confident that Colonel Sleoinan has gained touch with the majority of officers of both the Territorial and Cadet Forces, and that he is the personal irieml of the majority with whom ho has (wen .■in contact. His appeal to the public to interest themselves more iu ,the training'of the youth of the Cadet Force showed his desire for the closest scrutiny of the new scheme, instead of allowing it to bo foisted on the public without this fair and genuine offer. •

That the past scheme demanded ihnt cadets be split up according to their years of service was common sense. Otherwise, boys or fourteen and seventeen, whether of one day or three years' sojvico, were jammed-together with ussless results. The problem of finding instructors, the clothing of Cadets, the enormous difficulties connected with drilling country Cadets at all, and other questions of that sort are beyond t!).o power of Colonel Sl.eeiuan to solve. As Director of Military Training he deals with the training alone, and, as tho Cadets are under the 'Defence Department, il; is but natural- that he demwith ii- from the military tide, but tho fact, remains that the endeavour of tlie new scheme is to touch upon military subjects as little as possible and to make the youth of the Dominion fitter in every respect for their duties as citizens. We could not expect the Flying Corps to turn out men for underground mining, why, then, expect tho Defence Department to go further than this? In any case the extraordinary venomous attack oa Colonel Sleemnn, made without just cause and admittedly inaccurate dntn, cannot be allowed to pass by those who know his character -and tho actual facts.—l am, etc., SENIOR OFFICER. P.S.—lf tho nom de plume "S. Mile*" covers the identity many of us suspect it is one who was not only "imported to the New Zealand Forces," but lias since boen "exported" for the good of tho Defence Department. Hence ' the venom.—S.O. [Wo refer to the now training scheme in our editorial columns to-day.]