NEW ARM IN WARFARE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 99, 21 January 1936, Page 16

NEW ARM IN WARFARE

Army Must Be Air-minded ‘‘No one should hold the rank of higher commander in the army without having had at least six months’ really close association with the R.A.F. within a few years of his promotion.” This was one of the dicta of MajorGeneral A. P. Wavell, commander of the 2nd Division, Aidershot, lecturing to the Royal United Service Institution in London. z/ “The commander of the future must be able to handle air forces with the same knowledge as forces on land. It seems to be immaterial whether he is a soldier who has studied the air or an airman who has studied land forces,”, he said. “It is the combination of the ! two that will bring success in a future war. No one can pretend that the profession of arms attracts the highest quality of brains. An increase in the proportion of promotions for merit would attract more brains. “Our training grounds in this country are hopelessly inadequate, and the weakness of our peace strengths at home makes much of our training unreal almost to the point of farce. Should we not be wiser to make more use of the greater opportunities in our foreign stations? “We are overhauling and modernising the machinery of war. We are doing very little to modernise the directing brain, the officer. If we want to have a high level of command at the top we must begin right at the bottom, before the good, keen young subaltern starts to become bored, disillusioned, parochial and barrackbound. “I suggest that at present, in this first vital impression,- there is too much stress on drill and routine, on ‘spit and polish,’ on details of the regulations and of dress at the expense of mental liveliness and independence of thought.” .