R.A.F. SHORT-SERVICE COMMISSIONS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 258, 29 July 1939, Page 13

R.A.F. SHORT-SERVICE COMMISSIONS

Good Response By New

Zealanders

600 INQUIRIES RECEIVED FOR VACANCIES The response to applications called recently for candidates for appointment to short-service commissions in the Royal Air Force, and also for appointment to commissions in the Royal New Zealand Air Force Reserve (Pilots’ Section), had been very gratifying, said the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, in an interview yesterday.

Applications were invited early in July for a number of vacancies by an advertisement inserted in the principal newspapers throughout the Dominion, the Minister said, and within a period which ended on July 21, no fewer than 600 inquiries were received at the Air Department from applicants wishing to obtain commissions in either the Royal Air Force or the Royal New Zealand Air Force Reserve. The response received was very gratifying indeed, and of the 600 New Zealanders who had made preliminary inquiries, 250 had already completed their applications. Further applications were expected to be received in the next few days. “The Air Department already has a large waiting list of candidates who were interviewed in March, and it is expected that the majority of these candidates will be required to start their flying training in October, when more than 50 will be reporting to aero clubs for their ab initio training,’ said the Minister. “A further 50 candidates are required for February, and a similar number will be required in March. Thereafter candidates will report approximately every three months. ’ Training in New Zealand.

Formerly candidates were sent to England direct in batches of 12 and 18 approximately every four to six weeks, and 50 a year received their preliminary training in New Zealand before proceeding to England. Under the new arrangement entered into with the Air Ministry, all candidates now receive their preliminary training in New Zealand, and the necessary provision has been made for the expansion of the Flying Training School, Wigram, in order that additional candidates may be trained. The new Flying Training School, Blenheim, will soon be established to make provision for the increased number of candidates to be trained as pilots. _

A number of vacancies for short-ser-vice commissions in the Royal Air Force is allocated to the Dominion each year by the Air Ministry. Candidates must be between the ages of 17i and 28, unmarried, and must have passed either the University Entrance Examination, or the school certificate examination, or have reached an equivalent standard. Physics, or elementary science, and mathematics are essential subjects. Qualities of Leadership.

As pilots are trained with a view to appointment to commissions, they must show that, not only are they likely to become efficient air force pilots and are competent to pass all the necessary examinations, but also that they possess the qualities of leadership and the sense of responsibility, necessary in an officer. The instruction of any candidates found unsuitable in any of these respects may be terminated at any time during the course.

Successful candidates are required in the first instance to undergo a course of instruction in elementary flying and ground duties with a selected aero club for approximately two months. They are subsequently posted to a flying training school for a course of flying on service types of aircraft and more advanced ground training, and at the end of this course leave for England, where, as soon as possible after arrival, they are posted to R.A.F. units. During their period of training candidates are gazetted as actingpilot officers. Candidates are required to give an undertaking to return to New Zealand after the completion of their five years’ short-service commission in the R.A.F., and to serve for at least five years in the reserve of the R.N.Z.A.F. This condition is waived in the case of officers granted a permanent or medium-service commission in the R.A.F.