MILITARY TRAINING.

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 March 1911, Page 3

MILITARY TRAINING.

GENERAL GODLEY ON ITS WORK

[BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL TO THE STAR.)

This Day. Camp was struck at Tauherenikau yesterday with the foundation of the new universal system well laid upon _a_ basis of thorough training of its administrators. What the Commandant of the Forces (Major-General Godley) thinks of the camp's value he expressed in very definite terms just before he left it yesterday afternoon.

"It has been of inestimable value," said the General. "People met each other, and for the first time in the history of New Zealand all the commanding officers and staff officers got together, and got to know the headquarters' staff and to realise that they are not as black as they are painted. Then there is the value of the whole of the commanding officers witnessing and discussing concerted movements. You can hardly lay too much stress upon its importance. They have seen new methods, and must profit by their observations. THE BRIGADIERS. Though a lengthy list of appointments in connection with the scheme was published on Friday, some of the most important still remain undecided. Eight Brigadiers have to be selected, explained the General, and their names will be announced at a very earlv date. In each district there will be a mounted and an infantry brigade, each having its commander, called a Brigadier, wh owill be under the officer commanding the district. Each of those brigadiers have under their charge three mounted regiments and four battalions respectively. THE PERMANENT FORCES.

"I cannot speak too highly of the way in which the permanent staff Sergt-Major instructor and the whole of the permanent force have helped to make the camp a success," said the General. "I am well satisfied with the results of the training, and I think we have a very efficient lot of officers as adjutants and non-commissioned officers. The instruction has been thorough, and every man who goes out to duty is a good man." "Yes, we have weeded out fearlessly," continued the General in reply to a question. "We were quite determined to have nothing but the best, and we have been helped in securing that by the fact thai there have been enormou snumbers of applicants for the nositions. UNIFORMITY THE GREAT OBJECT.

"By this camp we have achieved the great' object of securing uniformity in training methods. If a man starts in Auckland, and concludes his training in Dunedin he will have nothing to unlearn, and will not duplicate. Instead of having four little armies, of four little separate States, we hope to have laid by means of this training, in conjunction with the reorganisation of the regiments, the foundation of a universal army." BREAKING UP CAMP.

This was just as orderly and as businesslike a proceeding as the whole system of training. Auckland-bound men started north in the morning, the South Island contingent left by the early afternoon train, and caught'the Maori at Wellington. The new appointments date from to-day, and the officers have to report at their headquarters for duty on April Ist.