TERRITORIAL FORCE

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 15 August 1929, Page 5

TERRITORIAL FORCE

A HIGHER STANDARD.

ELIMINATING THE UNFIT. ADDITIONAL TESTS IMPOSED. (By Telegraph—Special to the Star.) WELLINGTON, Aug 14. The Defence Department last year imposed, additional • tests on recruits to the territorial units, in order to bring the strength within the establishment. The result is shown in a decrease of 3599 in the number of territorials this year, the total strength, including officers, being 17,592. Ali territorials and cadets who become eligible by age for posting to the Territorial Force in June, 1928, were graded into categories according to their physical development, and the selection of the numbers required' to bring the units up to the establishment-, but not beyond it, was made from those of the highest physical standard. This necessarily resulted, states the Defence Department’s animal report, in a larger proportion of rejections than usual, and certain newspapers and sections of the public erroneously concluded that the abnormal number of rejections was an indication that the physique of our youths was falling off and that the training in the cadets was not [having the beneficial effect claimed for it by the supporters of compulsory military training. “It is therefore desired to emphasise the fact- that the classification according to age. weight, height j and chest measurement, and the select tion of the best physically developed youths, was an innovation prompted by the necessity of reducing, by the most economical and fairest method', the number for training in the Territorial Force. It may be suggested that those who were not up to physical standard should, in the interest of the country generally, be given a course of physical training, but this would mean extra expenditure, and the defence vote cannot bear the burden. The policy is therefore to select for the Territorial Force the best material available (subject to their living within three miles of a drill centre) in order that the money available for the purpose may be expended on the training of those who-, in the event of New Zealand being called upon to defend itself against an attack, would lie the first line of defence. ’ ’ Details in the report show that 11,636 cadets were available for posting to the territorials, and 4410 were placed on the non-effective list as being outside the drill radius. Those medically unfit and those who failed to reach physical standard totalled 1820. or 25.42 per cent of the. total number examined 7162. The physical standard for our Territorial Force is equal to that reuuired of the British regular army, although the medical examination is not such a. searching one. and 1 the percentage of rejections for the British regular army in 1926 was 34 per cent. For our young men of 18 years of age who have still a few years in which to develop it is not considered that the percentage of in view of the high standard set, is such as to cause concern.