ARMY TRAINING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25015, 8 September 1942, Page 2

ARMY TRAINING

The suggestion in a special message which we have published from Auckland that a revision of a*rmy leave orders is desirable appears to be soundly based. Men in the New Zealand forces are very well served in the amount of time that is allowed them for visiting their homes, and in the present circumstances, when a large proportion of those in camps have wives and families, it will certainly be the wish of the public that they should receive reasonable opportunity of obtaining leave. The fact remains, however, that we are in the midst of an unprecedented period of crisis. The general mobilisation which was decided upon after Japan entered the war could mean little, if it did not mean that the country had need of its fit men, ready and in arms, at strategic points for the defence of. thencountry. Thousands of men who were then drafted into camps, or posted to special areas, have now been members of the armed forces for a matter of nine months. ' It is no secret from the public that many of these men are somewhat restive at their prolonged period .of duty, not because they fail to appreciate the need for service, but because they feel they are insufficiently occupied in useful and interesting tasks. The psychology of the forces is an essential study if morale is to be maintained, and soldiers unde:: arms need to be convinced that the training which confines them to camps, or engages them on other duty, is really serviceable. Frequent leave periods may help to content them with army life, but it would be unfortunate if leave were made, in a sense, a substitute for rigorous soldiering. The modern soldier cannot be made in a few months, even under intensive training. The question that arises is whether army training in the Dominion is sufficiently intensive, or whether many soldiers are not engaged too long in repetitive work, which takes the edge off their keenness for service, or in work that possesses no military value. Frequent leave periods are naturally welcomed by the men in camp. -There is a widesoread i - pression that they "might welcome equally a more imaginative and dynamic form of training than many of them have the good fortune to receive.