SELECTING ARMY OFFICERS

Southland Times, Issue 24162, 26 June 1940, Page 4

SELECTING ARMY OFFICERS

NEW SYSTEM TO BE EMPLOYED

APPOINTMENT OF MEN FROM RANKS (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 25. A new system of selecting officers and non-commissioned officers for all future reinforcements of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force to be trained in New Zealand will be seen in operation at Trentham for the first time on Monday. Men chosen from the ranks of the 3rd Echelon and the 3rd Reinforcements as candidates for training and subsequent appointment, as noncommissioned officers for the 4th Reinforcements and officers for the sth Reinforcements will parade for posting to training units. This is in accordance with the recent announcement that future officers and non-commissioned officers would be appointed from candidates selected from ffie ranks of future reinforcements after a short preliminary period in camp, during which the unit leaders will search out their most promising men. To enable this to be done the reinforcements will take sufficient additional personnel into camp with them. The candidates so selected will be transferred to the Central Military District School of Instruction, where a further selection will be made of those deemed best suited for training as officers and these will accordingly be posted to the officer cadet training unit at the Army School. Those remaining in the Central District School will be trained for appointment as non-com-missioned officers for the next reinforcements to enter camp. Under this scheme every soldier entering camp will have an equal opportunity to gain promotion to commissioned or non-commissioned rank.