MILITARY DEFENCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2752, 5 March 1910, Page 6

MILITARY DEFENCE.

AS VIEWED BY Iv. OF K

Full details of Lord Kitchener’s scheme of defence for Australia make interesting reading, especially in vieiv of the fact that his Lordship is preparing a report upon the position of military defence in New Zealand. “The citizen should,” Lord Kitchener says, “be brought up from boyhood to look forward to the day when lie will be enrolled as fit to defend his country; and he should be accustomed to practise those habits of self-denial, of devotion to, and emulation in, the execution of his duty, of reticence, and of prompt obedience to lawful authority, which are essential to the formation of patriotic and efficient citizen soldiers.” These considerations, lie urges, show liow completely a citizen force should be kept outsido .party politics, and resentment of political interference is shown in the declaration that political feeling in an army is always a serious drawback to efficiency, and may become a danger to the State, no less than in a later remark, in another connection, that “a citizen officer elected to any Parliament should he at once seconded.”

“A citizen officer,” his. Lordship continues, “should be appointed as early as possible in liis military career, so that he may, at the most receptive time of his life, study his duties as an officer, and develop his qualifications for imparting instruction and leadership of men. It should be understood that the acceptance of a commission entails a liability to serve as an officer for at least 12 years, but such a liability would not interfere with free movement from place to .place in Australia; nor with resignation should the Gover-ernor-General be pleased to accept it; nor, subject to the exigencies ot the service, with the privilege of leave on private affairs to visit countries outside Australia. In citizen forces all promotions should ho from the ranks; but, in order to get young officers, he advises that for this purpose service in the ranks of senior cadets should count. Under this system it is estimated that an officer would obtain his first commission between the ages of IS. and 20, would reach the rank of captain about 26, and of major about 30 or 32—i.e., when his 12 years’ service is about to expire. Above the rank of major no obligation to serve should be necessary; zealous officers would remain in order to command their battalions or regiments, and subsequently brigades.” “The Australian citizen soldier,” proceeds K. of K. t “experiences much of military value m the everyday conditions of his civil life. He is generally a good rider, active, lithe, and intelligent. As a cadet, he is taught to shoot, and learns tlie rudiments of drill, and, passing _through his recruit adult training! he joins the force as an efficient soldier. Much will undoubtedly depend on the amount of training that, through self-denial and devotion to his duty, the citizen soldier performs at or near his home, and, if this is done, in my opinion lie will be able to subsequently maintain bis efficiency as a soldier under the training that has been proposed. Throughout the period of service, the citizen soldier must remember that be is discharging a duty to his country, and that the pay be receives is not a wage but an allowance to assist him in the discharge of his duty. The selection and training of the non-commissioned officer .will be primarily the work of the citizen officer. Promising non-commissioned officers should be~sent to schools for further technical training on the same conditions as the citizen officer; they should be encouraged to extend their services, and would be, of course, eligible for commissions.”

Dealing witli the training of the citizen soldier, his Lordship remarked that the training might be divided into two parts—the home training, which will take place all the year round in the vicinity of the men’s homes under the Staff Corps or the citizen officers of the area; and the camp training, which will be annually held in the neighborhood, and will generally consist of a brigade of infantry with a proportion of other arms. In order to sustain the interest of the force, the instruction given should be of a progressive nature. The soldier should annually be taught the proper practical methods of carrying out some new exercise as well as being tested in what he has learnt before. Thus a fresh exercise would be studied every year in the area, and practically tested at the camp. When this has been done, the exercise to be studied during the next year should be initiated and explained. Every year three or more brigades should he selected for concentration, so as to practise commanders, staffs, and railways, in dealing with large bodies of troops. Training generally should consist of all that is essential to good marching, accurate controlled shooting, and the combination of all arms in attack and defence. The principles contained in the manuals of the regular army should be followed, hut they must be applied with intelligence and with due regard to the local conditions of personnel, ground, and composition of the force. Land would be required to properly and satisfactorily carry out this work, and in the selection of its site two often conflicting conditions must be reconciled—one that it should he close to cities in order that jinits and brigades will lose no time on the road, and the other is that it should he large enough for manoeuvres. Such localities would he used for the annual trainings, and. where possible, might be made available for the breeding of artillery horses.