H—37

To permit expansion of the Air Force in the initial stages of an emergency to be accompanied by a competent standard of supervision in technical trades, it is necessary in peace to build up a reserve of aircraft tradesmen. In the post-war Air Force the ratio of short-term to career posts in the establishment will be approximately 2 to 1, This ratio has been set mainly by reserve requirements and career factors. The short terms of service provide valuable supplementation of the technical ca'pacity of the Dominion, as well as fulfilling Air Force requirements. It is hoped that short-term airmen will have comprehensive assistance in their rehabilitation on termination of their short-service engagements. The airman who makes a career of the Service will be superannuated under the Public Service superannuation scheme as recently modified to suit Service conditions. Air Force trades have been adjusted in accordance with the advances made in technical developments and practices during the war. The number of trades has been reduced by absorbing allied duties into new trades in the interests of economy and efficiency for peacetime operation, and in general the revision has resulted in a considerably higher technical standard being set in all trades. A Technical Branch has been formed comprising specialist officers in engineering, signals, and armament. Technical Officers will be drawn from airman in appropriate trades and from University graduates in engineering. An Administrative and Supply Branch has been formed in place of the Equipment Branch and the Administrative and Special Duties Branch. These changes will result in increased efficiency in both the technical and administrative services, and a better levelling of career prospects for officers throughout the three main branches of the Service. The new aircrew scheme lately introduced by the R.A.F. has been adapted to New Zealand conditions ; this scheme involves a substantial reduction in the numbers of flying posts filled by officers and creates an entirely new system of ranks, titles, badges, and systems of advancement for aircrew. Airmen of any trade will be eligible for selection for an aircrew engagement as pilot or navigator, while the technical aircrew trades of signaller, engineer, and gunner will be entered from airmen who have served in related ground trades. The new aircrew trades will be filled on a short-service basis and the majority of General Duties officers will be drawn from this source, while the technical aircrew will have opportunity for long service by remustering to their related ground trades or by being commissioned in the Technical Branch. Educational Services As the Air Force must, of necessity, consist largely of short-service personnel, it is essential, in order to attract the right type of airmen and to provide better opportunities of promotion from the ranks, that adequate educational and rehabilitation facilities should be provided. As a school for advanced technical training, aviation, and citizenship generally, the R.N.Z.A.F. should appeal to the youth of the country. During this year the Educational Services have necessarily suffered from a lack of staff, but valuable work has been done, and it is hoped that with the active help of the Education Department, which has co-operated fully, a satisfactory scheme whereby experienced Education Officers are seconded to the Air Force will be shortly established. Educational Training.—The system of pre-entry examination in force during the war was discontinued and replaced as a temporary measure, by the inclusion of an Education Officer in the Selection Committee. As the general standard of education of recruits on entry to the Air Force was lower than that required, elementary instruction in basic subjects has been continued. General Education Welfare. —The following is a summary of the various general educational activities which have been in operation over the past year : (i) Study Courses. —The study courses produced by Army Educational Welfare Services have been passed to the Technical Correspondence School, Education Department, but are still available to members of the Armed Forces free of charge. The range of these courses has been extended over the past year.

8