H—37

On the publication of provisional establishments, manning plans for officers, airmen, and airwomen were revised.- The manning position at the end of March, 1949, is as follows :

Officers. —In addition to the strength of officers shown above, 20 officers seconded from other Services are serving with R.N.Z.A.F. Following amendments to the manning plans, it became possible to offer further extensions of service to serving officers, and •during the year 53 Regular Commissions were granted in the R.N.Z.A.F. and 4 were granted in the New Zealand Defence Scientific Corps. Officers and N.C.O. aircrew released during the year numbered 60 and 13 respectively. Manning.—During the year a total of 870 recruits for ground trades was enlisted in -the Regular Air Force from the following sources : (a) From U.K. ex-R.A.F. tradesmen .. .. .. .. 174 (b) From New Zealand — Airmen .. .. .. .. ~ .. 577 Airwomen .. .. .. .. .. .. 119 870 The progress in recruiting has been offset by the releases during the same period numbering 731, comprising 652 airmen and 79 airwomen. In order to encourage younger men of good calibre to enlist as technical and as administrative tradesmen a Cadet Entrant Scheme was introduced during the year. The age-limits are " over 16 but not over on enlistment," and 22 Cadets were selected for enlistment in this period. Statistics have again shown that the flow of recruits into the Service is directly related to the intensity of recruiting publicity campaigns, and it is clear that an intensified recruiting programme is necessary if the depleted domestic trades of the R.N.Z.A.F. are to be augmented and a balance of trades achieved in the near future. As the manning plans have been developed, further extensions of service have been offered to serving airmen, and promotions of airmen and airwomen in several trades have taken place. Non-Regular Forces. —Following the advertising campaign to publicise vacancies in the Territorial Air Force and Air Force Reserves for personnel who served in the ■Commonwealth Air Forces during World War 11, a total of 3,053 applications was received.

5

— Officers. Airmen and Airwomen. Total. Permanent service Short service (two to eight years) Temporary service .. . .* 156 182 60 265 2,183 203 421 2,365 263 398 2,651 3,049

— Officers. N.C.O. Aircrew. (Jroimd Trades. Total. t.a:f. Active Reserve General Reserve 701 734 448 270 200 89 113 233 265 1,084 1,167 802 Total 1,883 559 611 3,053