2036
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
No. 64

Regulations for the Officers Training Corps, New Zealand Defence Forces.

PLUNKET, Governor.

IN pursuance and exercise of the powers and authorities conferred on me by “The Defence Act, 1908,” I, William Lee, Baron Plunket, the Governor of the Dominion of New Zealand, do hereby make the Regulations for Officers Training Corps set out in the Schedule hereto; and I do hereby declare that such regulations shall form part of the General Regulations of the Defence Forces of New Zealand, and shall come into force on the thirtieth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and nine.

SCHEDULE.

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

1. THE primary object of the Officers Training Corps is to provide students at universities and high schools with a standardised measure of elementary military training, with a view to their eventually accepting commissions in the Reserve of Officers, or the Defence Forces.

2. Young men who, on being recommended for commissions in the Reserve of Officers or the Defence Force can produce certificates of proficiency obtained in the Officers Training Corps, will be exempted from a portion of the probationary training, or from certain examinations, required from other officers. By means of the facilities thus offered to men who wish to serve their country with the least possible interference with their civil career, it is hoped that the supply of officers may be increased, and that all arms and services may not only be complete in officers on mobilisation, but also have a surplus in the junior commissioned ranks in order to make good the losses which will occur in war. The value of the above-mentioned certificates of proficiency lies in their being the guarantee of from two to four years’ consecutive training of a nature calculated to produce good officers. The scheme will therefore not be fully operative for a considerable time; and the period between the formation of the Officers Training Corps and the date when the first batch of cadets, having undergone the required training, and obtained certificates, are qualified to obtain the exemptions referred to above must be regarded as one of transition.

3. The following regulations have been compiled partly with a view to covering this transitional period, and should therefore be regarded as provisional. Any changes introduced in the system of training and administration of the existing university and high school corps must necessarily be gradual.

II. CONSTITUTION.

4. The Officers Training Corps will consist of the Volunteer or cadet corps of those universities and high schools whose application to furnish a contingent to the Officers Training Corps is accepted by the Council of Defence. Where two or more companies are maintained the senior company may be designated the “O.T.C.,” or where the older cadets are distributed as officers and N.C.O.s among other companies they may for the O.T.C. purposes be carried on a special roll and permitted to serve with other companies.

5. Any existing self-contained university Volunteer corps, and the university companies which have hitherto formed part of local Volunteer units, may be transferred, in their present formations, to the Officers Training Corps.

Similarly, the existing Volunteer corps and companies, and the cadet corps of high schools, may be transferred to the Officers Training Corps.

6. At universities and high schools where there has hitherto been no military organization, units may be formed at any time for inclusion in the Officers Training Corps with the approval of the Council of Defence.

Any university or school contingent may apply to the Council of Defence for permission to join the Officers Training Corps; but no contingent will be admitted unless it accepts the regulations herein laid down, and is in the opinion of the Council of Defence capable of efficiently carrying out the work prescribed. Similarly, the Council of Defence may dispense with the membership of any university or school contingent should they consider that its retention as a part of the Officers Training Corps is not desirable in view of the object with which that corps is established.

III. CONTROL.

7. The Officers Training Corps will, for purposes of organization and control, be directly under the O.C. District; the training will be under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff. University and school authorities will retain their present powers of supervision and discipline.

IV. ORGANIZATION.

8. The Officers Training Corps will be organized in two divisions:—

(i.) Senior Division, composed of university companies (either adults or cadets);

(ii.) Junior Division, composed of high schools and colleges.

A university or school contingent may be made up of one or more units, according as one or more arms or departments of the service are represented. In cases where a university comprises practically autonomous colleges, situated at a distance from each other, a separate unit may be formed in each of the different colleges; but each such unit will be a part of the university contingent.

9. Each unit will be organized as a battalion, battery, squadron, or one or more companies, sections, or troops. Subject to this proviso, it is intended that the present internal organization of existing university and school corps should be altered as little as possible on transfer to the Officers Training Corps. The details of internal organization will conform as far as practicable to those laid down in the establishments for the Defence Force for units of the corresponding arms of the service, the following general principles and establishments, exclusive of officers, being adhered to:—

Mounted Rifles:—

(1.) The strength of a troop will not exceed 20 cadets;

(2.) Units with a total strength of from 20 to 40 cadets will be organized as two troops;

(3.) Units with a strength of 40 to 60 cadets will be organized as a squadron of three troops;

(4.) Units with a strength of from 60 to 80 cadets will be organized as a squadron of four troops.

Garrison Artillery, Engineers, and Infantry:—

(1.) Strength of a section not to exceed 15 cadets;

(2.) Units with a strength of from 30 upwards will be organized in two sections, half company;