NZ Army understrength

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The army's largest fighting units - its two infantry battalions - are way below strength.

In June, the first battalion based at Linton had just 232 troops and the second battalion at Burnham had 193, according to figures given to Parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee yesterday.

The Defence Force later issued figures saying that at the end of October its two battalions had more than 400 troops each. The ideal battalion size is at least 500.

National Party defence spokesman Wayne Mapp said the figures presented to the committee showed the army was seriously undermanned and was not able to do what the Government needed it to.

It meant New Zealand could not deploy and maintain a battalion of troops as it did in East Timor between 1999 and 2002.

"It's clear that the army needs to build up the numbers so it can do what the Government asks it to do," Mr Mapp said.

"The army is run down. It has got to be able to do reasonable foreseeable tasks, and the Defence Force's ... answers [to the committee] indicate it can't. They are not even meeting Government objectives."

Defence chief Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae said that with so many troops now serving in Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands, it did not have a battalion available for any other contingency.

However, some units were available if required for a critical short-notice deployment in the region.

General Mateparae said battalion strength numbers could be misleading because when people were deployed or being trained they were posted out of the battalion but essentially they were still part of it.

But troop deployments and a rising attrition rate were limiting the army's plans to build capabilities. By 2011 the army wanted to be able to deploy a battalion and a company concurrently - "that's beyond our capacity".

He said the Defence Force now had 13,640 staff. There were 4000 in the army. Numbers were up on last year but attrition rates appeared to be rising again.

General Mateparae also said there were issues with the navy's new multi-role ship the Canterbury, which were being discussed with the shipbuilder.

There was a potential problem with the propellers coming out of the water when the ship pitched in rough sea. There had been no problems, but there was concern this could affect the ship's machinery.

The navy had also spotted a possible fatigue problem with landing-craft fittings used to lower the boats over the side of the Canterbury.

He said the loss of a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, torn from the Canterbury's quarterdeck by a big wave, was also being addressed.

Inquiries are under way into the loss of the boat, and also into the subsequent death of a navy officer, Byron James Solomon, who was killed when a similar boat capsized as it was being towed alongside the Canterbury.

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Crisis warning for Defence Force

The Defence Force is so stretched by operational deployments it could face difficulty responding to a crisis in its own back yard, senior officers warn.


The situation is made more critical because attrition rates are rising again after being reined in over the last two years.

Defence Force chief Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae told a parliamentary select committee yesterday: "Unfortunately, the recent data indicates that attrition rates are on the rise again, reflecting the appeal our people have to employers and at a time of strength in the national economy."

The annual attrition rate as of October 31 had risen to 14.12 per cent, from 13.28% on June 1, a Ministry of Defence official said. Two years ago it was 16%.

Mateparae said the problem was being addressed "as a matter of priority" but represented a particular challenge when the operational tempo remained high and the Government required soldiers to respond to a host of crises in the Pacific and elsewhere".

The attrition problem was expected to get worse.

"Firstly, we are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit the right numbers and the right technical tradespeople for the army, navy and air force," Mateparae said.

"On the other side is retention. We are anticipating that this period from about December to March, which traditionally is a period of higher attrition, that we are in fact going to see that."

Mateparae said there were 1756 personnel committed to operational tasks at home and abroad.

National Party defence spokesman Wayne Mapp quoted figures to the select committee showing New Zealand's two battalions, based at Burnham and Linton, were under strength.

"The concern that I have ... is that our Defence Force is now actually too small to do all the things we are asking of it," said Mapp.

"What would happen if you were required to deploy a battalion group into East Timor or some such environment, could we actually do it?"

Mateparae said the figures used by Mapp did not reflect the troops on several overseas deployments.

But he conceded the MP's basic argument was correct.

The select committee was told the Defence Force had been diverting maintenance money for soldiers' housing to other areas, leading to a $500 million backlog on needed work.

Commodore Bruce Pepperell, Defence Force head of human resources, said "innovative ways" were being sought to reduce the bill for upgrading ageing 1950s accommodation.

"It is challenging, when you consider that ahead of us we have got a maintenance backlog that if we were to address it by traditional means might cost us half a billion dollars," he said.

Mateparae said sub-standard housing had been surveyed as part of the Defence Capability and Resourcing Review.

"And that is the dollar figure that was identified.

"There is a rolling programme of refurbishment. What has happened is that we have had -- for reasons of not having sufficient funding -- to divert funding that would normally have been, or could have been, put in there, into other areas of the Defence Force."

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