heres the link here and video:
Video:http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/1691597
NZ army training to get tougher
Apr 7, 2008 6:49 PM
Training in the New Zealand army is undergoing changes to ensure Kiwi troops learn about all aspects of modern army life.
The army says there is no such thing as simple soldiering and from next year it will get a whole lot harder.
With Kiwi troops in East Timor and Afghanistan as well as being increasingly under attack from enemy forces, the army says it must up the skills of the soldiers as soon as possible.
At the Waiouru military camp, the new recruits, who would have been spending 12 weeks doing things like shooting, jumping walls and handling grenades will now be spending even more weeks training.
From 2009, they will spend 24 weeks of what is called basic training. The recruits ONE News spoke to welcome the extra weeks.
"I'd like our basic to be longer just so you can do a lot more stuff but we're doing a lot now just in the three months that we're here," says Private Ladene Matson, an army recruit.
Whether you want to be gunner, a medic, or are staying in the infantry, all recruits learn the basics of combat at Waiouru before moving onto other bases for more specialised training.
But because of the changes, they will need to learn more than the basics and the time spent at the camp will get longer.
"Because of the complexity of the type of the environment we're now working in, it's more likely that the logistician or the medic or the signaller is just as likely to be in contact with the enemy as the lead section or the lead platoon of the infantry," says Lieutenant Colonel Rob Gillard.
That was a harsh reality demonstrated just last week when a New Zealand defence force team en-route to the Afghan province of Bamiyan was hit by a cellphone-detonated IED or improvised explosive device.
"The impact area was about 30cm deep and about 70cm wide which indicates a reasonable size explosive force that if it had been detonated under the vehicle would've caused severe damage to the vehicle, probably injury to the people," says Major General Rhys Jones, Joint Forces Commander.
There are currently 317 Kiwi soldiers deployed overseas, the majority in East Timor and Afghanistan - challenging environments reflected in the extended training programme.
"Teaching them skills to survive in the urban environment, fighting in more built up areas, towns and cities that sort of thing, there's another element to it which teaches them specialist first aid skills, signal skills and operating in different terrain, for example close country jungle type environments," says Major Jason Reily-Jones.
As well as working harder the recruits are also working smarter.
It costs about $700 to fire one of the anti-tank rockets in the field and so the recruits are not allowed to use the rockets that often. Instead they now train using a state of the art simulator to master their technique.
The average age of the recruits in Wairoa is just 19 years, and they will be ready to be deployed in about 18 months after their training.
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1691508
