REGULAR RECRUIT FORCE 410

One hundred and sixty-four newly minted soldiers graduated recently and have now joined 1 (NZ) Bde, Joint Support Group and TRADOC units. They are now progressing in their careers and learning their specialty trades.

Defence Minister Andrew Little was the Reviewing Officer escorted by the Acting Chief of Army, Brigadier Rose King. The parade was a new concept that involved chosen family members or friends presenting the recruits with their identification disks and cultural taonga on parade before they marched off.

The recruits from RRF410 marched into The Army Depot in Waiouru Military Camp in February. They came from all over New Zealand, and some from Australia, with many having left young families at home. They entered camp just two weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle had ended. Some of the incoming recruits had left places like the Hawkes Bay where they had watched elements of Army assist with recovery efforts.

They were welcomed onto Rongomaraeroa o ngā hau e whā Marae (New Zealand Army National Marae) before attesting and affirming at the National Army Museum. After the formalities it was into the training with recruits put through their paces to get to the required standard across a broad spectrum of skills including Defence First Aid, weapons qualifications and field craft to name a few.

The weather in Waiouru plays a large part on training. It can make or break field exercises and turn shooting on the range from an exciting development experience to more of an exercise in survival. Although there were some wet days on the range the Waiouru weather generally held out for the recruits with almost no rain on either of the two field exercises. Something for them to look forward to when they undoubtedly return in the future. RRF410 was also the first soldier ab initio course to learn the Glock 17 Pistol on Basic training, with recruits qualifying on the G17 AWQ.

Awards

Top Shot RRF410

PTE S Savage

Top Warrior RRF410

PTE J Davidson

SMA Award

PTE C. Watson

Top Instructor

CPL A

RRF 410 Top Soldier

Joint award between PTE R Carstens and PTE S Savage