14 December 2005

Major General Jerry Mateparae has today provided formal confirmation to the Chief of Defence Force that the Army’s motorised battalion, Linton based 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, has achieved their directed level of capability[1], a milestone Army was required to achieve by December 2005.

An observer/trainer team, led by senior Army officers and augmented by Army personnel from Australia, Canada and Singapore, provided an objective assessment report, based on their observations of the motorised battalion’s ability to achieve a series of mission essential tasks during Exercise Silver Warrior. The report formed the basis of Major General Mateparae’s confirmation.

Exercise Silver Warrior, the largest New Zealand Army exercise to be held for some years ended in late November. The exercise was designed to put the motorised battalion group through its paces in a realistic and complex scenario that offered an excellent training environment as well as providing an assessment platform from which DLOC could be evaluated.

[1] DLOC is the level of capability that the New Zealand Defence Force is funded to maintain in order to provide the government with options for the commitment of military forces.

ENDS

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