Kerre Woodham: NZDF has compromised standards, not fixed the problem

I find it incredible that within a few days of a report into the sinking of the Manawanui - a damning report that revealed the crew and the Commanding Officer of the Navy ship were under trained, ill-prepared, not up to the job, the boat wasn't up to the task it was doing when it grounded on a Samoan reef - we learn that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has lowered its standards to make it easier for people to apply for a job.

This is an RNZ story and documents obtained by RNZ show that last year the Defence Force quietly removed some entry requirements for NCEA levels 1 and 2, which you would have hardly thought were the most onerous of qualifications to get.

To apply to train as an army combat specialist, an auto technician, a plumber, a Navy diver and logistics specialist, and an Air Force firefighter- among other roles - you'll now need three years of high school up to year 11, you don't have to pass Level 1 credits.

The Defence Force says the changes prompted a surge in applications in 2024, however, it's unclear whether that surge is continuing or whether it has had a marked effect on enlistment numbers. The drop in standards - because however you dress it up, that's exactly what it is - came about because people were leaving the army in droves and bosses needed to get boots on the ground however they could.

There's a great piece in North and South Magazine from 2023 looking at just this problem, the attrition within the Army and the decline in standards and the decline in it being an attractive career option. More than one in 10 military personnel left the organisation in 2023. In the interview with North and South, Chief of Defence Force Air Marshall Kevin Short, estimated that the attrition rate for the most skilled personnel was even greater, somewhere between 20 and 30 percent.

So you're losing the experienced people, those who are able to be good leaders, they're going. It's almost certainly higher now. Short said “We cannot sustain that loss.” Then defence Minister Peeni Henare said these are some of the worst rates the Defence Force has seen in its history.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood and Morning's podcast from news Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
B find it incredible that within a few days of
a report and to the sinking of the Manoanui, a
damning report that revealed the crew and the commanding officer
of the Navy ship were under trained, ill prepared, not
up to the job. The boat wasn't up to the
task it was doing when it grounded on a palm

(00:32):
Wan reef. So within a few days of that we
learn that the New Zealand Defense Force has lowered its
standards to make it easier for people to apply for
a job. This is an RNZ story, and documents obtained
by RNZ show that last year the Defense Force quietly

(00:52):
removed some entry requirements for NCA levels one and two,
which you would have hardly thought were the most onerous
of qualifications to get to apply to trainer as an
Army combat specialist, an auto technician and plumber, a Navy
diver and logistics specialist, and an Air Force firefighters, among

(01:14):
other roles, you now need three years of high school
up to year eleven. You don't have to pass level
one credits. The Defense Will says the changes prompted a
surge in applications in twenty twenty four. However, it's unclear
whether that surge is continuing or whether it had a

(01:35):
mark has had a marked effect on enlistment numbers. The
drop in standards, because however you dress it up, that's
exactly what it is. Came about because people were leaving
the Army in droves, and bosses needed to get boots
on the ground however they could. There's a great piece
of North and South magazine which you'll find online and

(01:56):
from twenty twenty three looking at just this problem, the
attrition within the Army and the decline in standards, and
the decline in it being an attractive career option. More
than one in ten military personnel left the organization in
twenty twenty three. In the interview with North and South
Chief of Defense Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short estimated that

(02:20):
the attrition rate for the most skilled personnel was even greater,
somewhere between twenty and thirty percent. So you're losing the
experienced people, those who are able to be good leaders.
They're going. It's almost certainly higher now, Short said, we
cannot sustain that loss. Then Defense Minister Penny Henaud said

(02:42):
these are some of the worst rates the Defense Force
has seen in its history. So the consequences of that.
The Royal New Zealand Navy idled three of its nine
ships for lack of people to crewe them. A recent
briefing to Henaud explained that the NZDF was experiencing significant fragility,

(03:03):
and presumably the new Defense Minister douth Collins has got
that briefing as well. When asked whether the Defense Force
could maintain a peacekeeping operation in the South Pacific, the
organization's most important task after civil defense, short says it
would struggle. And that's despite the most significant boost to

(03:24):
military spending and living memory. However, the boost, you know,
that money was all spent on new planes, ships and vehicles.
I mean they money needed to be spent on them.
He couldn't keep some of those planes in the air.
And the dear old money wanu he was bought and
that disappeared. The problems causing the mass exodus of personnel

(03:49):
weren't addressed, and that is the poor pay. They're about
seven to sixteen percent percent less than civilian counterparts. Poor pay,
substandard housing, the lack of career advancement, and the lack
of leadership. So those are the problems. That is why

(04:10):
people are leaving. They can't see any way to advance there.
It used to be a great career option. If you
wanted to go to university, if you wanted to learn
a trade, you join the forces. You'd have subsidized housing,
you'd put in your service to the country, and in
return you'd have a great career. You'd have options after

(04:31):
you'd done your time. If you decided to leave, you
could go into city street. You'd be snapped up in
no time because they knew that training was great, that
you'd be a benefit to any organization. That's just no
longer there. So the problems, the reason why people are
leaving is the poor pay, the substandard housing, the lack

(04:55):
of career advancement, the poor leadership, and that simply hasn't
been addressed other than to dumb down, lower and compromise standards.
And we've seen what happens when you do that. Loose
lips might sink ships, but so too do loose standards
and loose training.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
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