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

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 tha