Defence Force pre-service training proves its worth

Deakan Shepherd, now in training at Waiouru. Picrture / Supplied

Nothing makes Regent Training tutor William Murray happier than seeing his students begin their careers in the NZ Defence Force or the police, and last week he was celebrating two more who had made the grade.

The training centre, in Kaitaia, prepares young men and women to apply for recruitment by the armed services and the police, Deakan Shepherd and Jesse-Lee Ellis adding their names to the growing list of graduates in the last few weeks.

Three more current students have passed their NZDF pre-entry requirements; two had had their final interviews, and the third was about to. Last year five graduates enlisted in the Army or Navy, taking the total since 2008 to well over 100.

Regent Training accepted students on a rolling intake basis, Mr Murray said, for a basic 20-week foundations skills course, those who had succeeded including a couple of young police officers now serving in Kaitaia.

"We take all sorts of young people, from high-achievers, including a former head boy at Kaitaia College, to not so high-achievers," Mr Murray added.

The armed services and the police have recruited strongly in the very Far North for a long time, he said, and the preparation he provided gave potential recruits a very good chance of achieving their ambitions for satisfying careers.