Soldiers quit for $300,000 in Iraq

Soldiers are leaving the Army to work in Iraq for huge pay packets the Defence Force can't match.

The admission by the Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, came at a hearing before Parliament's foreign affairs, defence and trade committee yesterday.

He said the Defence Force could not compete with pay rates of $200,000 to $300,000 a year being offered to people to work as security guards in the strife-torn country.

"The very volatile situation in Iraq right now is attracting a lot of people to leave the armed forces."

He said it was not only those with Special Forces skills that were being attracted, but other Army staff from the engineers, artillery, armoured corps and infantry.

"We are seeing increased interest in that ... the salaries are huge - I just can't compete," he said.

A Defence Force spokeswoman said later it did not know how many former Army staff had gone to Iraq. Air Marshal Ferguson's comments were based on anecdotal evidence.

In May reports said New Zealand police officers had quit their jobs to do security work in Iraq after being told they could not take up contracts there while on leave.

In September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it believed 30 to 40 New Zealanders were in Iraq doing private security work, and a further 15 were employed in driving and construction work.

Air Marshal Ferguson said the attrition rate among lower-ranked soldiers was about 22 per cent. The overall Defence Force attrition rate was 14.35 per cent this year - down about half a percentage point from last year.

He said recruitment and retention continued to be a big challenge for the military, although that was "nothing new".

"As the economic situation improves nationally and internationally, recruitment for the armed forces gets harder and retention gets harder."

Filling jobs for electronics technicians and engineers continued to be an area of ongoing concern, Air Marshal Ferguson said. He told the committee the military was also doing more with less staff.

In 1990 - when it was less busy than now with deployments around the world - the Defence Force had 11,745 regular-force staff. This week it mustered 8507.

* National's defence spokesman, John Carter, who got the job in August, bemoaned Defence Minister Mark Burton's actions in stopping him getting a briefing from the Secretary of Defence, Graham Fortune.

"Do you think it's odd that the Minister of Defence has so far not given me permission to meet with you so that you can give me a briefing?" he asked Mr Fortune.

Mr Fortune said the question should be directed to Mr Burton.

A spokeswoman for Mr Burton said later that Mr Carter's claim was "ridiculous" and he had not been refused a briefing.

Major overseas deployments:

* Solomon Islands

* Afghanistan provincial reconstruction team

* Operation Enduring Freedom in the Gulf region

* Frigate and tanker in Southeast Asia

* Total deployed staff including Navy: 440

Source: November NZ Defence Update