§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report the new training procedures for the Ulster Defence Regiment.
§ Mr. Stanley[pursuant to his reply, 16 December 1985, c. 102]: I regret that the original answer given was incomplete. The full answer should read:
Training in all branches of the armed forces is kept under review in an effort to identify possible improvements and a number of such improvements in the training of the UDR have either recently been set in hand or are about to be introduced, as follows:
- a. The basic training of part-time members of the regiment is to be increased from nine to 14 days. The extra five days will be completed within the recruits' first three months of service.
- b. Until now UDR officers, full or part-time, have attended a two week course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, but from next year selected permanent cadre
246 officers will be eligible to attend the six-month standard military course taken by potential officers in the Regular Army. - c. UDR officers and NCOs already attend some courses in Great Britain in company with affiliated regular battalions and it is planned to extend this with a scheme of voluntary attachments of up to six weeks to infantry battalions in Great Britain.
- d. A number of additional training posts are also being created within the UDR itself. There will be a new post at HQ UDR with specific responsibility for training throughout the regiment which will he filled by a
t.-col. reporting direct to Commander UDR. A senior NCO from the Regular Army will be attached to each UDR battalion to assist with training and also to the regiment's training centre at Ballykinler. These NCOs will assist both with the additional recruit training mentioned above and with training generally.