Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Carol J. Phillips 2006 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 Abstract Unit cohesion has been identified as a strong factor in the way soldiers overcome their fear of death in battle. Imperial Roman soldiers felt loyalty to the legion and its standard was more than a signal to rally towards in battle; British soldiers show similar loyalty to their regiment and Colours. Historians of a strong military background often write of the British regimental system as particularly effective in maintaining ethos and fighting spirit. Yet, reading any one of their descriptions of the regimental system offers only a vague insight of the structures and character of a uniquely military organisation . Identifying a regimental system is a particularly difficult task, even for those who are part of one. Although New Zealand has inherited the idea of regimental system from the British, it is a much smaller nation with a correspondingly smaller all-volunteer armed force and a more egalitarian society. The size of the New Zealand }\rmy, with fewer regiments, seems to suggest that it has escaped both the benefits of regimental cohesion and the damaging effects of aggressive tribalism between its units. This thesis will challenge that assumption by showing that the New Zealand Army has a strong cultural history with definite characteristics of a regimental system. It will be seen that the New Zealand Army's regimental system adapts its values according to its own particular cultural pressures and legacies. Page 1 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004 771 Table of Contents Abstract ........... ............. .... ......... ... ....... ... ... .... .. ................ ... .................. ...... ............ ......... .. I Introduction ............... .......... .......... ........... ....................... ... ................... ..... ..... .......... ..... ... 4 Section I: General Features of a Regimental System .. ................ .. .................................... 5 Introduction ....................................... ... .................... .. ............................................ ...... 5 Administrative Organisation ........................................................................................ 7 The Regimental System vs The Continental System .......... ..................................... 7 The Social Hierarchy of Regiments .............................. ... .................. ... ................... 9 The Cardwell-Childers Reforms .................... ... ................. ..... .... ........................... 11 Corporate Identity and Regimental Ethos .................................................................. 18 Beliefs and Values ........................................................................ ......................... 19 Symbols .... ..... ........... ......... ... ............. .... ............................................................. .. . 25 Individual Expression ............... ..... ................ .. ........................ .... ... ... ... ... ................... 33 Initiation ......... ....... .... .............. ... ............................... .... ............... .......................... 34 Existentialism ... ..................................................... ..... ... .... .. ... .. .. .. ................ ......... 36 Absolution ........................ ..... ... ......... ... .......... ................................................ .. ..... 39 War: A Function Fulfilled? ........................................................................................ 40 Conclusion ........ .... ... ....... ..... ........... ... ................. ..... .. ..... ..... ... .. ..... .... ........ .. .... ........... 44 Section II: New Zealand's Way of War ......... ... .... ................. ...... .... .... ....... ........ .... .. ...... 47 Introduction .... .. .. ....... ........ ... ... ........ .... ... .... ... .... ....... ... ........ .... .......... .......... .. ........ .. ... 4 7 What is a Way of War? .. ............. ................................ ...... ......... ....... .. .......... ..... ........ 47 Historical Influences on New Zealand's Way of War ................................................ 48 The Western Way ofWar ........................................... ........ ..... ..... ..... .................... 49 Maori Cultural Influence ..................................... ... ................. .... .......... ... ............. 52 British Cultural Influence ............ ........ .......... ...... .... ......... ....................... ... ........... 59 The ANZAC Tradition ................... .... ........................................... .. ..................... . 64 Modem Restrictions on New Zealand's Way of War.. ............................................... 70 Limitation I : Isolation ........... ... ... .... ........... ................. , ........ ...... .......... ................. 70 Limitation 2: Population Size ................... .... .... ............................. .. ........... ..... .... .. 71 Limitation 3: Economic Pressures .. ........... .... .... .... ...................... .............. ....... .... . 73 Question: Is New Zealand's Military Culture Slipping from the National Consciousness? .. ................. ... ............... .. .......... .......................... ... ........... .. ... .. ..... . 76 Conclusion ... .. ......... .... ...................... ........ ............................ ....... ................. ........ ...... 77 Section III: New Zealand's Regimental System ............................................................. . 80 Introduction .. ....... ... ........................................ .. ...................... .............. ... ... .. ..... ......... 80 Administrative Organisation ................................................................................. 81 Overall Army Structure ... ............. .................... ... .... ..... .. ....... ... ............................. 81 Infantry Regiments .......................... .... ....... ............. .... ..... ................................. .... 82 Hierarchies and Rivalries ....................................................................................... 86 Corporate Identity: Beliefs and Values .......... ... ..... ... ......... ....... ... .... .. .............. .......... 89 Courage .................................................................................................................. 89 Commitment ...................................... .. ... ....................................... ..... ......... ......... . 89 Comradeship .......................................................................................................... 90 Integrity ........................................ .. ................ ... .. ........ .................. .......... ... .. ......... 90 What about Professionalism? ...... ... .......... ........ ............... .. ....... ... .......... .. ... ...... ..... 91 Ngati Tumatauenga ........... ... ........ .. .... ... .... ............ ..... ......................... .......... ...... ... 91 Corporate Identity: Myth ................... ....... ....... ...... ..... ........................ ........................ 92 Page 2 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 Corporate Identity: Symbols ........................ .... .... ....... ........ ......... ... ................. .... .. .... 93 The New Zealand Army Badge ............. ... .... ...... ... .. ......................... ..... ................ 94 The New Zealand Army Band ......... ... ... ...... .... ........................ ........... .......... ......... 94 Decorations .......................................... ... ................................ ............................... 94 Commemorations .................................. .......................... ....................................... 95 Conclusion .... .. ....................................................................................................... 96 Individual Expression ................... ............. .. ...... ... ...................................................... 97 Case Study: Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (The Duke of York's Own) .......................................................................................... ... ..... ......................... 98 Conclusion .......... ... .. .. .. ................................................ .......................... .......... ......... 100 Overall Conclusion ....................... ... .. ......... ... ... .. .. .. ..... .... ..................... ............... ... ... ... 101 Page 3 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 Introduction When it became apparent that this project on New Zealand's regimental system is a cultural study, I initially attempted to bring absolute objectivity to my research. Unfortunately, this has proved impossible. No matter how much I read, how many people I interviewed or how many questions I asked, I could not escape the fact that I have had no direct experience with any military culture, let alone a regimental system in any form. As an outsider, all I can do is bring together the subjective experiences of various people and try to find commonalities and trends . As an additional limitation, my own subjectivity colours the direction of this research. My own particular frame of reference, made up of upbringing, personal experience and group affiliations, not only affects the level of understanding I've brought to each aspect of the culture studied, but also overshadows those items which I have noticed as strange or different enough to evoke further enquiry. Anyone else attempting this same project would come up with another set of questions and make different decisions on what to include or exclude. Rather than attempt to limit this, I have decided to acknowledge it. This thesis will therefore include short personal anecdotes as constant reminders to the reader -and to myself- that this study can never be purely objective -nor should it be taken as such. This does not mean that this thesis is any greater or lesser than what would have been written by a researcher more personally involved with the regimental system, or one with a firmer grounding in cultural study. Its value lies in forming a starting point for what would otherwise be a Gordian knot of information. 1 Nor have I intended to write a thesis coloured by bias, or deliberately used the limitation of cultural study as an excuse for exercising bias. This introduction simply acknowledges, much to my annoyance, the lack of 'correct' answers I can provide. If, however, any conclusion, interpretation or inference I have made within this thesis causes offence, I offer my sincere apologies and assurances that such was not my 1one commonality I've experienced during this project is the willingness of several writers to attempt explanations of cultural concepts through analogy. Page 4 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 intention. The first section of this thesis defines what a regimental system is. This is not as simple as might first appear. For every definition of the regimental system, there is an equal and opposite.2 I have sought the most common definitions, and ones that are most useful in answering the questions posed in the following sections. Section Two identifies the major influences on New Zealand's regimental system. Firstly, New Zealand's military history reveals the beginnings of the present regimental system. Professional, structural and cultural demands can produce pressures on the regimental system. How the system is shaped by these factors is the central theme. Although there are many influences that can be selected, attention is focused on those most likely to affect New Zealand. Finally, this thesis will analyse the shape of New Zealand's regimental system and whether it provides identifiable benefits to the New Zealand Army. This section is a combination of tools used and conclusions made in the previous two sections. The central question is whether New Zealand's military cultural needs are best met by a regimental system and, if not, what would be an appropriate cultural direction. Section I: General Features of a Regimental System Introduction It should be explained that an infantry section contains around eight men, including a machine gun team, commanded by a corporal. Three sections working under a platoon headquarters section make up a platoon, and in an ascending pyramid of threes, a company is formed from three platoons, a battalion from three companies (plus a support weapons company that is often split up in war between the rifle companies). Three battalions make a brigade, three brigades a division and so on. 3 Nowhere does the above definition include a description of a regiment. Yet, t he phrase 'regimental system' has been used so frequently that its definition has been blurred. Some writers have considered the regimental system in terms of its 2Piers Reid, Personal Communication, 8 November 2006 Page 5 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 organisational structure; others discuss it in terms of its contribution to morale, fighting spirit and esprit de corps. To further muddy the issue, the word 'regiment' cannot be considered definitive, either. It is not a tactical unit, and its flexible structure means that it can be of varying size, more so than a tactical unit such as a battalion or a company. There is also such a thing as a 'regimental corps', a structure that groups together army units of a specific function, such as engineering or artillery. To clarify the position of this thesis, it will define the regimental system as a form of military culture, encapsulated within a particular organisational structure. This recognises the effects of structural reform on the regimental system, and its resistance to abrupt change. A regimental system has several cultural features that interlock to form each regiment's unique character. These features cannot be considered totally in isolation nor can they be grouped into a hierarchy, as each affects the others, producing the cultural expression that is often glibly called a regimental system. With this in mind, these features will be grouped into loose associations only for ease of description. If we start with the premise that the regimental system is a form of culture, cultural anthropology lends itself as a tool for analysis. Cultural anthropology examines a society by dividing it into three sub-elements: its social structure, its culture and its personality (or the amount of opportunity for individual expression).4 These sub­ elements seem a good start but have been further defined in this thesis, to recognise the differences between military society and its parent culture. The first part of this section will examine the regimental system as an administrative structure, the means by which a country controls its military. It also asks the question why a country might choose a regimental system over a continental system in organising its army. The second part considers how the corporate identity of a regimental system 3 Hugh McManners, The Scars of War, London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993 , p. 169 4 Marc J. Swartz and David K. Jordan, 'Section Two: Modern Anthropology: Three Guiding Concepts', Page 6 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 through its beliefs and values; and the symbols used to promote these values. The third part considers the psychological framework that a military culture provides for the individual soldier. The army has been referred to as a greedy institution, as it controls a greater proportion of its employees' daily lives than any civilian occupation. It is also the only employer that asks its employees to risk and take lives. What does it offer in return? What opportunities for the relief of this pressure does it offer? Administrative Organisation The Regimental System vs The Continental System The first step in defining a regimental system lies in comparing it to what it is not. The most obvious difference between the regimental system and the continental system is unit size. During the 1881 reforms, Britain structured its army around the regiment, while the larger "armies of Europe were organizing themselves around the much larger unit of the corps".5 "The Continental system is most effective in countries that have a large Armed Forces with a large percentage of conscripts."6 It organises ground forces into corps, while the regimental system is based around the regiment. Unlike an army corps, the regiment is not a tactical unit on the battlefield, but an administrative means of grouping battalions. The second main difference is that the continental system "is based on an industrial model that is based on efficient use of resources, specialization and economies of scale. "7 Reinforcements are centrally trained and .are moved from regiment to regiment as required. 8 A country with a large army might choose a continental system as a more Culture: The Anthropological Perspective, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1980 , pp. 41- I 60 5 Hew Strachan, The Politics of the British Army, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 204 6Frank Kuschnereit, http://www.geocities .com/CollegePark/Ouad/5504/regiment.htm, p. 2, Last accessed 16 February 2007 7 Kuschnereit, p. 2 8Kuschnereit, p. 2 Page 7 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 economic means of training large numbers. A small country, with a smaller population base, might choose a regimental system to build cohesion, "a force multiplier in that a cohesive unit can overcome a less motivated enemy that is many times its size."9 Kushnereit reports Brigadier-General D.G. Loomis as concluding that the regimental system has greater long-term benefits and the continental system is more economical in the short term. 1 O Regional recruiting is a common feature to both the regimental system and the continental system. "The idea of territorial basing in order to facilitate mobilization ... was a [feature of the] Continental system." 11 But, where the continental system uses regional recruiting to facilitate mobilisation, the regimental system uses a region's social bonds to foster cohesion. "The regimental system is a mutually supportive personnel management structure that emphasizes a sense of belonging." 12 Regional recruiting has a much older history: "the bonds between [ancient Greek] hoplites on the line did not originate within military service ... they were natural extensions of already long-standing peacetime friendships and kinships." 13 These community bonds formed the basis of cohesion. "The peer pressure among friends and family within the Greek phalanx grew out of a pride that all men shared in facing danger together." 14 "The soldiers of the city-state met the charge of the enemy ... because of their general and because of the men at their side, the wish to protect them from the thrusts of the enemy [ and] the shame of playing the coward before their eyes." 15 Family relationships within the regiment not only brought displeasure at misconduct from serving members, but possible scorn from the 9Kuschnereit, p. 2 1 °Kuschnereit, p. 2 11 Strachan, pp. 201-202 12Michael O'Leary, 'The Regimental System', http: //members.tripod.com/RegimentalRogue/papers/the regimental system.htm, p. 2, Last accessed 16 February 2007 13 Victor Davis Hanson, The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece, Second Edition, Berkerley: University of California Press, 1989, p. 121 14 Hanson, p. 125 Page 8 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System civilian family community once word of disgrace arrived back home. 16 The Social Hierarchy of Regiments 86004771 Ironically, fighting qualities and military efficiency are not the sole, or even the most important, criteria for inter-regimental competition. "It has been argued that a regiment's standing is correlated almost exactly with the educational scale, although other factors, such as the age of the regiment, royal connections and military ability, also count." 17 This ranking, although a "strictly informal exercise ... the results of which no two people, let alone regiments, will agree" 18, is most visible in the way in which an officer cadet and a regiment select each other before the cadet faces selection for Sandhurst19 and during ceremonial duties. In the case of the latter, it appears that long lineage and proximity to royalty are the key criteria.20 Before Britain's Cardwell-Childers Reforms, the purchase system was a key indicator of the social hierarchy of regiments. The oldest regiments, being least likely to be disbanded, and ones with royal connections were the best financial investment. A commission in a high-ranking regiment tied a gentleman's social prestige to that of the regiment. Families "who had made money in industry and commerce and bought land, found that the presence of a son in the army was an aid to social acceptance" amongst the gentry21 , while the army offered an acceptable profession to younger 15Hanson, p. 128 16 F.M. Richardson, Fighting Spirit: Psychological Factors in War, London: Leo Cooper Ltd., 1978, p. 17 17 David Weston, 'The Army: Mother, Sister and Mistress: the British Regiment', in Martin Edmonds, ed., The Defence Equation: British Military Systems - Policy, Planning and Performance Since 1945, London: Brassey's Defence Publishers, 1986, p. 149 18weston, p. 148 19weston, p. 148 20weston, p. 149 21 Ian Knight, Go to Your God Like a Soldier: The British Soldier Fighting/or Empire 1837-1902, London: Greenhill Books, 1996, p. 23 Page 9 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System sons of the gentry, who considered trade to be vulgar.22 86004771 As the regiment was social as well as a financial investment, regimental reputation came to be closely linked to the Colonel's social position: Colonels cashiered or transferred officers who had been perceived to have dishonoured themselves, not to protect the honour of the regiment, but to distance themselves and their other officers, some of whom may have had higher social standing than the Colonel himself, from any hint of contamination through association .23 Although this has been criticised as a factor that threatened military efficiency (as a "very capable officer could as easily be transferred because of a perceived social slight... as for the commission of an ethical offence"24), "the existence of the regiment as the focal point of an officer's loyalty prevented .. . any state-army clash in Britain, since no cohesive group of officers emerged with political ambitions."25 "Rivalry and competition between regiments then internalizes any inclination in the army's officer corps as a whole to act more cohesively."26 Additionally, "the careerist and the ambitious officer of middle-class origins, who might otherwise be predisposed to political intervention, is instead assimilated into a class structure that apes the gentry."27 This social hierarchy exists independently of military competence, as there is no need for soldiers to continually prove their regiment's fighting abilities to maintain or even advance their regiment's social standing. Instead, it became an extension of civilian social stratification, as the gentry and upper classes used the regiments as tools in their competition for status. There is a strong degree of internal acceptance of each regiment's standing within the hierarchy. Rather than working on improving the regiment's social standing 22Knight, p. 23 23o•Leary, p. 4 24O'Leary, p. 4 25 weston,p.151 26strachan, pp. 196-197 Page 10 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 (which remains consistent in any case), soldiers themselves focus on characteristics that make their regiment different from others: "Northfield: ... You have to realise that the Parachute Regiment has a very warped, sick sense of humour, and that a unit like the Royal Anglians wouldn't do this sort of thing [posing enemy dead for photographs] . "28 This is consistent with Britain's civilian social hierarchy: one key problem in World War I was finding enough young men of high social standing for officer recruitment, as "it was the belief of most officers that soldiers preferred to be officered by gentlemen rather than by those of their own class". 29 The Cardwell-Childers Reforms Britain's Cardwell-Childers Reforms have been described as inadvertently stimulating 'the growth of a regimental spirit and ideology, coupled with establishment of a close relationship between the officer and his regiment."3° Knight estimates Cardwell's greatest achievement lay in 'simplifying the senior administration of the army -which had hitherto been split between a number of military departments- and bringing it under government control."31 Strachan suggests that an effect of "carrying through reform ... was the reinvigoration of the regimental system"32, although reformers themselves focused on army needs above those of the regiment. Insight into important features of a regimental system can be gained through studying how the Cardwell-Childers Reforms produced these effects. Linking the Regiments In 1854, the need for British Army reform had come to public attention through journalist William Russell's dispatches from the Crimean War. However, Britain's 27 Strachan, p. 197 28 McManners, p. 349 29Ian F.W. Beckett and Keith Simpson, eds., A Nation in Arms: A Social Study of the British Army in the First World War, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1985, p. 65 30weston, p. 143 31 Knight, p. 27 Page 11 of 103 32 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 response to the Mutiny in India, portrayed as more successful to the public, diverted attention away from reform. 33 It was Prussia's surprising success in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 that drew British attention back to the issue.34 Major-General James Lindsay reported in April 1869 that the Prussians had linked together line, reserve and militia battalions from the same region so that, with territorial recruitment and mass conscription, they could double the size of their field army within weeks. 35 Edward Cardwell, Secretary of State for War 1868-1874, was concerned with controlling army expenditure36 and with doubt that Britain could raise a credible expeditionary force to defend its interests in Europe.37 Following the Prussian example, Cardwell's linked battalion system paired all "Regiments of the Line with a number over twenty-six" to reduce the total number of regiments from 110 to 69, while retaining the number of battalions at 141.38 General Order 32 (1872) divided Britain into sixty-six sub-districts, each allocated to a pair of new 'linked' regular battalions. The Brigade also included two militia battalions and existing Volunteer battalions.39 By sharing the same depot, it was hoped that militia and volunteers would be inspired to regular service40 and would benefit from training with the Regulars.41 Territory-based recruitment later proved unworkable in large-scale conflicts. During World War I, it was found, in 1916, that "casualty rates meant that battalions Strachan, p. 204 33 Knight, p. 26 34Knight, p. 27 35 David French, Military Identities: The Regimental System, the British Army and the British People c. 1870-2000, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2005, p. I 3 36Knight, p. 26 37Knight, p. 27 38weston, p. 142 39French, p. 14 4°French, p. 13 Page 12 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004 771 could no longer be reinforced by drafts from within their own regiments."42 Instead, all "conscripts were ... allocated to where they were most needed irrespective of their local connections"43 and to "spread the resulting misery amongst the civilian population who were bereaved. "44 The "commander-in-chief ... , the Duke of Cambridge .. . pushed Cardwell into linking battalions rather than amalgamating them in 1872, although he recognised that the system would create problems."45 In 1880, the Airey committee of inquiry (gathered by the Duke and the Queen in an attempt to unlink the battalions) discovered that many felt "that inducting a man into a home-based regiment and then shipping him off to serve overseas in another worked against the creation of esprit de corps."46 Rather than returning to single-battalion regiments, Cardwell's successor, Hugh47 Childers, amalgamated these linked battalions into territorial regiments a decade later.48 This initiated a process of constructing new identities for the amalgamated regiments. Some regimental pairings faced difficulties in uniform, particularly regarding changes in Highland regimental tartans49 , histories and perceived identities. 4 Regimental Systems? One startling idea is that Cardwell and Childers may have initiated four distinct regimental systems, rather than one overal I system: 41 Knight, p. 28 42 Strachan, p. 207 43French,p. 278 44 French,p. 278 45 Strachan, p. 201 46 Strachan, p. 202 4 7 Strachan reports Childers first name as Henry (p. 202), whereas others have named him Hugh - Weston, p. 142; French, Index, p. 386 48 French, p. 15 49 Strachan,pp. 204-205 Page 13 of 103 50 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 [B]y the early 1880s the British army possessed not one but four regimental systems ... the line infantry regiments created by Cardwell and Childers[;] ... the two large corps regiments, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, and the much smaller departmental corps[;] ... the Horse Guards and line cavalry ... [;and] the Rifle Regiments ... and the regiments of the Foot Guards. 50 French goes on to state that the line infantry regiments and the corps regiments had the largest degree of functional separation; the cavalry and rifle regiments had aspects ofboth. 51 A comparison of line infantry and corps regiments underlines what separates the regimental system as practised by line infantry from that of regimental corps. While a soldier of a line regiment could reasonably expect to spend his entire career within the same regiment, personnel in the corps regiments are seconded into line regiments as needed to support operations52 . These different career paths mean that the fierce regimental loyalty that characterises line infantry regiments doesn't usually have the same opportunities to develop in corps regiments, nor is it desirable for members of a regimental corps to identify themselves as parts of an indivisible unit. Instead, "[t]hose who serve in these 'tail' arms have to learn to fit in with the character of the regiment or combat unit to which they are attached. For th is reason many frequently end up owing greater loyalty to that unit that to their own corps."53 Secondly, personnel in corps regiments experience a greater degree of professional training. "Pride in ... any of the .. . support corps is due primarily to professional competence and technical skill."54 Focus is therefore shifted towards professional pride, and regimental pride is not the sole source of self-image and sense of worth. Thirdly, regimental corps are usually unique within an army; there is less scope for competition with other organisational groups to fulfill the same roles in that army. French, p. 30 51 French, p. 30 52Harry Sebbom, Personal Communication, November 7, 2006 53 weston, p. 150 54weston, p. 150 Page 14 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 Line regiments have the same equipment and purpose; it is this factor that stimulates the inter-regimental rivalry that underlines each regiment's belief in its fighting qualities. Towards Professionalism "The Army has always found its professional identity in the warrior role at the regimental level"55, but hasn't always promoted professionalism : "no one has ever upheld the Regimental System as a meritocracy."56 "The distinguishing characteristics of a profession as a special type of vocation are its expertise, responsibility, and corporateness."57 While the British Army until the Cardwell reforms expressed its corporateness at the regimental level, the regimental system did not encourage expertise and responsibility and, in some cases, discouraged individual professional development. However, it had become traditional for officers for higher command to be selected from the line infantry and cavalry regiments . This made them highly attractive investments in the purchase system. This practice removed military professionalism, or even competence, as a criterion for command. Cardwell's reforms were intended to redress this lack. The 1871 Regulation of Forces Act abolished the purchasing system as the basis for officer promotion.58 While a system based on military merit may have seemed the best option, Cardwell recognised that a merit system was also vulnerable to the same abuses and influence as the purchase system. 59 The abolition of the purchase system left the entire officer class without the retirement investment they had hoped to later recoup, so the 55 Nick Jans with David Schmidtchen, The Real C-Cubed: Culture, Careers and Climate and How They Affect Capability, Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 143, Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 2002 , p . 57 56O'Leary, p. 11 57 Samuel Huntington, The Soldier and the State, sth Printing, Cambridge Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1972, p. 8 58 weston, p. 142 59Knight, p. 23 Page 15 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 government fully compensated all officers, accepting a total bill of £8 million.60 Officer promotion was thereafter based on seniority. While this shows how professionalism was introduced into the British Army, it does not explain why candidates for higher command came to be selected from the least profession-oriented sectors of the army. Military culture is divided into two main subcuitures. Jans and Schmidtchen identify these as 'hot' and 'cold' organisations.61 'Hot' organisations operate in high-stress situations, where life-or­ death decisions must be made frequently. These characteristically occur at the tactical or 'sharp' end of battle, or on board an aircraft can-ier, where the takeoff and landing of aircraft is a perilous business. The tempo of decision-making is high, a balance of teamwork and initiative is necessary and a bad decision can prove disastrous. 'Cold' organisations, by contrast, are based around routine. Combat service and combat service support units typically operate under much lower stress situations . Decisions can be made in a more relaxed fashion and a bad decision does not can-y the same potential consequences as in a 'hot' organisation . Jans and Schmidtchen point out that the military, in terms of quantity and frequ ency, is more a 'cold' organisation than a 'hot' one. Yet the 'hot' organisation, although smaller, overshadows the 'cold' . Military culture, as a whole, has evolved in response to 'hot' situations. The raison d'etre of the Army is to prepare for and conduct war. Those officers with experience at the 'hot' end of the organisation have greater insight into the abilities and needs of the units fulfilling that function. The 'hot' organisation also captures civilian imagination; a higher commander with experience at the 'hot' end of the Army inspires greater public confidence in times of crisis. Unfortunately, the merging of a regiment's reputation with those of its officers meant that factors other than military ability influenced higher promotion. Even during the First World War, the regimental system still selected its officers from the 60Knight, p. 28 Page 16 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 upper classes because it was felt they alone had the necessary qualities to supply officers and gentlemen: "An exclusive social and educational background, the gentlemanly ethos, a commitment to country pursuits, loyalty to institutions, self- confidence and physical courage"62 . This list does not require a candidate to show any ability or interest in military matters, indicating cultural resistance to Cardwell's reforms. Officers were not the only personnel, or even the first, to come under scrutiny for their professionalism. As rank-and-file soldiers had enlisted to escape worse civilian fates more often than through a desire to serve in the army, their officers often felt "[b ]y and large the rank and file of the British army was composed of riff-raff, and was accorded the kind of treatment it might be supposed to deserve."63 C ardwell's 1870 Enlistment Act reduced the length of service from 21 years to 12 years 64, which eventually allowed six of these to be served "with the Colours (with an option of re-enlistment), and a further six in the Reserve."65 It was hoped that this measure would attract a "better class of recruit"66 . It was felt that merchants' sons, as having a stake in the wellbeing of the parent society, would be more motivated to protect its interests and less interested in drink than unemployed slum dwellers: "Better educated, thinking soldiers, highly motivated through training and by esprit de corps, are very much more effective than men who simply obey orders."67 At that time, the British soldier had a low reputation, particularly with regards to alcohol. Recruiting sergeants (who were paid a bounty for their work) often found recruits in the local pubs and took them, still drunk, to the magistrate to attest, a 61 Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 49 62Beckett and Simpson, p. 65 63Kieman, p. 22 64weston, p. 142 65Knight, p. 27 66Knight, p. 27 67 McManners, p. 96 Page 17 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape ofNew Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 doctor for a medical examination, and then on to their regiments. Cardwell attempted to end this practice but succeeded only in forcing recruiting sergeants to wait outside the bars.68 One interesting argument against short service was that it "would rob the army of its tried and tested veterans and would replace them with young men who who no sooner learn their trade than leave."69 Yet, these tried and tested veterans "were in many cases - not in all - addicted to rough behaviour, heavy drinking, and hard swearing".70 This behavioural stereotype, and its effect on the reputation of the army and, subsequently, recruitment, were exactly the problems Cardwell hoped to address in his reforms. The continuity of culture that long service had provided for the regiments was replaced by the construction of official regimental identities. 71 Professionalism was a major reason for reform of the regimental system. The lessons of the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny highlighted that, even though the pre-1870 regimental system existed independently from professionalism in the British Army, it had become a hindrance to military efficiency. The system had to change to make the British competitive with their rivals on the Continent. The process of reform was itself slow and the Cardwell-Childers Reforms were never entirely adopted in their intended form. Corporate Identity and Regimental Ethos The focus of the regimental system is primarily administrative, rather than tactical. And yet, "comradeship and ultimately Regimental Spirit play an important part in helping men of widely differing outlooks and types to live happily together, to adapt themselves to life in the Army."72 How can an administrative organisation produce such spirit? 68K.night, p. 16 69K.night, p. 27 70william Robertson, I 6th (Queen's) Lancers, I 877, in Knight, p. 3 I 71 French, p. 78 72Richardson, pp. 20-21 Page 18 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 The elements "which comprise a regimental ethos ... [are]: a feeling of belonging; a sense of loyalty and service to the regiment; an awareness of individual regimental history and folklore; and a belief in the regiment's fighting qualities." 73 This section will briefly consider elements of this regimental ethos. Beliefs and Values A Portable 'Home' and 'Family' The most enduring feature ofregimental ethos is the feeling of belonging. This belonging is heavily based on a strong family structure. "Historically, any family feeling which troops developed toward the regiment was to exercise a psychological need to belong."74 Regional recruiting draws upon civilian family structures: new recruits often join the regiment where other family members have served. However, the regimental system inspires greater loyalty than a civilian organisation. The nearest civilian equivalent, the secondary school house system, is soon forgotten once a student has left school and is only resurrected when and if that student's children enter the same school.75 Former infantry personnel do not forget their regiment so easily. Taylor writes, "While I had considered myself a former Hauraki officer, through their friendship, kindness and hospitality they showed there is, in fact, no such thing. Once a Hauraki, always a Hauraki!"76 "Selfish, self-centred, rootless men learn to practise unselfishness, and find roots in pride in the traditions of a regiment". 77 Regimental values are brought by serving 73 weston, p. 142 740'Leary, p. 7 7 5 O"Leary (p. 16, fu iv) points out that major sports teams can engender the same sort of loyalty and sense of belonging, sometimes fanatically so. However, as membership in a sports team very rarely runs in biological families, these differ from the historical regiments discussed here. 76 Richard Taylor, Comrades Brave: A History of the Hauraki Regiment, Napier: Cosmos Publications, 1998, p. 5 77 Richardson, p. 21 Page I 9 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 and non-serving78 members into their civilian homes; civilian values are constantly introduced into the regiment by new recruits. This cultural dynamic means that the regimental system is constantly and informally changing. When opponents of a particular reform talk about some measures 'destroying' or 'damaging' the regimental system 79, their objections reveal concern at changes more dramatic than usual. This opposition to sudden change, criticised as "backward-looking, insular and conservative80, at least ensures that useful features of regimental ethos are retained, even in a different form. Key regimental personnel held roles associated with family equivalents: the Colonel as a father; and the regimental sergeant-major as a strict, no-nonsense maternal figure81 , "responsible to the CO [Commanding Officer] for unit discipline and the behaviour of the NCO's [Non-Commissioned Officers]."82 The position of Colonel-in-Chief is always held by a member of the Royal family, helping to "fuse the regiment into the national fabric. Regiments often take their name from a one-time association with the royal family. Every "King's", "Queen's" and "Prince of Wales's" regiment derives its title from a specific royal who held that title. Once honoured with such a title, the regiment keeps it for life."83 This patronage equates to a distant uncle/aunt of the regimental family. Even today's recruits are attracted to the army by the idea of a secure, surrogate home: Australian research has discovered that "enlistees to the army are significantly more likely to be from 'broken homes' than those joining most other national 78 An alternative, and more accurate, word than 'former' 79Knight, p. 27 8°French, p. 97, also Strachan, p. 201 81 A famous World War II song emphasises this with the lyric, 'Sergeant Major, be a mother to me', Martin Page, ed., 'Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant Major': The Songs and Ballads of World War I!, London : Granada Publishing Limited, 1973, p. 26 82http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regimental System, Last Accessed 16 February 2007 83T.F. Mills, 'Regimental System of the British Empire and Commonwealth', http: //www.regiments .org/regiments/r-system.htm, page created 15 March 1999, corrected and updated 03.01.2005, p. 2, Last Accessed 16 February 2007 Page 20 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 employers".84 41 % of all male applicants for Army General Enlistment came from 'broken homes'. The proportion of female applicants was even higher. 85 This portable 'home' and 'family' produce a strong sense of familiarity for recruits, an effective buffer against culture shock when posted to a foreign environment: Life in India ... helped foster regimental spirit. Most regiments could expect to be sent there at some point, and often for lengthy periods. For the soldiers, a long way from home in an alien culture and vastly outnumbered, the regiment became important both as a home and as a focus of existence. In the process, it assumed the mantle of a close- knit family. 86 The pressures of conflict have a similar effect: "individuals become able to dissociate themselves from the upsetting scenes of civil disorder they see. Instead they look in on themselves, identifying strongly with their unit, their platoon and the four-man teams in which they perform their tasks. "87 Between the world wars, "[c]olonial garrisoning revalidated the regimental system in the infantry".88 "The battalion became the soldier's home, a sort of extended family". 89 This phenomenon was not unique to the British. For the Romans, Marius' "[f]ormalization of the cohort system may have been necessitated by the spread of the Empire, and the need the garrison large areas with semi-independent units". Under these pressures, "the legions themselves gradually became permanent formations indoctrinated with a corporate identity not dissimilar to that of the regiments of the modem British Army."90 The characters of individual regiments are partly artificial. Because one battalion 84Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 44 85 Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 158, fn 10 86weston, p. 142 87McManners, p. 101 88strachan, p. 211 89strachan, p. 206 _ 90 simon Anglim, et al., Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World 3000BC -AD 500: Equipment, Page 21 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System· 86004771 remained at home feeding its linked battalions abroad with annual drafts of recruits, they were likely to be separated for years. During the 1881 reforms, regimental and military authorities decided to prevent this estrangement from "undermin[ing] discipline and esprit de corps ... [by] manipulat[ing] symbols, rituals, ceremonies and 'histories', to create a new regimental esprit de corps."91 The regimental link between geographically separated battalions then lies in a virtual community, a shared concept ofregimental identity. "Regimental colonels presided over the institutions that created the image of the regiment as a community."92 This manipulation was by no means absolute. The "ways in which the soldiers conceived their regiment was not always consonant with the officially constructed notion of what constituted 'the regiment'. "93 The sense of home was heavily reliant on regional recruiting; when that failed under heavy casualties and the administrative necessity of swiftly introducing replacements, "regimental leaders had to work hard to create a sense of community where none had existed before."94 For volunteers and conscripts of the world wars, the regiment" was the men they fought alongside."95 The psychological 'family' shrinks during wartime. The need to swiftly construct an ad hoc community in the field leaves no time to instruct new soldiers on the official identity and traditions of the regiment. "It might be argued that the British regimental system is therefore best suited only to a peacetime Army."96 This sense of belonging has its disadvantage: identification with one unit of an army necessarily draws a psychological line between 'us' and 'them'. 'Them' does not always refer to the enemy. If a regiment's identity acts as a buffer against cultural difference, then it cannot be surprising that it can also act against other regiments. Soldiers have been known to fight "for their regiment as fiercely against fellow Combat Skills and Tactics, London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002, p. 56 91 French, p. 78 92French, p. 80 93French, p. 339 94French, p. 282 95French, p. 283 96Richardson, p. 153 Page 22 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 regiments of their own army in public houses or on the sports field as they might against a declared enemy in armed conflict."97 O'Leary notes in the Canadian army, that the upholding ofregimental ideals can sometimes be contrary, even damaging to national ideals and believes that the initial orientation for all recruits ought to include instruction on national and army ideals before and above the teaching of regimental ones. 98 However, the regimental system is not one of absolutes. While it is a partially­ constructed, partially-evolved portable culture, it is also a sub-culture within a country's parent culture. This is apparent for three reasons. Firstly, the "regimental system's claim to impose a single, overweening loyalty on each of its members was never entirely successful. Even regular soldiers before 1939, who were, for the most part, unmarried during their colour service, remained members ofreal families."99 Secondly, just as it is unlikely that any one soldier can restrict his/her relationships entirely within the regiment, it is improbable that every member of the regiment can form relationships with every other member. Intra-regimental friendships are sti ll within smaller groups. JOO Finally, service is no longer a life-long commitment: regimental bonds are celebrated and revisited, and the bad times forgotten IOI, but only on discrete occasions. A soldier still remains fundamentally a member of the parent society. Commitment to Something Greater than Oneself War heightens all the common purposes and attitudes of military life into an exceptionally simple reality, in which individuals surrender themselves to the higher calling of the common cause - to something far more important than themselves. 102 97 O'Leary, p. 5 98O1Leary, p. 5 99French, p. 338 lOOO"Leary's estimate is 100-150 strong, or company level, p. 7 101 French, p. 343 102McManners, p. 367 Page 23 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 The role of a regiment is to absorb individual recruits into a community, making individual death much easier to face . Recruits are infused with a sense of belonging to something far greater than themselves. This association can be a powerful commitment, often made during the impressionable time in an adolescent's life: during the critical age period between 15 and 20, when physical development is well ahead of emotional and intellectual maturity. Adult bodies can be trained for strength and endurance, while immature minds are conditioned into military ways. This is a formative and vulnerable time of life, when adult personality is shaped. Military training invariably has a great impact on this developing personality. 103 Many adolescents yearn for just this sort of association even if it means joining a gang. 104 It is not surprising that the regimental system has been criticised as a form of brainwashing. 105 A strong aspect of the regiment is its perceived immortality: soldiers may die, but the regiment is etemai. 106 Some soldiers "came to act on the principle that if the Regiment lived it did not matter if they died". 107 This attitude is a subversion of individuality in favour of communitas. Mendelbaum noted that one of the inherent functions of funerals is to affirm the continued existence of the community, as a counterpoint to individual death. 108 In those environments where death is an everyday occurrence, this affirmation is constantly reinforced. For the regimental system, constant casualties might reinforce the value of the regiment, but this reaffirmation of community would have to be artificially reinforced during peacetime. 103McManners, p. 112 104French, p. 343 1050'L 5 eary, p. 106Richardson, p. 15 107 Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage, 4th Reprint, London : Constable, 1946, p. 166 1 OS R. Fulton, 'The Contemporary Funeral: Functional or Dysfunctional' from Wass, J. and Neimyer, R.A., eds., Dying: Facing the Facts, Washington: Taylor and Francis, 1995, Reprinted in 176.318 & 176. 723 Sociology of Death and Dying Book of Readings, Massey University Palmerston North: School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, 2003, p. 245 Page 24 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 Symbols According to Turner, hierarchy within a society is often expressed symbolically, rituals accentuating differences in established relationships, for example, between men and women. 109 The military, a highly-structured hierarchal society, establishes and reinforces that hierarchy through a variety of symbols. Symbols also affirm the continued existence of the community, most noticeably at funerals: "Mandelbaum (1959) argued that participating in the funeral ceremony ... gave the mourner the sense of being part of a larger social whole" 110 . This social whole includes ancestral members, who may no longer be living. This identification with regimental 'ancestors' underlines the 'immortal' feature of a regiment's corporate identity. These symbols are often displayed to members of the parent society as a means of promoting the regimental identity to outsiders, upon whom the regiment relies for support and recruits . Attracting and retaining the latter appears to be the higher priority. From the time of separation from civilian society, a recruit was trained, not only in the military profession, but also in the particular symbols, traditions and traditions of the regiment. As noted earlier, "regimental and military authorities manipulated symbols, rituals, ceremonies and 'histories', to create ... regimental esprit de corps". 111 Although these features have been constructed rather than allowed to evolve, this doesn't negate their effect on the regimental community. Myth For the purposes of this study, a myth is "a story which embodies the values that are important to a culture and which has an aura of sanctity about it." 112 Despite the 1 o9 Anonymous, Mystical Rites and Rituals: Initiation and Fertility Rites, Sacrifice and Burial Customs, Incantation and Ritual Magic, London: BPC Publishing Ltd ., 1975 , pp. 15-17 11 OFulton, p. 245 111 French, p. 78 112swartz and Jordan, p. 329 Page 25 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 connotations associated with the usual use of the word 'myth', this definition includes no judgments on the truth or falsity of a cultural myth. 113 What are important are the myth's attendant values. Under this definition, regimental histories are the myths of the regimental system. These include the tales of associated battle honours; award-winning soldiers who had served in the regiment; and even defeats and disgraces, with their attendant reasons. "Proud regiments with fine traditions stretching back hundreds of years may prefer to overlook the platoon that tried to withdraw under mortar fire after their lieutenant was killed, and the sergeant who stopped them by shooting one of the section corporals ." 114 Painstaking historical research can add to the aura of sanctity by producing proof of the story the regimental boards prefer, but the truth is not important. What is important is that the histories embody the values of the regiment, and set a standard for its living members to emulate and to form a source of pride. For example, Germany's "senior officers have been calling for new regimental role models, untarnished by the Nazis, to encourage the right military virtues." 11 5 Ironically, the greatest regimental myth is the regiment itself, its solidarity "and the belief that it has a collective consciousness." 116 The British "like to think [Regimental Spirit] flourishes in [their] army more richly than in any other."117 The values associated with this myth are "morale and group consciousness and the basis of ... fighting effectiveness." 118 The aura of sanctity has been bolstered in modem times by the example of the Falklands War, a conflict that pitted Britain's regimental system against Argentina's continental system: "[T]he land battles of the Falklands 113swartz and Jordan, p. 329 114McManners, p. 81 115'The Red Baron Strikes Again', The Dominion Post, Wellington, Saturday October 14, 2006, p. E6 116weston,p.150 117 Richardson, p. 15 118weston, p. 150 Page 26 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 War revealed the value of the regimental system". 119 The aura of sanctity is reinforced by the "continued use of symbols, rituals, customs and traditions." 120 Regimental and Military Language The Roman legions and the British regiments hold in common a strongly paternalistic language and structure which effectively showed each recruit his place in the organisation and the expectations held of him. "The battalion became the soldier's home, a sort of extended family, whose commanding officers regularly used the vocabulary of paternalism to describe its benefici al influences." 121 'Sir' has its linguistic roots in 'sire', meaning 'father'; 'cadet' means 'younger son'; female officers are addressed as 'Ma'am', a word with French roots meaning 'my mother' . Even the word 'infantry' comes from the Italian word 'infante', meaning 'youth' or 'infant' 122, from the days when "younger men would fight on foot in support of the mounted knights who were their seniors and superiors. " 123 These highlight the regiment's emphasis on family. Military jargon and acronyms can be confusing to a civilian. Recently, I recei ved an apology for the large number of military terms used during an interview 124, but had learnt these during undergraduate studies. This aspect of language highlights the professionalism of the Armed Forces, as these tenns most often refer to concepts related to operations. Furthermore, when "management or business studies ... emerged as an academic discipline ... its popular writers drew heavily on military theory as a means of communicating the savage cut-and-thrust nature of the competitive business world." 125 With the theory came the language and it is not 119 Weston,p. 153 120 Weston, p. 151 121 Strachan, p. 206 122 R.E. Allen, ed., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English , 8th Edition, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1990 , p. 605 123 Why? Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Army Publication, Section 1001 124Maj. D. Millner, Personal Communication, 24 September, 2006 125 Joel Hayward, 'Explaining Command' in Glyn Harper and Joel Hayward, eds., Born to Lead? Portraits of New Zealand Commanders, Auckland, NZ: Exisle Publishing Limited, 2003, p. 22 Page 27 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 unusual to hear businesspeople speak of marketing strategy, mission statements and business tactics. Regimental Display To a civilian, military display can hint at the kind of cohesion and trust that is not often seen within civilian society. This can come across as something special and even breathtaking: As the parade marched past the spectators' tent, the leader barked out an order and all turned their heads to face the audience, NOT the direction they were marching. Only one, on their right, looked forward and it must have been due to this one soldier that all the rest didn't drift towards a knee-high white post. That potential collision, embarrassing and potentially painful, was awaited by some forward-leaning spectators but the parade passed safely by. Even though those soldiers must have been familiar with every stone on this parade ground after 12 years of service, it was still an impressive display of trust in that sole soldier who was the eyes of them all. 126 Ceremonial occasions provide the opportunities to reaffirm regimental identity, in almost the same way that a funeral allows a small tribe to reaffirm their continued existence. Each regiment takes pride in showing that this is who they are, honouring those who have served before, and creating a sense of belonging. This group pride and group trust, wordlessly communicated by a smartly dressed and precise parade, can inspire potential recruits to join a particular regiment. 127 In this way, ceremonial display is an important means of cultural expression. Apart from ceremonial display, close order drill carries other benefits. From his personal experience, McNeill reports "a strange sense of personal enlargement; a sort of swelling out, becoming bigger than life, thanks to participation in collective ritual" 128 and that this "emotional resonance of daily and prolonged close-order drill 126Personal Anecdote, Waiouru Anny Training Group, September 13, 2006 127Recruits have been known to say that one reason they joined was they liked the costume of their particular regiment, Richardson, p. 17. Harry Sebbom recalls the traditions and the music as factors that maintained his interest in the Army, Harry Sebbom, Personal Communication, 7 November 2006 128 William H. McNeill, Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995 , p. 2 Page 28 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 created such a lively esprit de corps among the poverty stricken recruits and urban outcasts ... that other social ties faded to insignificance among them." 129 This also led to "unthinking readiness to obey their officers and an almost complete disregard for competing attachments." 130 In addition, soldiers "who had been well exercised by digging and drilling during the day could be counted on to go peacably to sleep at night, so that armies became much more comfortable neighbours for civilians" rather than escaping boredom "by indulging in drink and other sorts of dissipation." 131 McNeill goes so far as to claim that "the modern superiority of European armies over others was largely due to the psychological effect of the sort of close-order drill [he] had experienced." 132 He also states that prolonged drill "allowed soldiers ... to create a new, artificial primary community among themselves, where comradeship prevailed in good times and bad and where old-fashioned principles of command and subordination gave direction and meaning to life." 133 In short, he sees the cultural construct of the regimental system as being entirely due to the psychological effect of close-order drill. His admission that not all his comrades enjoyed drilling as much as he did 134 undermines his conclusion. He uses other examples to demonstrate the sort of muscular bonding that exists on parade, but these show groups of workers moving together towards the accomplishment of a specific repetitive task 135 . Soldiers' movements on the parade ground may no longer be useful on the modern battlefield, but group movement still has an effect on morale. "Throughout the military career, dancing remained the way warriors asserted their corporate identity 129McNeill, p. 3 130McNeill, p. 111 131 McNeill, p. 130 132McNeill, p. 3 133McNeill,p.131 134McNeill, p. 3, footnote 2 Page 29 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 and prepared for battle."136 A performance of a Maori haka, still used in various forms by today's New Zealand Army137, has been directed compared to "a regiment at drill". 138 This suggests that a Maori haka shows that same significance and benefits of a European drill. Both are equally appropriate, as a means for the New Zealand Army to celebrate its corporate identity through its bicultural history. Military bands are a further example of military display. When threatened, they also provided a demonstration of the willingness of the British Army to retain their symbols: The British Army solution ... is convenient and traditional; bandsmen are to be stretcher bearers in war, leaving the 'real' soldiers free for the fighting. By continuing this tradition of centuries, musicians are given a justifiable war role, conveniently allowing regiments to retain their military bands. 139 In this case, regimental tradition was retained without harm to army efficiency or values. Regimental Talismans Roman legionaries would fight fiercely to protect their standard. The eagle held religious importance, being the solid form of the legion's genius, or guardian spirit. 140 In Roman civilian life, the Genius was represented by the father for his ability to prolong the family. 141 The "loss of an eagle in battle was seen as a national disaster" 142 , "an indelible disgrace and entailed the disbandment of the corps." 143 For Romans, this meant that the legion had lost its regenerative or 'fathering' spirit. 135McNeill, p. 51 136McNeill, p. 103 13 7 Second Lieutenant A. White, Personal Communication, 13 September 2006 138 Anonymous British report quoted in Andrew P. Vaydu, Maori Warfare, (Wellington, 1969), p. 62, quoted in McNeill, p. 103 139McManners, p. 298 140 Anglim et al., p. 56 141 H. Stuart Jones, Companion to Roman History, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912, pp. 269-271 142Anglim, p. 56 Page 30 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 Like Roman eagles, British "Colours ... had a highly practical function of being visible rallying points in the smoke and confusion of battle." 144 New colours are consecrated before use by the regiment, the old ones being retired to the chapel where they are left to decay. 145 The existing Colour is never altered. The Colours consist of two: the Regimental Colour, and the King's/Queen's Colour. The Regimental Colour was considered the more important: "Kings and Queens must come and go; the Regiment lives forever." 146 Regimental Colours may not house a guardian spirit, but they do hold special significance. When they were carried into battle, they "were frequently reminders of those actions from the cuts and holes they bore. As such they took on even greater significance ... Thus, the Colours came to be regarded very much as the soul of the regiment".147 Although there are tales of soldiers going to extreme effort to save the Colours 148 , "after 1882, 'in consequence of the altered formation of attack and extended range of firing', they were no longer taken into action", but still retained their symbolic value. 149 Uniforms within the British Army evolved by various means. Some units designed their own uniforms 150 ; others are variations on historical dress, for example: the Yeoman of the Guard in Tudor dress 151 ; other features, such as the French-style bearskin of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, have been adopted to commemorate the regiment's role in an historical event, in this case, the Battle of Waterloo. 152 The primary purpose of these subtle differences in cut, style and colour is not to 143Jones, p. 213 144 Ian F.W. Beckett, Discovering British Regimental Traditions, Discovering Series No. 292, Buckinghamshire, UK: Shire Publications Ltd., 1999 , p. 68 145 French, p. 87 146Richardson, p. 15 147Beckett, p. 69 148Beckett, p. 70 149French, p. 87, with a quote from PRO WO 32/6701. Ellice to GOCs at Home, 17 Jan. 1882 150Beckett, p. 19 l 5 l Beckett, p. 8 Page 3 I of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System distinguish friend from foe, but to affirm a soldier's regimental identity. 86004771 Technological advances in the accuracy and range of weaponry have long since rendered ceremonial dress, like Colours, imprudent on the battlefield . Other means are used to emphasise regimental differences: [L]ike the Colours, regimental Badges badges have a special symbolism, the more so since Colours have ceased to be carried in action and since badges rather than lace and facing colours on uniforms have become the primary means of distinguishing one regiment from another. 153 National identity is also a point of difference: "the collar badge of the Scots Guards is a thistle, that of the Irish Guards a shamrock leaf and that of the Welsh Guards a leek." 154 Because recruitment for regiments is not stri ctly according to nationality 15 5, a soldier's national identity has been subverted to regimental identity. Even rank is symbolic. Soldiers salute an officer's commission, not hi s person. 156 Regimental customs often recall or reenact past events or practices. Examples include the Cameronians carrying rifles into church, as they "were not safe from attack by James II's forces even at prayer." 157 " It might also be argued that particular sports are also in the nature of military customs." 158 Examples include snooker, polo, hunting, football and cricket. Sport has survived as a part of regimental life, due to being "regarded as having an essential part to play in cultivating military virtues." 159 Mascots are a special case. "[S]everal regiments use live animals as mascots, such 152Beckett, p. 26 153Beckett, p. 71 154Beckett, p. 27 155"Many a kilted Highlander had never seen Scotland before arriving at his regimental depot." Richardson, p. 17 156second Lieutenant A. White, Personal Communication, 13 September 2006 157Beckett, p. 76 158Beckett, p. 77 159Beckett, p. 77 Page 32 of l 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 as the ram of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, the goats of The Royal Welch Fusiliers and The Royal Regiment of Wales, the antelope of The Royal Fusiliers, and the wolfhound of The Royal Irish Rangers" 160. Mascots form a tradition to connect the present regimental community to its past. They are part of its immortality; a regiment that has 'always' had a mascot of a particular type and even the same name161 can be seen to have an 'immortal' mascot. While treated as symbols, mascots are still animals and can sometimes remind their regiments of that fact: The Royal Welsh regiment mascot, a six-year-old male goat named Billy ... ruined the [parade to mark the Queen's birthday] on June 16 2006, at a British Army base in Episkopi, Cyprus .. . Billy darted from side to side, throwing soldiers off their stride 162 . As an animal, Billy could hardly be blamed for his behaviour, but he had failed the regiment as a symbol. Consequently, Billy's punishment was symbolic: demotion from lance corporal to fusilier. 163 The symbols of the regimental system are "merely signs of belonging to a group", "an archaism" and "mere vanity, individual and collective". 164 Their value lies in the values they symbolise: the affirmation of the regiment as a stable, close-knit and immortal community. These values are desirable, being those under greatest threat during the uncertainty, chaos and danger of battle. Individual Expression According to Swartz and Jordan, "The elements of culture, shared understandings, 160w es ton, p. I 4 7 161 Beckett points out that The Royal Welch Fusiliers' Regimental Goat was always named Billy and The Welch Regiment's Goat was always named Taffy until the latter's disbandment in I 969. Beckett, p. 79 1621Demoted for Acting the Goat', The Dominion Post, Monday June 26, 2006, p. B2 163From the name of the goat, the regiment was misnamed in this report and must have been The Royal Welch Fusiliers. Beckett, p. 79 164 O'Leary, p. 10 Page 33 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 exist as parts of the personalities of the individuals who share the culture." 165 An individual recruit leaves behind many shared civilian understandings upon joining a military culture. Transferring from one culture to another is never an easy process, particularly from a civilian culture to a military one: "Uniformed organisations tend to be 'greedy institutions'. They demand a lot from their members in terms of unlimited liability in risk and availability, and the organisation's control extends to aspects of personal li fe much more than in civilian organisations." 166 This feature of regimental life allows much less scope for individual self-expression and interests than civilian life. However, "although all the elements of culture are personality components, not all personality components are elements of culture." 167 This means that civilian life might not provide opportunities for self-expression that are available within the Army. For example, the Army offers greater opportunity for the subjugation of the self to the collective: There is something in men (perhaps not in women) that makes them need to give themselves in this way, perhaps part of some primitive pack instinct. The military life, especially in war, gives a satisfaction to men that civilian life cannot provide.168 This subsection examines the trade-off made by the soldier and the processes of transferral between military and civilian cultures. Initiation Initiation into the army is not only a process of gaining professional skills: "the overall process concentrates as much on the development of values and attitudes as it does on competencies."169 165swartz and Jordan, p. 158 166Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 45 167 Swartz and Jordan, p. 158 168McManners, p. 367 169Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 45 Page 34 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 For some members of British society, the process was not entirely unknown: "Moving sideways, from one institution into a very similar military version, public­ school boys find themselves on familiar ground. The process of socialization into the army is very much easier for them, and they find their feet to out-perform others much earlier." 170 "Military basic training works by first breaking down the civilian identity of each individual, before building him back up as a soldier - in a continual slog of almost unendurable pressure."171 This is similar to puberty rites, where a candidate is "divested of his former status before he can assume the new ... The admonition 'Get your hair cut - you're in the Army now' demonstrates the removal of the civilian status and the assumption of the new status of 'soldier' with uniform, dress, style, regulations and equipment" 172 . This is more difficult in the military elite units than the socially elite regiments: All the selection processes used by elite or special force units achieve two purposes. Firstly, through app lying strict entry standards they maintain both the quality of the unit and its perception of itself; and secondly, the highly realistic and testing experience gives successful candidates a tremendous and enduring self-confidence that enables them to overcome seemingly impossible situations of real operations. 173 Socialisation can be made more difficult by ''semi-professional forms of bastardisation [which] ... imply a reward: ... if membership were too easily attained it would not be worth having." 174 Once gained, "the professional identity becomes so embedded in the individual's self-image that he/she has difficulty in imagining any other occupational role." 175 170M M "6 c anners, p . ., 171 McManners, p. 113 172 Anon., Mystical Rites and Rituals, p. 25 173McManners, p. 65 174Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 45 175Jans artd Schmidtchen, p. 45 Page 35 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 However, the struggle for membership can lead to disillusionment soon after training is completed: "exposure to the 'real job' after the training institution can be disappointing, with the job they are asked to do often seeming a far-cry from what they signed up to do".176 Teamwork and trust in organisational support can offset this early-career crisis. 177 This peacetime membership is only one aspect of army socialisation. "Military training, despite its increasing technological bent, must still condition men to kill and withstand the brutality of an environment totally different from anything they might experience in civilian life." 178 The civilian injunction against killing must be modified to train the recruit for battle: The process of deadening the emotions of soldiers starts during basic training and is perpetuated in the way people talk and relate to each other in the day-to-day inter-relationships of military life, as well as in the shared group philosophy of units . 179 In this way, the regimental system promotes an ethos that emotionall y prepares the soldier for battle: "Until the first casualties, a war is uncannily similar to a large peacetime training exercise. For each individual , this unreality continues until something happens that affects him personally." 180 The community spirit appears to shield soldiers from the emotional consequences of battle, until individual experience separates one from the rest. This aspect will be further discussed in War: A Function Fulfilled? Existentialism Once within the regimental structure, it is unreasonable to assume that all civilian values are removed from the recruit. In particular, the value of individuality requires some expression and is the most troublesome in a community-focused organisation . 176Jans and Schmidtchen, p. 46 177 Jans and Schmidtchen, p . 46 178McManners, p. 96 1 79 McManners, p. I 03 180 McManners, p. I 06 Page 36 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 However, this value is important to morale. Upon taking command of the 14th Army in 1942, Field-Marshal William Slim realised that, to rebuild shattered morale, he needed to engender personal pride in each soldier. He successfully used the analogy of a clock to communicate to his soldiers the belief that each, no matter how small his role, had a vital contribution to make to the whole effort. 181 The demoralising title of the 'Forgotten Army' illustrates the effect when individuals feel they have become 'lost' within the system. For the military, their most visible and colourful ceremonies formalise and underline hierarchal relationships in similar ways to civilian communities : in tribal society rituals are constituted to specific social relationships according to the affiliations of the members of the cults. Only persons occupying specific positions in those relationships can participate, and they do so in terms of the specific ways in which they are related to one another. Moreover, in the ritual, apart from using special symbols (in the form of things, words or actions), they act their specific roles in secular life, either directly, or sometimes indirectly... or in some particular symbolic form ... This type of analysis has shown that in some of the rituals the enactment of secular relationships involves a statement, in an exaggerated form, not only of the harmonious and unifying aspects of the relationships, but also of the conflicts which reside in them. This is one of the main means by which emotion is aroused, which is then fixed on socially approved values: out of the very conflicts which exist in normal life, on special occasions the value of and ideal of life without conflict is emotionally and intellectually established. 182 Many of these processes can be witnessed on the parade ground. The hierarchy of rank is enacted through _shouted orders, precise movements, and ceremonial symbols of rank take on an exaggerated form, such as drill canes and swords. McNeill's experience of drill shows how his emotion became focused on teamwork. Disagreements may be common in day-to-day life (as was seen by the fact that McNeill's experience of drill was not shared by all his comrades), but drill offered McNeil] a glimpse of the ideal of life without conflict. 183 He called this muscular 181 william Slim, Defeat Into Victory, London: Cassell and Company Ltd ., 1956, p. 186 182 Anon., Mystical Rites and Rituals, p. I 6 183McNeill, p. 3 Page 37 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 bonding. However, even in day-to-day business, military culture is firmly based on hierarchy. For example, there are strong rules on how officers are to be treated. It is even a legal offence for a soldier to swear at an officer, an event of lesser note when occurring between civilians. In hierarchal civilian cultures, there are regular festivals to relax these constraints of societal structures and roles : The ... dramatic aspects of the revelry sometimes overlap with another common motif, in which the normal order of things is overturned. Servants or fools become rulers, Lords of Misrule dominate the festivities of many countries, men dress as women. 184 Military culture offers similar opportunities to relax hierarchal constraints. During the times when joining the Army was a lifelong career, regimental messes, although not as carnivalesque as civilian reversal festivals, provided an environment where soldiers could relax outside the strict rules of their lives . Here, military matters were a forbidden subject of conversation. 185 During the days when a soldier spent his entire life and career within the regiment, less official opportunities to escape the hierarchal pressures were during leave, when soldiers gained an appalling reputation centring on drunkenness and prostitution (as few were permitted to marry) .186 Corporal punishment could not address the underlying cultural pressure: that recruits from a highly individualistic society were incompletely welded into a fully-communal organisation and provided with few opportunities to escape the strain imposed by hierarchal relationships. Today, once initial training is complete, military culture is no longer the environment where soldiers live their entire lives. In fact, they become equally 184 Anon., Mystical Rites and Rituals, p. 49 185Beckett and Simpson, p. 43 186McNeill, p. 130 Page 38 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 members of both civilian and military communities. 187 Regimental messes provide an opportunity for side-along communication 188 and a relaxing of the strict hierarchy of the parade ground. 189 Absolution Finally, military organisations need to provide absolution before the soldier is reintegrated into civil society. Maori warriors could not return to their home village until the priest had spiritually removed them from service to the war god. 190 As a counter-example, United States soldiers in Vietnam could fly from the war zone back home within a space of twenty-four hours. Often robbed of any affirmation by homeland peace activism, some were subjected to scorn as soon as they arrived at the airport. 191 The psychological problems faced by Vietnam veterans highlight the value of absolution: In war, extreme vigilance and specific learned survival techniques are vital, but, like psychic numbing, when combatants return home these responses cannot simply be switched off. .. Particularly in America, many veterans sleep with weapons beside them, or sleep so lightly that any slight disturbance brings them to full and often aggressive wakefulness. 192 In addition to this conditioned reflex, soldiers must also come to terms with death: "Seeing people die, whether or not you killed them yourself, has a terrible effect on individuals, creating very strong, long-lasting feelings of guilt." 193 187Maj. D. Millner, Personal Communication, 13 September2006 188Emie Gartrell, Personal Communication, 26 September 2006, Kuschnereit, p. 3 189K h . 2 usc nere1t, p. 190 Elsdon Best, Notes on the Art of War, Edited by Jeff Evans, Auckland: Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd., 2001, pp. 147-148 191 Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, First Paperback Edition, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1996 , p. 278 192McManners, p. 371 193 McManners, p. 333 Page 39 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 For some, these feelings are particularly strong: Death Guilt is at its strangest and most intense when men have come face to face with an enemy whom they have gone on to kill. Despite knowing that in such situations one must either kill or be killed, men still feel guilt at not being the one to have died. 194 Absolution is an incomplete process. Hanson recounts how his father, "usually late at night after he had opened a bottle of good bourbon or scotch" 195, would tell 'stories' of his personal experiences of war. This was a family tradition, as Hanson's grandfather had done the same. For those without sons willing to listen, regimental comrades provide an audience who have experienced the same and are most likely to listen and not judge: The scars of war are the complex and (mostly) normal reactions of normal people to very abnormal events. The emotions raised by war and combat are so strong that only veterans understand them, hence the importance of keeping combat units together after wars. 196 War: A Function Fulfilled? In choosing higher commander from line infantry and cavalry regiments, the regimental system recognised the Army's ultimate role as preparation for battle. As mentioned earlier, the British Army retained their regimental bands by assigning them a useful role in battle 197; various writers have argued that the regimental system provides a corporate ethos that is essential to morale and fighting spirit. 198 But how well has the regimental system actually performed this function? "An occasional drawback ... was that there was a tendency for a relatively small number of casualties to exert a disproportionately serious effect on morale." 199 If 194 McManners, p. 335 195Hanson, p. 20 196 McManners, p. 367 197 McManners, p. 298 198Richardson, p. 15; O'Leary, p .3 199Richardson, p. 17 Page 40 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 interpersonal bonds make up the supportive nature of the regimental system, then the breaking of those bonds through casualties can leave soldiers doubly bereft; the dead are not only friends, but the support network upon which the soldier depends: In a hostile and dangerous environment, rejection by the group is the worst fate of all. Comfort, reassurance and protection from danger are available only from the group. For each lonely individual, earning and retaining the approval of comrades is the single most important motivating factor of all. 200 . So what happens to soldiers when a large number of those comrades are killed? The regiments provided a tribal identity for groups of soldiers - and convenient organizational blocs so that the Staff could rotate men in and out of the line, supply them and organize the attacks. The regiments were also the means by which the Staff judged morale and combat effectiveness, using composite unit personas created (and even invented) by their individual commanding officers. 201 During battle, grief is postponed: The units that fought in the Falklands War were very close-knit, with strong personal bonds between their members. The closeness turned casualties and deaths into deeply personal events, but while the war continued, soldiers had no time to stop and grieve for their friends202 . A curious insight can be gained by studying the Falklands War, in which a few regiments participated out of the entire British Army. On the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands, the prospect of war was almost a welcome one for the British Army. For individual soldiers, battle was a supreme test, one which they didn't appear to consider would be lost. "Many peacetime soldiers feel that as part of their training (its climax) they should experience being in battle."203 "Being blooded in combat is an initiation rite, a graduation ceremony for 200McManners, p. 80 201 McManners, pp. 82-83 202McManners, p. 331 203McManners, p. 301 Page 41 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System soldiers that has no equivalent in any other walk oflife."204 86004771 At that time, the British also considered war a rarity. "The chance to do well in a battle does not come to professional military men very often in their careers (if at all), so there is an understandable self-interest in ensuring that they and their unit make their mark."205 Problems arose when war proved to be a different experience than expected: There is a terrible disparity between the idealized view of war (and heroism) expressed back home, and the reality of degradation and unspeakable suffering war veterans have witnessed, experienced and caused.206 Apart from the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), combat changes the participants' outlook. For soldiers, being blooded in combat "affects them for the rest of their days, and separates them from the rest of humanity ... for most, combat is the time when they come face to face with the reality (and fragility) of their lives."207 Veterans also come to question the basic tenets of the regimental system: The British Army had a vast reservoir of experience from which its expertise, traditions and attitudes have grown ... Peacetime soldiers are given very clear ideas on what constitutes heroism and cowardice ... whereas soldiers with combat experience.. . are not always quite so certain. 208 "For professional soldiers coming home from war, returning to the peacetime military routine and a peacetime hierarchy that did not experience the fighting can be almost as difficult as enduring the war. "209 Difficult as this is from the veterans' 204 McManners, p. 118 205McManners, p. 235 206McManners, p. 356 207 McManners, p. 118 208McManners, p. 95 209McManners, p. 361 Page 42 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 point of view, the gulf of experience must be even more perplexing for those who remained behind. Veterans had direct experience of the Army in peacetime, whereas those without battle experience have little reason to question their military culture and find the attitude of those 'lucky' enough to have proven themselves in battle 'foreign'. Whether it is the experience of war or disillusionment with the values of the regimental system that marks the war veteran, the reaction of the regimental community deserves some analysis: McManners feels that the system failed its Falklands War veterans, particul arly those who suffered from PTSD: "Senior offi cers in the armed forces, however, preoccupied with peacetime affairs, have been too busy to be concerned with the post-combat reactions of a relatively small number of servicemen". 21 O "Men have always had problems in settling down after a military life, particularly when returning from war to the peacetime army."211 If these problems have always existed, regardless of whether the entire army or merely a portion went into combat, then envy at veterans for having proven themselves in battle, not the difficulty associated with providing psychological help for those suffering from PTSD, forms a major reason for the perceived rejection experienced by Falklands veterans. But envy does not appear to be the main reason . One Falklands veteran recei ved a clue after the war: "On the ship on the way home, our platoon commander advised me to go elsewhere as he said I wasn't Parachute Regiment material [Carter was in fact awarded the Military Medal]."212 This is interesting, as it suggests that the Army was not rejecting Carter - his award proved that - but the commander obviously felt that there was no longer any place for Carter in the regiment. Personal envy cannot totally explain similar experiences by other veterans. 210McManners, p. 399 211 McManners, p. 379 212McManners, p. 363 Page 43 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 "The British Army's regimental system is a wonderful source of comradeship and motivation for its card-carrying members, but can slam the door in the face of those who for one reason or another are outsiders. "213 It appears that the regimental system reacts in the same way as any other human community. Those who have shown themselves as no longer sharing the beliefs, attitudes and traditions can find themselves excluded. From this, we can conclude that, despite the inbuilt contradictions of the regimental system, there is a remarkable degree of homogeneity of expression. This makes sense, as the same types of symbols are used to express difference: uniforms, badges, insignia and Colours. The same features that mark any regiment as separate from all others and thus bind it together (unity through common difference) make it easy to reject those who no longer obey regimental tenets without question. British Falklands War veterans faced a cultural rejection, not a personal one. This is not to say that their experiences at rejoining a peacetime army were any less painful, but it highlights a caveat associated with the regimental system. It can bind soldiers in a peacetime army to fight as a team, but, as an entity, can be cold and callous once soldiers have fulfilled that function. Conclusion There is no simple definition of a regimental system. 214 Instead, there are several definitions, all equally valid and reflective of its multi-layered nature . A regimental system is a particular form of mi I itary culture that encourages an esprit de corps focusing on a family-like structure. It groups an army into regiments, purely administrative units, and is most useful as a cultural buffer during constabulary duty for a wide-ranging empire. As a form of induction into family life, its myths and family emphasis help to instill a set of desirable values into new 213McManners, p. 49 214Allan Mallinson points out that it is difficult for any work to "truly come to grips with ... the regimental system". Allan Mallinson, "A Dictionary of Military History." History Today Vol. 46.n 9 (Sept I 996): 54(2). Info Trac OneFile, Thomson Gale, Massey University Library, I 8 Jan 2007, http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/itx/informark Page 44 of I 03 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Regimental System 86004771 recruits. The regimental system's focus on community is independent of other professional values: expertise and responsibility. Consequently, it's most visible in line infantry regiments, where professionalism is of lesser importance. Its contribution to military efficiency is based on the assumption that it is an essential component of esprit de corps and group cohesion. A regimental system is also a means of keeping an army apolitical. Officers' focus on their regiments and subsequent competition amongst themselves prevent them from fulfilling personal ambition at a higher level. This control is most important in line and cavalry regiments, as traditionally these provided officers for higher level command. It is also a subculture of its parent country, and constantly evolves in response to changes in this parent culture. Unlike other communities, membership into the military is not gained at birth, nor do the military breed specifically to provide the next generation; they are dependent on the parent community for new soldiers. Army recruits, having grown up in the parent culture, bring parent cultural values into the army. The regimental system is its own greatest myth . The regiment is not a tactical unit, but a consensual and collective imaginary community for its members. Aside from the histories of each particular regiment, the system's value is promoted through rivalries and legends at the national level, for example: that the Falklands War was a triumph of the regimental system over the continental system. As myth, a regiment's existence is more felt through its members than visible in any tangible form. Its value on the battlefield is contestable. Under prolonged and heavy stress, regimental spirit shatters. Just as high moral values do not provide soldiers with reason to fight, regimental values likewise fall away. Cultural focus narrows to the small group within which each soldier finds himself while under fire. Survivors and replacements have little in common; it is often left to officers to construct cultural cohesion on the spot. Page 45 of 103 Carol-Jo Phillips The Shape of New Zealand's Reg