PNGDF invites dismissed recruits to reaffirm records

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
MORE than 160 PNG Defence Force recruits removed from training have been invited to meet top military officers to reaffirm their enlistment status, PNGDF Chief of Training Col Dickers Esso says.
“Some may be removed based on our oversight.
“And so they can see us next week at Murray Barracks with their original education qualifications to reconfirm that their status to join the military was genuine,” Esso said.
He said some of the 166 recruits removed for being overage complained of unnecessary removal.
They claimed that they were still under the age of 26.
Esso said: “The discovery of a tuberculosis (TB) infected recruit” prompted an investigation to determine how 354 recruits enlisted in the military.
“So they underwent further medical checkup by our medical officers and verification of their education qualifications with the help of the Education Department’s Measurement Services Unit.
“That’s when we discovered that 101 had failed their second medical test, 38 were over the required recruitment age (26 years old) and 26 were ghost names, meaning that they didn’t come through the normal recruitment process and somehow ended up at the Goldie River Training Deport.
“And that brings up a total of 166 recruits enlisted in the military through fraudulent means.
“So they were removed on Tuesday from the Training Depot.
“We are now left with 188 recruits who will continue their military training and will pass out by the end of this year.
“But we are not finished with those 188 as we will still continue to verify their education qualification.” Esso said the recruits were about a month into their training when the TB infection was discovered.
“We got all the 354 recruits X-rayed and found that 101 had failed their X-ray check-up. This means that they have further internal medical conditions which were not detected by the first medical checkup which was only urine, blood and sight (eye) tests.”