Defence hunting foreign troops with citizenship for service (Australia)

THE Australian Defence Force is exploiting forced cutbacks in military spending in Britain and other Western countries, embarking on an unprecedented drive to recruit laid-off soldiers, sailors and air crew. …seeking highly skilled specialists …fighter pilots, special forces officers and submarine crews. And as an incentive, it is prepared to offer a fast track to Australian citizenship for so-called “lateral recruits” after just three months’ service. …the navy is also recruiting from the US, Canada and New Zealand. A recent report on maintenance problems in Australia’s navy suggested that as many as 200 more engineers were needed to rebuild lost expertise… The ADF recruited 125 servicemen and five women overseas in the 2009-10 financial year, but only 33 men and one woman in 2010-11. Overseas recruitment is expected to increase sharply this year in part because of Britain’s economic woes. …the ADF is seeking “serving or ex-serving foreign military personnel who can directly transfer their job and life skills to whichever service they join with limited training and preparation… … targeting serving personnel or those who “separated” no more than three years ago. …must apply for a permanent resident visa before coming to Australia… …maritime warfare officers, the only class of submariner eligible to become a submarine commander. Submariners sought include cryptologists… …Air Force …fighter pilots and test pilots qualified to check out multi-engined, fixed-wing aircraft. army… bomb-disposal experts …Catholic chaplains. …helicopter pilots, especially instructors… … officers in artillery, intelligence, transport, supply, catering, infantry, signals and military police especially those with investigation experience as well as dentists and nurses. …officers with special forces experience, especially those qualified to parachute and to carry out amphibious operations. Ideally, the signals officers will have electronic warfare experience… (Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au …