THE ARMEd servicES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES
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however, and the main operational tasks now performed, by adult volunteers, are in support of the Fire Services, Social Welfare, Agriculture and Fisheries and Marine Departments and the Royal Hong Kong Police. These tasks include: forest fire- fighting; tropical cyclone duty; heavy and light rescue from confined spaces and in landslips; registration, feeding and providing relief for victims of natural disasters; anti-oil pollution duties; search and rescue of persons lost and injured in mountainous regions; evacuating people from threatened or dangerous buildings; clearing blocked roads; providing emergency communications and a despatch rider service; and anti- crime patrolling in remote recreational areas. The Civil Aid Services also provides assistance in government campaigns, civil charity drives and in crowd control duties at sporting and civic functions.
The adult establishment of the Civil Aid Services, comprising volunteers from most walks of life, was increased from 2,300 in 1976 to 2,750 in 1977 to permit greater flexibility in the mobilisation of manpower and to undertake new operational and civic tasks. Volunteers undergo six months' initial basic training in discipline, first aid and rescue duties. After transfer to an operational unit, they are prepared to perform arduous and often difficult tasks at any time and in any weather. In 1977, a strike force of 300 volunteers was formed so that members can be called upon from their normal place of duty at very short notice to undertake any urgent emergency rescue task. Members of the specialised mountain rescue unit also are always on one-hour standby in case of emergency.
The junior wing of the Civil Aid Services, the Cadet Corps made up of youths aged between 14 and 18, was increased from 2,020 to 2,222 during 1977. Two new units were formed in the developing towns of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long in the New Territories. Recruits are mostly from low-cost housing estates and other heavily- populated urban areas. They are posted to a cadet unit in the area in which they live. The aim of the Cadet Corps is to help boys develop, to make them aware of their civic responsibilities, and to provide organised camps, sports and expeditions. Cadets are taught basic skills similar to those conducted in the adult service, as well as forestry conservation, rural area patrolling, mountain craft, life-saving, camping and trekking. The more advanced cadets learn fibreglassing, canoe-making, mechanical engineering and welding. A cadet retires from the Cadet Corps at the age of 18. But he then has the opportunity of volunteering to join either the adult service or any other government disciplined service.
A 20-hectare camp for land-based activities involving both cadets and adults was opened by the Governor in April, 1977. The camp, situated on a plateau 230 metres above Tsing Lung Tau on Castle Peak Road, has basic facilities, including a camp centre, swimming pool, basketball court and an old, abandoned village that is being renovated, partly by the cadets themselves. A three-hectare site, granted for a second camp for water-based activities, is under planning at Tai Tan on the Sai Kung Peninsula.
Auxiliary Medical Service
The Auxiliary Medical Service, which celebrated its 27th anniversary in December, 1977, maintains a membership of more than 5,500 volunteers, many of whom are young men and women aged between 18 and 28. Members comprise doctors, nurses,