Hong Kong Defence Force.
[CAP. 199
with
command of
16. Officers of the Regiment while serving members of the regular forces stationed in the Colony, may exercise the powers of command laid down in paragraph 196 of the King's Regulations, 1940, when called out, in training or under instruction.
Powers of officers of the Regiment in relation to officers.
17. (1) The ages at which warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and other ranks shall be discharged are as follows-
(a) Warrant Officer Class I 50 years,
(b) Warrant Officer Class II 48
(c) N.C.O.'s and privates 40
Provided that the Commanding Officer may retain the services of a specialist for such longer period as he may think fit but not exceeding five years.
(2) Warrant officers and non-commissioned officers, other than those of the permanent staff of the Force, or any part thereof, after ten years in or above the rank of sergeant, may if specially recommended by the Commanding Officer, be permitted to retain their rank on discharge with the right to wear the uniform of the Regiment on appropriate occasions on the written authority of the Commandant.
18. (1) The appointment and promotion of all warrant and non-commissioned officers to substantive, temporary, or acting warrant or non-commissioned ranks are vested in the Commanding Officer subject to the Commandant's approval.
(2) Promotion shall be subject to such tests as may be prescribed by the Commanding Officer.
19. (1) An officer or volunteer whose transfer to the Auxiliary Force is approved by the Commandant, and every officer or volunteer who shall remain absent from the Colony for a longer period than nine months, or in an emergency for such shorter period as the Governor may prescribe, shall be transferred to the Auxiliary Force as an auxiliary except in such cases where the Governor on the recommendation of the Commandant directs that he shall retain his substantive rank.
(2) An officer or volunteer who has been transferred to the Auxiliary Force by reason of his absence from the Colony, may subject to his age and physical fitness, be
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