'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎142v] (289/610)

250
Conditions
Service.
British '303 charger loading rifles. The 9th battalion has
British non-charger loading rifles and the 11th has a proportion
of British -SOS’s. The remaining units are armed with rifles
of various patterns and calibres, the most homogeneous being
the 6th regiment which has 700 Turkish mausers. The corps
has 8 guns and 15 machine guns, in both cases of various pat-
terns. '
There is no fixed scale of ammunition hut about 50 rounds
per rifle are maintained in unit charge, of which 10 rounds
are usually with the gendarme himself. There is a headquarter
reserve of 150,000 rounds in the Bagh-i-Shah Barracks. There
are about 250 rounds per gun for the artillery.
20 tumans per head per annum are budgetted for clothing
and equipping the men. This includes boots and belts. The
clothing and equipment is made up or bought regimentally.
In the case of units located in places where clothing, etc., cannot
be bought, the articles are sent from the headquarters of the
gendarmerie.
53. Recruitment is usually by voluntary enlistment, but in
order to make up numbers a certain number of* * “ fauj ” under
thef “Bonicheh” system have been allotted to the gendarmerie.’
The normal engagement is for 3 years with permissible re
engagement up to 30 or 35 years of age. There is no system of
pensions or gratuities, either to the men or to their families.
Officers are appointed either (a) from the officers’ school
or (6) from the ranks. The officers’ school at Bagh-i-Shah is
capable of taking 40 students, admission is by examination,
including a medical examination for fitness and the course
lasts nine months. The passing out examination is competitive
and determines the seniority of the candidates. There are no
subsequent examinations and there are no pensions or gratuities.
Officers are also promoted from the ranks. Suitable men are
appointed aspirants and after a course of probation in that rank
become officers.
Non-Commissioned Officers are selected from the ranks and
usually by seniority. There is a Non-Commissioned Officers’
school at Tehran, capable of taking 200 students, for which
men are selected from regiments but special enlistments for the
school are also taken. Such must be Persian subjects, Musul-
mans, under 18 years of age, able to read and write Persian and
be guaranteed by some known person. Promotion is usually
by seniority.
* See page 247 above.
* See page 248 above.