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Former All Blacks hooker Norm Hewitt is to teach soldiers about alcohol abuse after eight servicemen were sent home from East Timor after drinking on duty.
In one incident in September, six of the Burnham-based men got drunk at two bars and a cafe in a United Nations barracks while armed with rifles, instead of going on their assigned patrol of Dili, the Sunday Star Times reported.
In a second incident several days earlier, two privates who had been assigned to sentry duty in Dili were instead found drunk.
A New Zealand Army spokeswoman said alcohol was a concern for the army as a section of society and as a "responsible employer" it had been looking at the problem for some time.
Its alcohol awareness programme was not in direct response to the incident, she told The Dominion Post.
Hewitt became a responsible-drinking advocate after he smashed through a glass sliding door at a Queenstown apartment in 1999 and was forced to admit he had a drinking problem.
The breach of military procedures had been dealt with firmly by a summary trial in East Timor, following a military police investigation, the Army said in a statement yesterday.
"The New Zealand Defence Force has very strict policy with regards to the consumption of alcohol while on duty and takes these incidents seriously."
The eight Burnham soldiers were sent home and received between 12 and 27 days detention in the services correction establishment at Burnham Military Camp.
The 25-year-old section commander was demoted two ranks from corporal to private.
- NZPA
