Personnel
District Commissioners, Assistant District Commissioners, District Officers, Cadets and District Assistants were expected to be qualified in Rhodesian law, the customary law of the tribe they dealt with, and the tribal language (i.e. Shona or Sindebele). As the Bush War placed pressure on Intaf, new District Assistants were recruited to serve for the duration of the war - these were called District Security Assistants. The security force of Intaf was known as the Guard Force. This was the descendant of the Matabele Native Police raised in 1894.
In 1975, with the security situation increasingly volatile, a training depot was set up at Chikurubi to ensure all new District Assistants and all members of the Internal Affairs had full military training. Training instructors were recruited from the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Members of the Internal Affairs were mainly black volunteers, but also included white conscripts. The mainstay of National Servicemen were regular officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Administration cadet national servicemen were Cadet 1 and 2, District Officers and Assistant District Commissioners. Agricultural Officers and African Development Fund men were also National Servicemen trained at Chikurubi. Their training included drill, weapons, map reading, African Customs and African Languages.
As well as providing security at villages, Internal Affairs personnel patrolled the surrounding area. According to the local situation and resources, this was done on foot, on bicycles, in motor vehicles, or on horseback. The utility of INTAF horse-mounted units led to the formation of Grey's Scouts, an army horse-mounted unit, in 1975.
As the war progressed, Intaf formed an elite military branch called the Administrative Reinforcement Units (ARU); these consisted of eight troops (one for each province). The ARU were reinforced with volunteers seconded from the Rhodesian African Rifles, Rhodesian Defence Regiment, and Selous Scouts.
Reservists called up for service with Intaf were generally allotted to units known as "echelons". There was one INTAF echelon for each province.
Intaf maintained light aircraft for transport and reconnaissance, of which one was destroyed by a landmine whilst taxing, some received minor damage from ground fire and one had near miss from a surface to air missile during the Bush War.
Members of INTAF initially wore a khaki uniform formerly worn by the Rhodesian Army with a red beret or a slouch hat with red puggaree, but later wore camouflage.[8][9]
