 The AIF's commander, Major General William Throsby Bridges, decided that regimental duty would rectify that deficiency, so he allotted the Duntroon cadets as regimental officers of the AIF, rather than as staff officers.The cost of this decision was high; of the 134 commissioned in time to serve at the front, 42 were killed and 38 wounded.Cadets were posted to units being formed in their home states, so Rowell was posted to the 10th Infantry Battalion.