Meanwhile, in January 1940, the compulsory training scheme which had been suspended since 1929 was reintroduced and units of the militia were progressively called up for periods of full-time training in order to boost their readiness. In January 1942, following the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor and the British in Malaya, the situation in the Pacific worsened and many Australians began to worry about invasion. As a result of this many of the militia units were mobilised in this time and a number of them were sent to New Guinea to carry out defensive duties. The 3rd Battalion was one of these and upon mobilisation it was brought up to its wartime establishment with a number of drafts of national servicemen recruited from regional New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.