BOMBING WEEK - Royal New Zealand Air Force

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2 THE LAST WORD AVM JOHN HAMILTON CHIEF OF AIR FORCE My early association with flying comes through my father, his service with No 2 Squadron, the local Central Hawkes Bay Aero Club and topdressing. When it came time to decide ‘what you were going to do’, I told my father I was going to fly. His unequivocal response to this was that the only way I was going to learn to fly was through the Air Force. With advice from his friend, Ian Morrison, the CAS at the time, I was told to join the RNZAF through the university cadet scheme. In those days you did as your parents said, and in early 1971 at Wigram I was issued a new RNZAF khaki uniform and joined a boisterous bunch in No 2 Officers’ Mess as a university officer cadet (pilot) under training. Thirty-five years later and on the eve of retiring from the RNZAF, I can honestly report that I have no regrets about either that wish to go flying or with complying with father’s suggestion. It has been thirty-five years of outstanding experiences, challenges and rewards, opportunities, friends and places. I would not hesitate to recommend it as a career option to anyone who meets our entry criteria. There are many things about this life that makes it so good and it would be difficult and wrong to try and single out any particular episode as special. Central to my career has been helicopter flying, first on the Sioux (at a time when we earnestly thought it still had an operational role!) and then on the Iroquois. This flying takes you to places to which few others have ever had the chance and has involved wide ranging challenges and some exciting parts. There have been bits which I would prefer not to repeat, including inadvertently parking Sioux 03 halfway down a gully up the Awatere River. But I hold many great memories and stories, tall and true, generated during my time flying helicopters and through being associated with flying operations. As I look back on my career I am mindful of the impact our service has on our families. The Service correctly has an expectation that personnel will respond when called on for duty. But it is difficult for us to explain to a partner just what that means and it puts real meaning into the term partnership, if only because it tends to be at least a three-way partnership. Susan has been unswerving in her support to me. We can now laugh at the number of houses occupied and household removals, although they were not all laughing-matters at the time! The others affected by the demands of Service life and who have little choice in much of it, are the children. Service life means they too take the rough with the smooth. In our case the smooth has included life overseas but that does not offset disrupted schooling and broken friendships. My two have endured these setbacks stoically and I appreciate that. But I really wish we had been able to provide them with better continuity during their critical high school years. Nevertheless, they have proven to be resilient and adaptable and have settled into their careers and are doing well. Perhaps the thing that enables us to endure the exigencies of the Service is the power of its culture and in particular, its emphasis on allegiance and service, and putting others before ourselves. While in the RNZAF we take much of the culture for granted and I suspect that soon I too will learn the real value of a strong organisational culture as I compare that of the RNZAF with others. Our culture makes us a close but not a closed group; it can be evocative, supportive and it can generate incredibly powerful atmospheres. I am sure I will miss it all. There is a special reward that comes from knowing that together we have done a myriad of things and the majority of them very well. Some recent examples will illustrate some of our success. The RNZAF has had the best retention of all three services during the last three years. We have had the best net gain in personnel strength since caps and restrictions were lifted in 2004. We have embarked on an ambitious investment programme totalling over $NZ1.2Bn which will be spent during the next ten years. It is the largest capital programme to be undertaken by Defence and any of the Services in New Zealand during the last 60 years. These successes do not just happen. They come from a long series of arguments, options, planning and plain hard work across almost all streams of the RNZAF. That requires personnel with horsepower and we have that in abundance.Their work has set the foundation for the future of our Service. I am proud of what we have achieved and I have enjoyed my time as the Chief of Air Force. I thank you all for your camaraderie, your support and your cheerful willingness and commitment. It has been your collective effort that has brought the RNZAF to this point be that in technical skills, airmanship, attitude and just through that willingness to serve. Now I will take a place on the sideline, watching, supporting, encouraging and cheering you on. I wish you and the RNZAF every success in the future. AFN69 APRIL 06 www.airforce.mil.nz
OUR MISSION: To carry out military air operations to advance New Zealand’s security interests, with professionalism, integrity and teamwork. OUR VISION: We will be an Air Force that is the best in all we do. He Tauarangi matou ko te pai rawa atu i to matou mahi katoa. The official journal and forum of the Royal New Zealand Air Force established for the information, education and enjoyment of its personnel and other people interested in RNZAF and associated matters. Published by: NZDF Public Relations Unit NZDF HQ Wellington New Zealand Telephone: (04) 496 0289 Fax:(04) 496 0290 Editorial authority: Ian Brunton Editorial contributions and letters to the editor are welcome. All contributions may be sent direct to Air Force News and do not need to be forwarded through normal command chains. Letters are to be signed with the writer’s name, rank and unit although, unless requested otherwise, only the rank and geographical location of the writer will be published. The editorial staff reserves the right to abridge letters. Anonymous, offensive or abusive letters will not be published. Opinions expressed in Air Force News are not necessarily those of the RNZAF or NZDF. Nothing in NEWS should be taken as overriding any Defence regulations. Readers should refer to the relevant Service publication before acting on any information given in this periodical. No item is to be reproduced, in part or whole, without the specific permission of the editor. GOLD BRAID: In all the gold braided finery of their high office the Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal John Hamilton and Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson at one of the highlights of their tenure – the return of the Unknown Warrior aboard a RNZAF C-130 Hercules at Wellington airport in November 2004. Both chiefs retire from office on 30 April. www.airforce.mil.nz APRIL 2006, ISSUE 69 Editor: Grant Carr grant.carr@nzdf.mil.nz Design and Layout: Elisha Bunn elisha.bunn@nzdf.mil.nz Proofreader: Katrina Randerson Printed by: Keeling and Mundy Limited PO Box 61 Palmerston North AFN69, APRIL 06 CDF AIRMSHL Bruce Ferguson walking with Simon Power, age 16yrs, and John Nichol age 16yrs. 8 10 12 16 18 20 21 22 24 CAROLING WILLIAMS WN 04-0229-72 FEATURES No. 6 SQUADRON Re-formation Parade 40th ANNIVERSARY Milestone Year for No. 5 Squadron ARMED AND READY Bombing Week THE NZ WAY Command and Staff College KOSOVO Military Liaison CONVENIENT AND COMPETITIVE AFCC in the Market ADAPTING TO CHANGE SQNLDR Chambers in Timor Leste A GREEK TRAGEDY Air Force Heroes Remembered CENTRAL BAND Whipping up a Storm on Tour V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E : W W W . A I R F O R C E . M I L . N Z AIR FORCE S W E R O Y A L N E W Z E A L A N D A I R F O R C N E A P R 0 6 BOMBING WEEK NO. 6 SQUADRON MARCHES ON CAF SIGN OFF 26 28 29 30 31 32 35 36 38 26 39 DRAGON BOATING A ‘Mixed’ Season PTI: AN INTRODUCTION Looking after your Health and Fitness 50 MILE CHALLENGE Cadets Walk the Walk GREAT LAKE RUN Taupo Fun Run RAFT RACE Ohakea goes International A FEAST OF CRICKET Interbase and Interservice Cricket RELAY FOR LIFE Supporting the Cancer Society HERO’S FAMILY GET VC VC Handed Over OBITUARY ‘Hawkeye’ Wells A special livery paint job on the Orion Tail. REGULARS SPORTS Dragon Boats, Running, Cricket, Raft Race MUSEUM Generous Bequest OH 06-0106-10 AC RACHAEL MAIN AK 06-0087-08 3
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BOMBING WEEK - Royal New Zealand Air Force

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