Aug-Sep 2013, Issue 174 - Royal New Zealand Navy

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Above left: Cheif of Navy RA Jack Steer congratulates LT CDR Kinghamon receiving her NZ Armed Forces Award.Above: ORO Kingham (second from left, back row) at conclusion of herARO course in 1983.Above right: Jan Kingham in 1982.I also pause for a moment’s reflection, remembering when thatsame cup was presented to me in 1982. I think of that threeand-a-bitdecades, and of the memories; the people, the goodand the not-so-good times, the lessons in life along the way. Aquestion we often hear ‘old salts’ ask each other is “would youjoin up again?” I can answer this in a heart-beat: “Absolutely!”Back to that diary… briefly. Following completion of Basic BranchTraining as an Ordinary Radio Operator (ORO(W)) I was postedto Waiouru. Now I know many of you will be saying “that was lifeas a Communicator” and sure, in hindsight, this was inevitable.But I didn’t know this at the time and of course there were plentyof ‘willingly negative big-mouths’ telling us how dreadful it wasgoing to be. There is no denying Waiouru (well, HMNZS IRIRANGIto be more accurate) is isolated, the weather is hardly tropicaland the watchkeeping routines are hard work. But what I foundwas an awesome little Naval community surrounded by a greatlocal community. Yes, the training was tough, and the 15-hournight watches was a shock to the body that I hadn’t experiencedbefore, and wouldn’t again until parenthood. But it was all made somuch better by the people I was working with, and it wasn’t longbefore my ‘dreaded posting to Waiouru’ turned out to be exciting,challenging, and lots of fun.Here is lesson number one; don’t take everything those ‘willinglynegative big-mouths’ say as the gospel truth. Seek advice, searchfor information, and experience things for yourself. Be yourown person, make up your own mind, and take responsibilityfor yourself, in the Navy and in life. Over the following years Iprogressed through the ranks, posting back and forth betweenAuckland and Waiouru. At about the same time things in the Navywere changing for women, with women first posting to sea in 1986,followed by permanent ‘core crew’ employment for women at seain 1989. During this time I had to choose to either remain postedashore for the remainder of my career or choose a sea-going careerwhich would mean postings to sea. I remember giving this a lot ofthought; I knew I wanted to have a family, but I also knew a postingto sea would present so many exciting opportunities.My final decision was to remain posted ashore, but at the timeI was unsure if I had made the right choice. I continued with myshore-based career—watchkeeping and supporting our ships atsea—and progressing the necessary courses for promotion. I madeno secret that my career was very important to me; it was then,and it still is today. Here’s where lesson number one came intoplay again; I was at a major decision point so I sought informationand advice. I gave it a great deal of thought, and then made thedecision and most importantly, I committed myself to it. Whilemy career was important, so too was a family. With my husbandMurray, also Navy and our intentions to start a family, I (well, we…)needed a plan. It became clear very quickly that we would needto compromise and ‘balance’ our two priorities; hence our ‘plan’.I was fortunate to be given the opportunity of taking maternityleave for each child, however I did also know that on returning towork the ‘juggling act’ would start— taking care of two preschoolchildren and trying to provide them with ‘mum time’ whilst at thesame time continuing with my own watchkeeping obligations.With Murray also a watch keeping Communicator; it wasn’t easy.We were ships passing in the night. We were both conductinghandovers at work and we would also be conducting a handoverwith the children at home. This is where ‘compromise and balance’came into play. We were purposely placed in opposite watches inorder to meet our share of watch keeping obligations and also tomeet our family’s needs. Although very tiring, this worked wellfor us because we made it work. I hasten to add, the Navy dideverything to accommodate the most workable plan for us, but wedidn’t seek, nor were we given, any special privileges or favours.12 OUR PEOPLE
Above top: LT CDR Kingham presenting the Duchess Cup to OCH IosefatuSiulai during pre-graduation prizegiving for Basic Common Training13/02. LT CDR Kingham received the same prize during her initial training.Above: ORO(W) Jan Kingham receiving the same cup from CO HMNZSTAMAKI CAPT Somerford Teagle (later Chief of Naval Staff) afterfinishing her basic training in 1982.We continued to do our share. Throughout my career and as amum, a wife and a female ‘non-sea goer’ I have forfeited manyopportunities to post or travel overseas. I had to compromise.Yes this was my choice and the Navy respected this. But I wasstill able to have a career and progress through the ranks; I coulddo my best at work and also with my family. Lesson number two:I knew what I wanted and I was willing to compromise and beflexible in order to achieve it. I needed a wee bit of the samecompromise and flexibility back from the Navy, which I asked forand discussed and negotiated and ultimately I received. This isa bit like love. You need to give a bit to get a bit. I finally made itto the rank of Warrant Officer (WO) and Officer-In-Charge of theNaval Communications Station at HMNZS PHILOMEL—a postingI had always aspired to but never dreamt I would attain. To sayit was a sense of achievement is an understatement. Although achallenging and satisfying post, I knew my career options in theranks and as a WO were limited. I had always aspired to becomingan Officer in the Navy one day, even back when I was a LeadingHand. I thought this time would be the perfect opportunity. Ihad reached the pinnacle of my career in the ranks, and it wasright from a family life perspective, so I sought advice and madethe decision to ‘go for it’. I commissioned in 2003 and am now aLieutenant Commander overseeing the training of our newestrecruits. I look back to when I joined and my experiences overthose years, and I see this has come full circle. I am proud of myachievements; I am proud of my family, and I am proud that bothare equally successful. I recently attended the NZDF Women’sForum and had the privilege of meeting some truly inspirationalwomen who have made their career work. Without exception,they have all made sacrifices along the way, but they remainfocused, committed and motivated. Of the many common themesamongst them all, the one that I believe the most significant isthat communication is vital—within their career environment, aswell as with their family. It was also a timely reminder that NewZealand was the first nation in the world to let women vote, backin 1893. How things have changed since then and how they havecontinued to change, even in my career so far.Throughout my career I have met many people and many of themremain firm friends today. When I look back now and reflect…was training different back then? Yes of course it was. Firstly,women didn’t train with the men. We had separate PT sessions,all male instructors, totally separate accommodation (not even inthe same building), restricted branches where women were noteligible to serve, women couldn’t serve at sea. The list went on.Things have certainly changed over the years, and today I wouldsuggest that there is nothing in the Navy that isn’t available towomen. The Navy is a great organisation, and I am privileged towork alongside some awesome people doing amazing things. It istrue that not every day is a bed of roses or—for you slightly oldersalts—all ‘rum issues and runs-ashore’. There have certainly been afew tears along the way, but it has been worth it. A long, successfuland rewarding career awaits us all, male or female, if you setyour goals, work hard and your heart is in it. To be successful, beyourself, be flexible, you may need to compromise a little alongthe way, take opportunities and the occasional well thought-outrisk, and in return the Navy will do its best to ‘partner you’ in all ofthese things.Thank you for coming on this brief journey with me. I trust thatsomething I have written may be relevant to your own career,family or life. Even better; something relevant to all three! For me?Well RTO is a fantastic post, however there is always somethingelse around the corner. All the best!OUR PEOPLE13
Page 1 and 2: odayissue 174 August / September 20
Page 3 and 4: Chief of Navy Rear Admiral J.R.Stee
Page 5 and 6: Above left: Nic signals a Seasprite
Page 7 and 8: Working safely on land and in the w
Page 9 and 10: Opposite page top: HMNZS WELLINGTON
Page 11: A Navy life for meFrom Ordinary Rad
Page 15 and 16: Opposite page left: CDR Melissa Ros
Page 17 and 18: at sea in HMNZS TE MANARecently I h
Page 19 and 20: Warrant Officer ofthe Navy Lennie S
Page 21 and 22: 0509Islands during Operation PUKUAR
Page 23 and 24: Navy Bandrecords theme forNZ Olympi
Page 25 and 26: Postcard fromSinai, EgyptAbove top:
Page 27 and 28: fleet progressA view from the proje
Page 29 and 30: fleet progressAbove: Beach volleyba
Page 31 and 32: fleet progressTAUPOHMNZS taupocross
Page 33: fleet progress0203050607081. Ship
Page 36 and 37: Above: LPTI Gomez after the courseL
Page 38 and 39: HMNZS TOROA 85th Year Reunion25, 26

Aug-Sep 2013, Issue 174 - Royal New Zealand Navy

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