Remembering PTE Manning

LEST WE FORGET – PTE LEONARD MANNING

The sacrifice of Private Leonard Manning who was killed in action on Foho Debalulik in Timor Leste as the country fought for its freedom was acknowledged at three memorial services last month.

PTE Manning was killed in action on 24 July 2000.

Six other New Zealanders who also died in Timor Leste as that country fought for its independence were also acknowledged at the memorial services.

In Cova Lima the CDF General Lere Anan Timor, former Prime Minister Dr Rui Araujo, Brigadier General Maunana, Brigadier General Sabica, Colonel Coliati, Ambassador NZ, Ambassador Korea, Defence Attaché Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Portugal, Brazil, F-FDTL, PNTL, Timorese local leaders, chaplains, local communities, and school children honoured PTE Manning’s name and his sacrifice for Timor Leste’s freedom.

The Timorese Minister of Defence Filomeno Da Paixao de Jesus, and other dignitaries attended the service in Dili.

Lieutenant Colonel Martin Dransfield who was PTE Manning’s Commanding Officer at the time of his death addressed those gathered for the service and read a short message from PTE Manning’s parents, Charlie and Linda. The New Zealand Ambassador, Phil Hewitt, also read a message from Minister Ron Mark. LTCOL Dransfield is the Strategic Advisor to Falintil-Forças de Defesa de Timor-Leste

“Like our sons who paid the ultimate sacrifice on Timor’s path to achieving independence, we continue to support the people and the development of Timor Leste,” said LTCOL Dransfield.

“To the international community, thanks to all of you for paying your respects to our fallen. We all served together in the peacekeeping missions in Timor Leste, and that unity and common sense of purpose to support Timor Leste continues today.

“Len, thank you for your sacrifice, your legacy lives on. Onward.

“Charlie, Linda, Laura, Roger, Aimee, and Daniel thank you for your beautiful message and your incredible support to the Timorese people.”

Photos: Lieutenant Colonel Martin Dransfield at ceremonies in Timor Leste held to honour the memory of PTE Manning.

A message from PTE Manning’s parents, Charlie and Linda Manning:

Last year in Auckland, New Zealand, we met a young Timorese man from the Cova Lima district who was with other students gathered to celebrate the independence of Timor Leste. We were invited to that celebration and met a number of students, all of them wonderful young people.

Among them was Agustinho. This turned out to be a very special meeting for us and also for him when he realised that we were Leonard’s parents. This was a very poignant moment as he told us how he vividly remembered the 24 th July, 2000 and how frightened he had been when he heard what had happened to one of the Kiwi soldiers who was there to protect them.

Agustinho, told us that since that time he had kept a treasured photograph of this Kiwi soldier and regarded him as a hero and someone very significant in his life. Being just a small boy at that time, he had made himself known to the NZ soldiers, because of his love for learning to speak English. He told us how the soldiers sometimes asked him to help with language interpretation. We were delighted to meet Agustinho and shared with him that Leonard also had a love for languages and sometimes had gone with the interpreters to try to improve his Tetum.

Maybe the two of them had even met one day and exchanged a smile and a greeting, the soldier who loved children and the boy now grown who still treasures that photograph.

Leonard was very pleased to be one of many New Zealand soldiers selected to deploy to your country and he was honoured to help bring the independence that your people had fought so long and hard for. During the weeks that he was here he noticed the small children of Timor walking long distances to school. He was full of admiration for the resilience and strength that he saw in these little children, who are now adults, making their own way in the world. He would be so proud of all that you have achieved and he would encourage you to make the most of every opportunity that you have.

To the people of Timor Leste – we thank you for the way you always remember and honour Leonard and all of the others, including your own many heroes who gave so much over the years so you could be free and independent. Timor Leste holds a special place in our hearts. God bless and keep you in His care always.

BURNHAM MILITARY CAMP A BIG STEP CLOSER TO CLEANER HEATING

Burnham Military Camp has received a major boost to plans to move to a greener heating and cooling system.

The Government, as part of its $200 million clean-powered public service fund, has announced it will contribute $3.84m towards the new system. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) will contribute $5.76m.

The current coal-fired boiler was introduced in 1970. However, as well as being a source of greenhouse gasses, it is also labour-intensive and needs to shut down for periods of maintenance.

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority estimates replacing the boiler with a distributed electric system, which will power heat pumps, will reduce the Burnham Energy Centre’s greenhouse gas emissions by 93 per cent and NZDF’s overall emissions by about 4860 tonnes a year. Officer Commanding, Southern Region Support Centre Major Grant Payton, says the new system will make a huge difference to the camp.

“It is great that Burnham Camp is now able to have a modern and efficient heating system which is environmentally friendly.”

Adrian Matthews, Defence Estate and Infrastructure Estate Delivery Manager for the Southern Region, says the decision to fund the Burnham boiler replacement is warmly welcomed.

“This comes on the back of many years of planning and effort to find the best all-round alternative and the combined efforts of the Defence Estate and Infrastructure team have yielded the additional funding required to progress this project.” The new distributed electric solution will provide sustainable heating and cooling to much of the camp, but will require significant reinforcement of the electrical network to meet the increased demand.

Design work is currently underway for upgrades that will see an improvement in the reliability and availability of power across the camp. Construction on the first electrical upgrades is expected to begin in December, with the final heating systems coming online in late 2021.

The best heating systems for each building are yet to be determined.

Burnham was established as a military camp in 1923 and expanded during World War II. At the time it was envisaged it would only last for up to 25 years.

There are plans to modernise the camp, which include improving power and water networks, new barracks and workshops, a health and rehabilitation centre as well as new training and conference centres.

It is part of the Government’s $2.1 billion indicative funding to 2030 to continue the regeneration of the Defence estate, to ensure it is fit for purpose and meets the Government’s sustainability goals.

Help us recognise excellence in health and safety

Nominations for the 2020 NZDF Safety Awards are now open.

The awards are open to any person or unit in the NZDF that has gone above and beyond the call of duty, leading by example in demonstrating and promoting excellence in health, safety and wellbeing, regardless of rank, status (civilian, military or contractor), or whether health and safety is part of their role or not.

You can find out more about the categories on the Directorate of Safety’s intranet page (ILP / HQNZDF / Directorate of Safety) or simply submit your nomination and the organisers will determine the best match. Most of the activity described needs to have taken place over the past 12 months or so.

Who can nominate?

Any member of the NZDF can nominate.

How long should a nomination be?

Depends on the level of detail, but a good guideline is not more than one A4 page (excluding any endorsement or support statements).

Keen to know more? Have any questions?

For more details on categories, inspiration from past winners, timeline and format, check out the Directorate of Safety’s intranet page, or email your query to NZDFSafety@nzdf.mil.nz. Nominations close on Monday 21 September.

BODYBUILDING COMPETITION

The New Zealand Defence Force in association with ICN New Zealand Presents:

The Armed Forces and Emergency Services Bodybuilding and Fitness Competition 2021. For details and registration of interest please email: BBComp@nzdf.mil.nz. In support of Te Kiwi Maia – The Courageous Kiwi www.tekiwimaia.co.nz

NON PUBLIC FUNDS PERSONAL LOANS

Loan Scheme Benefits

An Army NPF Personal Loan Scheme has been available to Army personnel since 1993.

Its main aim is to provide a competitive source of finance to soldiers at favourable loan terms.

Army NPF Personal Loans can be used for a variety of purposes such as refinancing credit card debt, holidays, vehicle purchase, vet bills, home improvements and more.

Criteria

You must be a Regular Force or permanent full-time civilian staff member of the NZ Army. • You need to have completed 18 months employment with the Army. • If releasing within the next 3 years your loan term must not exceed your release date. • Your total fixed fortnightly commitments, including your loan payments, must be within 30% of your gross income. • You must be able to provide security for a loan if required. If you are applying to borrow $10,000 and above you must provide security.

Loan Features

Maximum loan amount $15,000. Loan terms between 6 months and 3 years. Competitive interest rates. Repayments are made by direct debit from your nominated bank account. The interest rate is fixed for the term of the loan so your repayments remain the same. The maximum loan establishment fee is $55. Security may be required for loans over $7,000. For loans of $10,000 or over security is mandatory. The only acceptable security is a motor vehicle that is fully insured and is of equivalent or greater value to the loan value being sought. The Army NPF offers different interest rates for Secured and Unsecured loans. The current NPF interest rates are set below the average market rate for personal loans at: • 9.4% secured loan • 11.4% unsecured loan

Applications

Application forms and more detailed information on the process are available from the Army Personal loan site which is under quick links on the Command Post intranet site.

You can also either call 0800 111823 (option 2) or DTelN 347 8339 (Trentham) or email us at army.npf@nzdf.mil.nz.

What happens to the interest charged on the loans?

All the interest charged on NPF loans is returned to soldiers as interest payments to NPF member accounts. These accounts include your sports clubs, Messes and UPFs so the full benefits of the scheme are returned to you, the soldiers of the NZ Army.

Army Non Public Funds

Army General Staff Messines Defence Centre Trentham

Phone: DTelN: Email: 0800 111823 (option 2) 347 8339 army.npf@nzdf.mil.nz

Exercise Recent Release was a 1 st Command Support Regiment activity designed to test junior leaders from 2 nd Signal Squadron. There will be full coverage of the exercise in the September issue of Army News.

CALLING ALL ALPINE ENTHUSIASTS!

Expressions of interest are sought for the reintroduction of the Alpine discipline as an Army sport. If you are a keen skier or snowboarder that would be interested in participating in a regional snow sports event in the future we want to hear from you. We are particularly interested in finding regional representation. For more information send an EOI to LT AJ Langford; adrienne.langford@nzdf.mil.nz

STUDY INTO LOWER LIMB INJURIES COMPLETE

A Joint Support Group Performance Health Officer, Major Jacques Rousseau has recently completed his PhD which was funded by NZDF. MAJ Rousseau’s thesis was on lower limb injuries within the NZDF and his research and findings have been accepted as key research material across our international military counterparts.

MAJ Rousseau’s work in this area has brought about the use of a garrison shoe for use by military personnel across the New Zealand Defence Force, a move that has shown reductions in lower limb injuries across all three Services.

MAJ Rousseau says he started his research after noticing the mobility of the NZDF and its ability to deploy personnel at short notice was compromised by the high number of musculoskeletal injuries, particularly to the lower limbs. “Research indicated footwear may be the issue. The aim of the research was to examine the extent of the problem, which injuries and anatomical structures were most affected, the causes, and finally, the effects of a possible remedial intervention.” MAJ Rousseau examined 11 years’ worth of NZDF injury records. He analysed the most affected joint(s), injury type and activities (sporting or military). “The ankle joint appeared most vulnerable to injury, particularly during sporting or military activities involving running. “Traumatic ankle sprains and strains were the most prolific injuries and this occurred when not wearing the military boot. This information was used to determine the subsequent investigations of the biomechanical and neurological causes underlying habitual boot-wear that might give rise to these injuries.”