THE ARMY’S NEWEST OFFICERS

Officer Cadet Jarrod Wilson was presented with the Sword of Honour by the Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short when the Army’s newest officers graduated in front of family and friends in December 2022.

The Sword of Honour is awarded to the Officer Cadet who best displays the qualities of leadership, initiative, integrity, motivation, academic ability and physical fitness, and who is assessed as having the greatest potential as an Army Officer.

Other awards:

The Australian Chief of Army’s Prize for Tactics:

OCDT Matthew Foss

This is awarded to the Officer Cadet gaining the highest aggregate marks in tactics.

The Lieutenant Colonel John Masters ONZM, MC, Peers Award:

OCDT Wilson

This is awarded to the course member within the NZCC who is assessed by their peers as being the student who consistently demonstrated the core qualities of the NZDF and best displayed comradeship as a valued peer on the NZCC towards their fellow students.

Commander Training and Doctrine Command (New Zealand) Prize:

OCDT Toyah Churton

This is awarded to the Officer Cadet gaining the highest aggregate marks in Education and Military Studies.

Sergeant Major of the Army’s Prize:

OCDT Chancellor Alatimu

This is awarded to the Officer Cadet for best performance across all aspects of field training.

The Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell, DSD, Memorial Leadership Award:

OCDT Foss

This is awarded to the Officer Cadet who has best exhibited the attributes of leadership.

The Sultan of Brunei’s Prize:

OCDT George Tonga

This is awarded to the best Mutual Assistance Programme Officer Cadet.

Governor General’s Medal:

OCDT Foss

This is awarded to the Officer Cadet gaining the highest aggregate marks in all subjects.

1. While covering some training up in the mountains, I took this shot as we pulled away from the team. The whole day I was blown away by the scale of the landscape, and I think my awe is reflected in the tiny people scaling the mountain.

2. While working, we are sometimes challenged to work around elements of the job that can’t be shown in images. On this day, our reservist medical team was doing a ‘hospital takeover’ caring for real patients and working together as an NZDF team. The challenge here was to capture our talented nurses and doctors at work, while respecting the patient’s privacy, while not making it look too obvious that we were hiding someone.

3. When on the job, my favourite task is telling the action-packed story in a single photo. This image is of officer cadets in the middle of clearing a building and I was in the right place at the right time to catch the moment right before they stormed upstairs.