From Army to Navy

Brendon Watts says he enjoyed the Army, but “saw the light” when he did joint electrical technician training with Navy personnel.

Today, Able Electronics Technician Watts is still loving his trade, but now as a Navy sailor, posted to HMNZS CANTERBURY.

“I joined the Army in 2016, straight out of Western Heights College in Rotorua,” he says. “I wanted to be in the police force originally, and I talked to an Armed Offenders officer, to get some idea of direction. He told me, join the military – that’s what he had done.” He spent four years in the Army, with two of those working towards his trade qualification alongside Electronic Technicians from the Navy. “And that’s when I saw the light. These guys I was on the course with, they were talking to me about where they had been, what they were doing, and where they were going. I loved the Army, and I loved being in the workshops, but the only place you got sent to was Waiouru. These guys had already been to South East Asia. It just grabbed me. I wanted to do that, to be able to travel more.”

It wasn’t too big a change to switch services, he says. “My command chain was really good putting a service change proposal together, and they helped me as much as they could. It was all pretty smooth.” What helped was they saw he was keen and had a plan. “I had that drive, that this was what I wanted to do. I made a plan, a schedule, and they saw that.” He had to retrain in the Navy elements of his job, and then do the Damage Control course and Seamanship courses. “And it’s just being here now, on base and on ship, where you pick up on certain things that the Navy do. Even ‘jack-speak’ (Navy slang).” He’s been in HMNZS CANTERBURY since June, just after the first COVID-19 lockdown. “I’m really enjoying it. The camaraderie is pretty good, and there’s three hot meals and a shower.”

He says NZDF personnel are supported in decision-making like this. “It’s really good to have had command back my decision. Now I’m happy to get through the ranks, and get some time under my belt.”

Plenty of options ahead

Vance Bell is a man who likes to weigh up his options for qualifications and career. He’s found those choices within the Royal New Zealand Navy.

Leading Marine Technician (Electrical) Bell, from Peka Peka on the Kapiti Coast, joined the Navy in 2014, not long after finishing at Paraparaumu College. “For me, it was a mix of really enjoying being on the ocean when I was young and having a big sense of adventure. My dad was in the Air Force and the Defence Force has always been in my view.” He says he got his university acceptance and could have gone that route. “But I decided, it was time for adventure. I can do university later. I’m only 24, there’s plenty of possibilities.” In fact, a year into the Navy, he seriously contemplated the option of commissioning as an officer and going to university. “But I chose not to for now. Staying on as a Marine Technician, you qualify as an electrician after a few years. I thought, if I get qualified, I will own my own business one day, and be in the trade for myself.” LMT(L) Bell is posted to HMNZS CANTERBURY and is now working towards his Engineering Officer of the Watch qualifications. He’s juggling the house market at the moment, looking to buy a house with his partner. He’s a surf lifesaver and finds time for endurance events, training and running in the Coast to Coast one-day race last year, completing it in 15 hours and 30 minutes. He’s also done the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker with friends. A highlight of his career was assisting in Kaikoura from CANTERBURY following the earthquake in November 2016. “That was really rewarding, being with my best mates, and helping people.” He really enjoys ship life, he says. “For me, it’s the people. If I didn’t have the people around me every single day, I wouldn’t be here. I like being part of a great team. When the work gets hard, everyone pulls together, and makes fond memories of it. The engineers are a really close bunch. And there’s so many different people on board, from so many walks of life, and you respect each other and learn to live together.”

Seamanship rounds out specialisations

Two years ago, Aucklander Katie de Jong had completed a perfectly enjoyable science degree and was up against that age-old dilemma: where to from here?

“I was struggling with what I wanted,” she says. “I loved what I was studying, but I was struggling to find a job that took my interest. I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk.” She found herself some laboratory work while casting her net around, and a friend made a suggestion. “She had studied at Auckland University Technology, and she had seen the Navy around.” Navy officers undertake scholarship programmes at Auckland and Canterbury, and are in uniform as they do it. “It didn’t take much to convince me. Next day I was online, looking, and then in the recruiter’s office. I grew up around the ocean. My grandfather served on a minesweeper during the war, HMNZS GALE, and he came back with lots of stories.”

She choose hydrography as her trade and joined the Navy at the start of 2019. “I studied earth sciences at university and it sounded like a good fit.” Navy hydrographic surveyors, or ‘droggies’ in Navy slang, learn their trade in HMNZS MATATAUA, the diving and hydrographic unit based at Devonport Naval Base. Their job is to create accurate seabed and coastline charts for navigational and military purposes. They help search for mines, underwater explosives, missing persons and sunken vessels, using detection and sonar devices such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. They are often the advance party of a mission, safety-proofing the approach to a beach or harbour.

Today, Able Hydrographics Systems Operator de Jong, 24, is posted to HMNZS CANTERBURY, and getting stuck into her seamanship skills rather than her specialisations. “There are ups and downs in any job, but I’m enjoying the ups way more than any other job I have had. People are going to think I’m nuts, but I really enjoyed being in the Sub-Antarctic Islands. They are not the most pretty of places, but you join the military, you go to some wild places.” In CANTERBURY, she works with the Seaman Combat Specialists, learning seamanship and boat handling. “That’s pretty cool. I work part of both ship’s watches, working on the bridge. Being in CANTERBURY, there’s a lot more exposure to the Navy fleet. You work with different people. It’s always been a welcoming crew, and good people to work with.”

Youth Development Trade in full swing

By Charlene Williamson

Senior Communications Adviser

The establishment of the Youth Development Specialist (YDS) Trade has been a focus for Defence Reserves, Youth and Sport in 2020.

The YDS Trade sees previous trades of Youth Development Instructor and Cadet Force Advisors combined to create an overarching trade for Youth Development. The YDS trade directly contributes to the New Zealand Cadet Forces, Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) programme, Youth Life Skills (Service Academies) and community support programmes such as Blue Light. Before joining YDU, Leading Youth Development Specialist Melissa Gilmartin-Kara was an Able Steward on board HMNZS TE MANA.

She was interested in working alongside like-minded people who were passionate about helping the youth of New Zealand, as well as growing her own leadership skills. “It is not a job that everyone can do. I have seen past trainees gain confidence and become better people because of the support and help they received through our LSV courses. “Having the ability to help, guide and give advice to our youth who are in tough situations is the best part of being a YDS. Although we can’t help all trainees that attend the course, the ones who take on board our advice and show appreciation, to us, is the reward,” says LYDS Gilmartin-Kara. LYDS Gilmartin-Kara says those that work in the YDS trade aren’t just instructors.

“We are not only teaching them, but we are constantly learning new approaches or skills through our trainees who educate us as well.”

The Youth Development Units (North, Central and South) and Cadet Forces combined deliver a wide range of courses across the country to more than 6,000 youth per year.

“Having the ability to help, guide and give advice to our youth who are in tough situations is the best part of being a YDS.”