CAREER AND STUDY IN ONE BUSINESS HELPS NAVAL ASPIRATIONS

writer PETER WHITE photographer LIEUTENANT NATHAN ATKINSON

“I definitely love the travel being in the Royal New Zealand Navy and also forming friendships. It is really cool to go overseas with people you didn’t know and when you come back, you are like best friends. I love that,” says ASHLEY UJDUR. “So far I have seen Hawaii, Canada, Australia, Fiji and Tonga.”

Ashley (22) joined the Royal New Zealand Navy four-and-a-half years ago as a Maritime Logistics Officer. She completed five months of basic training, followed by an eight-week course that was specifically designed for maritime logistics.

As a Maritime Logistics Officer, she is in charge of the financial planning and budget for a naval ship. “Ships will go out on their deployment and the Maritime Logistics Officer handles the budget side of it, the budget forecasting, and we also do planning for all the food and the equipment that we need when we go out to sea.”

Ashley’s fulltime role is on hold as she is currently studying at Massey University in Albany under the Midshipman Scholarship Scheme run by the Navy. “Most people on the scholarship scheme apply for it before they join the Navy but I applied for it once I had already joined. What it means is I can get

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paid my fulltime salary and get all my university fees paid for while I am studying.”

Ashley is working towards a Bachelor of Business majoring in Management, which she says fits nicely with her career aspirations.

“You have to convince the Navy that the degree will be beneficial for your career. Management is a big part of maritime logistics and the logistics and finance side I learn in this degree will help my career.”

Growing up in Northland, Ashley attended Kaitaia College. In Year 13, she studied Economics, Statistics, PE, Biology and Classical Studies.

“If I knew then where I would end up, I would be stoked. It has been better than I could have expected. It has been great.”

She encourages school leavers who don’t know what career path to go down to join the Navy.

■ ASHLEY UJDUR IS A MARITIME LOGISTICS OFFICER IN THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY, HAVING JOINED OVER FOUR YEARS AGO

■ SHE IS CURRENTLY STUDYING TOWARD A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS MAJORING IN MANAGEMENT AT MASSEY UNIVERSITY UNDER THE MIDSHIPMAN SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME RUN BY THE NAVY

■ ASHLEY’S ROLE AS A MARITIME LOGISTICS OFFICER MEANS SHE IS IN CHARGE OF THE FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGET FOR A NAVAL SHIP

ASHLEY UJDUR

“From the moment you join the Navy, you are getting paid. That is one of the reasons I joined because I wanted to go to university but I didn’t know what I wanted to do after that.

“I thought I would join the Navy and see where that takes me.

“Now, I get to go to uni but I don’t have a student loan like I thought I was going to.”

Being good with people is fundamental to succeeding in the Navy and Ashley says in her job you have to be a people person.

“We are constantly the middleman between people so good communication skills are important, as well as being determined.

“In the Navy, you have to be pretty flexible because when you are posted to a ship plans change all the time, just due to the nature of the job where you can be called out to disaster relief.”