Collapsed soldier was weeks from marrying

Dan Thompson.

An officer who served alongside a soldier who collapsed while running has described his comrade's death as "the cruellest timing imaginable" - coming just weeks before his wedding.

A funeral is being held today at Burnham Military Camp for Captain Dan Thompson, 29, who died of a suspected heart attack while visiting Christchurch on Saturday. He was to marry fiancee Anna Jack next month.

Friend and fellow officer Captain Thomas McEntyre, 30, said Captain Thompson - whose family live at Muriwai - was in Christchurch to see Ms Jack and check on the house the couple were having built.

"It's hard. That's just terrible ... the cruellest timing imaginable."

He said the close-knit army family had suffered a huge blow with the loss of the popular young officer - hitting a group who had lost friends in deployments to Afghanistan.

"He's not the first mate we've lost in the last couple of years."

Those who had gathered were focused on supporting Cap-tain Thompson's family.

"It's like having all your brothers here at the moment. That's what Dan was to us."

Captain McEntyre joined up at the same time as Captain Thompson, with the two going through Defence Force training to become officers in 2006.

They became lieutenants at the same time before being posted to Timor Leste as rifle platoon commanders from 2007 and 2008.

"He was living his dream. It all meant a lot to us to be doing that sort of thing. But Dan, his commitment was a level higher than everyone else. We all knew, being his best mates, it meant an awful lot to him to be representing his country and his family and the army overseas doing good with his soldiers."

On his return, Captain Thompson commanded a recon platoon while Captain McEntyre led a fire support team, before going to Afghanistan in 2012 - the tour which cost New Zealand five soldiers.

"It was a very tough tour. He was the right guy to be there at the time," said Captain McEntyre. "He was all about 'keep your eyes on the job, keep your mind on the job, prepare, think of others, do what's expected and then look for more work to relieve the pressure'. Someone of his work ethic was essential."

At the time he died, Captain Thompson had served at Combat School training the next generation of platoon leaders.

"The opinion of his mates is that Dan was a cut above. He was a natural at his job. He was born to do it."

Captain Thompson's commanding officer, Major Mark Schmid, chief instructor at the army training school, said the loss of a popular officer known for working harder than most had "devastated" service personnel.

He said Captain Thompson "did an amazing job" co-ordinating aircraft and group troops in Afghanistan during the Battle of Baghak in August, 2012, in which two soldiers were killed and others were wounded.

"It was Dan's job to piece that together and make sense of it and then try and help those guys understand the bigger picture."

He said Captain Thompson was expected to have commanded a company in the next 18 months with future senior postings abroad.

"Dan had the potential to go as high as he desired in the military."