NZ Army Lance Corporal Tyrone Stewart, left, and United States Air Force Senior Airman John Kiefer on Ex Mobility Astra at RNZAF Base Woodbourne. Photo / NZ Defence Force
NZ Army Lance Corporal Tyrone Stewart, left, and United States Air Force Senior Airman John Kiefer on Ex Mobility Astra at RNZAF Base Woodbourne. Photo / NZ Defence Force
A Gisborne soldier played a core role in a recent multinational army exercise.
New Zealand Army Lance Corporal Tyrone Stewart enjoyed working alongside the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Exercise Mobility Astra at RNZAF Base Woodbourne in Marlborough.
The exercise involved C-130JHercules aircraft from the RNZAF, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the US forces, “and focused on low-level flying, aerial delivery for combat sustainment and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief”, the NZDF said.
Stewart attended Te Karaka Area School, near Gisborne, joining the Army as a gunner in 2016, before changing to a movement operator in 2021.
Movement operators specialise in the strategic logistics of moving personnel, vehicles and equipment by road, sea or air. They are crucial for aerial delivery, managing container loading and executing terminal operations to support military operations.
“I enjoyed being a gunner. Then two of my friends talked about the qualifications I could receive, the experience and the camaraderie within the [Movement] unit,” Stewart said.
Since changing trades, Stewart had obtained various vehicle licences, port operations qualifications, and airfield and movement control qualifications.
During Mobility Astra, he was part of the team responsible for preparing platforms for military aerial delivery.
With a USAF rigger from 374th Airlift Wing fully embedded into the New Zealand Army’s 5th Movements Company team throughout the exercise, Stewart noted there had been few challenges for the nations to successfully work alongside each other.
“We follow the same procedures with just a few minor tweaks, so we work with a similar workflow.”
One of the first loads the team rigged was deployed from the rear of a USAF C-130J.
“It’s the first time we’d done that specific load type and it’s also the first time some of our US counterparts have seen the rigging done this way. To have it successfully land on the drop zone complete shows our procedures work and can be integrated easily with partner nations.”
He was second in charge of one of the 5th Movements Company’s rigging crews, receiving the information from the crew commander and preparing the team to rig the load.
“The challenge is remembering which calculations to do, for which platforms, as they need to be exact.”
NZDF Lance Corporal Tyrone Stewart, from Gisborne, during the recent Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Exercise Mobility Astra based at Woodbourne in the South Island. Photo / NZDF
Embedded USAF rigger, Senior Airman John Kiefer, said sharing the same instructional manual made the process feel easier to merge in with the New Zealanders.
“I’ve spent time observing how the New Zealand team works, and following the same procedures has made it easy to adapt and become one team.”
Stewart said the strategic briefs delivered before the exercise made a big impact on the ground for them.
“We’re getting our loads out on time and essentially ahead of the game, which is where we need to be,” he said.
