Senior army officer who slept with subordinate on deployment gives evidence

Lieutenant Colonel Justin Putze (front) before the court martial in Upper Hutt. Photo / Melissa Nightingale

Just because a senior army officer was now engaged to his former subordinate did not mean they started their relationship while on deployment, a court martial has heard.

Lieutenant Colonel Justin Putze had a "one-night stand" with Captain Carolyne Cappola while they were deployed in the Sinai, maintaining stability at the border between Israel and Egypt.

Putze was in command of the contingent at the time.

He is now before the court martial in Trentham, Upper Hutt, accused of entering into a relationship with Cappola, failing to report it to superiors, showing public displays of affection in a service environment, and lying to a superior about the alleged relationship.

Putze denies the charges.

Defence counsel Commander Christopher Griggs today argued while the pair had sex on one occasion during their deployment, they both agreed it could go no further and were focused on trying to salvage their respective marriages.

"Does any sensible person in the 21st century change their social media profile from single to in a relationship on the strength of a one-night stand? We need to be realistic," Briggs told the panel of military members.

"It is true that they are now engaged but that does not alter the truth of what took place on deployment.

"The truth of the matter is that there was feeling between Lieutenant Colonel Putze and Captain Cappola and there was one sexual encounter, a one-night stand, but after that both officers immediately realised that it would be inappropriate for matters to go on any further because they were on deployment and in a command relationship."

Yesterday the highest ranking officer in the New Zealand army was called in as a witness, where he spoke about how important it was for superiors not to enter into relationships with members of their contingent.

"It strikes at the very heart of a commander's responsibilities when they are in charge of a mission of that nature," Chief of army Major General John Boswell said.

"[You must make sure] you're not putting yourself in a position where you're in any way compromising your appointment by potentially showing favour to a member of the contingent."

Putze needed to "maintain an environment where you're prepared to put people under your command in harm's way for the success of the mission".

Other witnesses yesterday spoke about rumours flying around the contingent about Putze and Cappola, with one woman saying she saw them kissing at a bar, and others noting they saw them sitting closely together.

Giving evidence today, Putze said rumours were always "rife" in the contingent even when there was no inappropriate behaviour going on.

He became tearful as he described how he was having marriage difficulties at the time he was on deployment.

"I loved my wife, I just wasn't in love with my wife, and I wanted to try and fix that," he said.

The court martial will continue tomorrow.