Rotorua's Corporal Atelea Mapapalangi has been named RNZAF's Aviator of the Year for 2025. Photo / NZDF
Rotorua's Corporal Atelea Mapapalangi has been named RNZAF's Aviator of the Year for 2025. Photo / NZDF
Rotorua aviator Corporal Atelea Mapapalangi (Te Arawa) had his Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) career mapped out before suffering a serious health issue which changed that trajectory and forced him to re-evaluate his future and open new doors.
His resilience and dedication to professional excellence while navigating his physicalrestrictions were some of the reasons Mapapalangi has been named this year’s RNZAF Aviator of the Year.
The honour is awarded to an aviator who takes action to make a significant and positive contribution to the work of the RNZAF and New Zealand Defence Force and personifies the organisations’ core values.
While working as an aviation fuel specialist at RNZAF Base Ohakea, Mapapalangi was plotting a career as aircrew when a cardiac event limited the type of work he could perform safely. There was a risk of a medical discharge from service.
“It was a really hard time, mostly because of the uncertainty and the restrictions that were placed on me,” Mapapalangi said.
“I felt I couldn’t fully contribute to my role.”
He decided to be proactive and figure out ways he could contribute and started engaging more with senior leadership, command and colleagues.
After a forced change in his career plans, Corporal Atelea Mapapalangi has been working on a new aviation fuel installation at RNZAF Base Ohakea. Photo / NZDF
Part of the shift was engaging with the Youth Development Unit, where he felt he was contributing directly to the community.
“But it didn’t stop there, the more people I interacted with, the more opportunities kept popping up. One of them was the new aviation fuel installation that’s being built at Base Ohakea.
“The proactive engagement led me to re-muster as an operational support specialist and I’m working hard on the new fuel installation project. It was like a fire had been reignited after all the restrictions I had faced.”
Mapapalangi, of Tongan and Māori descent, is the oldest of seven siblings. He spent his entire school life at a full-immersion school, Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Koutu.
He has sustained his connection with te ao Māori through the RNZAF Tūrangawaewae since joining the service in 2019.
He is fluent in te reo Māori and, drawing on his expertise in mau rākau [traditional martial art], Mapapalangi has conducted the wero for dignitaries and spoken on behalf of senior leadership and his peers during pōwhiri.
After being named Aviator of the Year, Corporal Atelea Mapapalangi is now in contention for the NZDF’s Person of the Year Award. Photo / NZDF
Mapapalangi also delivers karakia for parades and graduations and volunteers his time for recruit visits and cultural events.
A whānau connection to the military inspired Mapapalangi to join the service, with his koro [grandfather] Peter Bates in the RNZAF for more than 30 years.
“He didn’t speak too much about his career, and it took other people to talk about his accolades and his time in service as a metal worker.
“I decided I just wanted to do something a little bit different from the ordinary pathway with my life and knowing that Koro, a few uncles and a cousin served was my main drive to enlist.”
Mapapalangi said the best part of his career so far had been exploring parts of the country he had never had a chance to travel to and meeting people from different walks of life.
