New Zealand Army Reservists’ 5th/7th Battalion, Royal NZ Infantry Regiment (RNZIR), conducted Exercise Tararua at Santoft Forest this month. Whanganui Chronicle journalist Fin Ocheduszko Brown was invited to join them for a morning of action.
A slight tweak to my weekend body clock was required on Saturday, with an 8.30am pick-up from the Whanganui base.
I was escorted to Santoft Forest near Bulls where I linked up with about 45 members of the 5th/7th Battalion, part-way through Exercise Tararua.
The three-day exercise, in which blanks were fired, was to prepare soldiers for live field firing in October, with a particular focus on Platoon Immediate Action drills and quick attacks in open and close country.
I was introduced to West Coast Company section commander and local recruiter Corporal Sean Chapman who explained the demographics.
The battalion covers the lower North Island, from New Plymouth to Gisborne, down to Wellington.
The majority are part-time paid soldiers who have fulltime jobs in other fields.
“These guys volunteer their own time. We augment regular force army, we help domestically but abroad as well,” Chapman said.
The battalion has been called on for events such as Cyclone Gabrielle, the 2015 Whanganui floods, Covid-19 quarantine and Government-sanctioned operations and deployments to the Pacific Islands and the Middle East.
The first part of training I joined was the paired attacks, with Chapman explaining the hand signals and reasons for certain movements.
It was intriguing to see the level of understanding between the soldiers despite them only getting together about 20 days a year.
I was then treated to an army chow break, consisting of bean soup, rice pudding, nuts, chocolate and crackers.
Chapman said the meal was based on the average number of calories needed to sustain a consistent level of performance when factoring in the calories burned exercising.
The break offered a chance to assimilate with the soldiers by applying camouflage face paint.
Chapman said the human nose was an obvious defining feature that, without intervention, could cost soldiers their lives. The paint breaks up facial features to confuse the enemy.
The quick break was followed by section attacks on enemies, led by West Coast Company section commander Corporal Ray Stewart.
That was cool.
Creeping through Santoft’s exposed dunes, with no idea where the enemy was hiding and ready to pop up at any time, was enthralling.
Our section had nine soldiers, with rifles and two machine guns.
Chapman prefaced the exercise by saying I didn’t have to get down at any point but I discovered, when you are in the thick of it, the sight of an enemy pointing his blank-firing rifle at you can still give you a fright.
As we closed in on the assailant, the soldiers demonstrated the correct strategy to disarm and contain an enemy, while also securing the area.
We repeated this form of exercise in a different location with different tactics.
At the end of each drill, there were opportunities for the group to discuss how it went.
It was strange to hear the enemy provide concise, helpful feedback for the soldiers who nearly “killed them”.
In my head, it went something like, “Nice job guys, you got me!”.
Overall, it was a cool experience to join the exercise and learn how different terrain requires different tactics and mindsets.
Battalion commanding officer Lieutenant Shaun O’Connor said exercises were important for his soldiers.
“It’s like anything, teaching at school, a game of rugby or sports, the military is just the same,” O’Connor said.
“You have got to be able to maintain the number of skills you have all of the time and these activities are the ones that keep our skill levels up at a fundamental level so, if we are ever called up, we can use our skills in an operational sense.”
Stewart, born and raised in Whanganui, said he would like more people to join the reserves to experience the camaraderie.
Stewart joined in 2013, aged 38.
“I wanted to join when I was younger but I never got the opportunity because of the way my path in life went,” Stewart said.
“No matter what we do around the world or in our own backyard, it’s helping people - that is why I joined.”
He said his age helped because he had life skills and knowledge he could pass on to younger recruits.
“I was the oldest in my recruit course and you sort of automatically take on a father figure role with the younger ones,” he said.
“That ability at that age helps you deal with things differently and you can help the other recruits out as well.”
Stewart said age was irrelevant in the forces and he encouraged anyone to give it a go.
“Going in young, it’s all very well and you are fit but if you are older, it’s also so good because you go in with a different mindset,” he said.
Find out more about the Army Reserves and Defence Force careers on the NZ Defence Force careers website.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.