| New Zealand Army Ngāti Tumatauenga |
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|---|---|
| Active | 1845 – present |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Allegiance | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Type | Army |
| Size | Available: 7,000
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| Part of | New Zealand Defence Force |
| Engagements | New Zealand Wars Boer War World War I World War II Malayan Emergency Korean War Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation Vietnam War Gulf War Yugoslav Wars East Timor Solomon Islands Operation Enduring Freedom Iraq War |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of Defence Force | Lieutenant General Richard Rhys Jones |
| Chief of Army | Major General Timothy James Keating, MNZM |
| Commander-in-Chief | Sir Jerry Mateparae, GNZM, QSO (Governor-General) |
The New Zealand Army (Maori: Ngāti Tumatauenga, "Tribe of the God of war"), is the land component of the New Zealand Defence Force and comprises around 4,500 Regular Force personnel, 2,000 Territorial Force personnel and 500 civilians. Formerly the New Zealand Military Forces, the current name was adopted around 1946. The New Zealand Army traces its history from settler militia raised in 1845.[1]
New Zealand soldiers served with distinction in the major conflicts in the 20th Century, including South Africa 1899–1902, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, Borneo Confrontation and the Vietnam War. Since the 1970s, deployments have tended to be assistance to multilateral peacekeeping efforts. Considering the small size of the force, operational commitments have remained high since the start of the East Timor deployment in 1999. New Zealand personnel served in the First Gulf War, Iraq and are currently serving in East Timor, Afghanistan and several UN and other peacekeeping missions.
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War had been an integral part of the life and culture of the Māori people. The Musket Wars dominated the first years of European trade and settlement. The first European settlers in the Bay of Islands formed a volunteer militia from which some New Zealand army units trace their origins. British forces and Māori fought in various New Zealand Wars starting in the north of the country in 1845, and culminating in major campaign in the Waikato in the mid 1860s, during which settler forces were used with great effect. Toward the end of the war the numbers of British troops was reduced, leaving settler units to continue the campaign.
The New Zealand army sent ten contingents (including the 4th New Zealand Contingent) to the Boer War, of which the first six were raised and instructed by Lt.-Colonel Joseph Henry Banks, who led the 6th Contingent into battle. These were mounted riflemen, and the first contingents had to pay to go, providing their own horse, equipment and weapon.
In World War I New Zealand sent an expeditionary force, the 1NZEF, of soldiers who fought with Australians as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli, subsequently immortalised as "ANZACs". A New Zealand Division then formed which fought on the Western Front. In addition the Mounted Rifles fought in Palestine.
The total number of New Zealand troops and nurses to serve overseas in 1914-1918, excluding those in British and other Dominion forces, was 103,000, from a population of just over a million. Forty-two percent of men of military age served in the NZEF. 16,697 New Zealanders were killed and 41,317 were wounded during the war - a 58 percent casualty rate. Approximately a further thousand men died within five years of the war's end, as a result of injuries sustained, and 507 died whilst training in New Zealand between 1914 and 1918. New Zealand had one of the highest casualty- and death-rates per capita of any country involved in the war.
In World War II the 2nd Division 2 NZEF, fought in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy. Following Japan's entry into the war, 3rd Division, 2 NZEF IP (In Pacific) saw action in the Pacific, seizing a number of islands from the Japanese. New Zealanders contributed to various special forces units, such as the original Long Range Desert Group in North Africa and Z Force in the Pacific.
In addition to the two divisions overseas, the Army raised three others at home during 1942–1943. 1st Division was formed in the Northern Military District (with 1st and 12th Brigades), 4th in the Central Military District (with 2nd and 7th Brigades), and 5th in the south.[2] They were disbanded in 1943 after the danger of invasion receded. The 6th New Zealand Division was also briefly formed as a deception formation by renaming the NZ camp at Maadi in southern Cairo, the New Zealanders' base area in Egypt, in 1942.[3]
The New Zealand Army was formally formed from the New Zealand Military Forces following the Second World War. Attention focused on preparing a third Expeditionary Force potentially for service against the Soviets. Compulsory Military Training was introduced to man the force, which was initially division-sized. The division was alternatively known as '3NZEF.'[4] It was disbanded in 1961, as succeeding governments reduced the force first to two brigades, and then a single one.[5] This one-brigade force became in the 1980s the Integrated Expansion Force, to be formed by producing three composite battalions from the six Territorial Force infantry regiments.[6] Many of the available resources were directed instead to maintaining the New Zealand infantry battalion in the Malaysia-Singapore area. The battalion was committed to the Far East Strategic Reserve. The battalion, designated 1st Battalion RNZIR by that time, was brought home in 1989. In 1978 a national museum for the army, the QEII Army Memorial Museum, was built at Waiouru, the army's main training base in the central North Island.
Since World War II the New Zealand army has fought in the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, the Indonesian confrontation, the Vietnam War, East Timor, and Afghanistan. New Zealand personnel have served in a large number of UN and other peacekeeping deployments, including UNTSO in the Middle East, Operation Agila in Rhodesia, the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai, Cambodia, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Angola, Bosnia, Bougainville, the Solomon Islands, and the Sudan.
ANZAC Day is the main annual commemorative activity for New Zealand soldiers. On 25 April each year the landings at Gallipoli are remembered, though the day has come to mean remembering the fallen from all wars in which New Zealand has been involved. While a New Zealand public holiday, it is a duty day for New Zealand military personnel, who, even if not involved in official commemorative activities are required to attend an ANZAC Day Dawn Parade in ceremonial uniform in their home location.
Remembrance Day, commemorating the end of World War I on 11 November 1918, is marked by official activities with a military contribution normally with parades and church services on the closest Sunday. However, ANZAC Day has a much greater profile and involves a much higher proportion of military personnel.
The various regiments of the New Zealand Army mark their own Corps Days, many of which are derived from those of the corresponding British regiments. Examples are Cambrai Day on 20 November for the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps, St Barbara's Day on 4 December for the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery.
The New Zealand Army currently participates in three major overseas deployments:
New Zealand Army uniforms have historically followed the British pattern of the British Army Uniform with the high crowned "lemon squeezer" hat as the most visible national distinction. This was adopted by the Wellington Regiment about 1911 and became general issue for all New Zealand units during the latter stages of World War I. The different branches of service were distinguished by coloured puggarees or wide bands around the base of the crown (blue and red for artillery, green for mounted rifles, khaki and red for infantry etc.). The "lemon squeezer" was worn to a certain extent during World War II, although often replaced by more convenient forage caps or berets, or helmets. British-pattern Battledress was worn until the 1970s, with "Jungle Greens" being used as field wear. British DPM was adopted in 1980. Modern field wear is New Zealand disruptive pattern material camouflage, which closely resembles British DPM field uniforms. On overseas service, a New Zealand flag badge and a white Kiwi on a circular black field with the words "New Zealand" are worn. The DPM uniform, with the addition of a beret or sometimes the Mounted Rifles Hat, is the usual working uniform and according the one most commonly worn.
In recent years a number of distinctive New Zealand features have appeared. The "lemon squeezer", after being in abeyance since the 1950s, was reintroduced for parade dress in 1993 where it replaced the khaki "No 2" British Army service dress cap. Officer cadets and some bands wear this headdress with a scarlet and blue full dress uniform. A wide brimmed khaki hat with green puggaree, of a pattern formerly worn by the New Zealand Mounted Rifle (cavalry) regiments, replaced the British style peaked cap as service dress headdress for all branches in 1998. The red or dark blue sashes worn by sergeants are now embroidered with a traditional Māori motif or 'mokowaewae' denoting speed and agility. On the infantry sash the mokowaewae appears in black, white and red diagonal 'steps' and on that of the New Zealand Scottish in green, black and white. Short Māori cloaks are sometimes worn by senior officers as a mark of distinction on occasions of special ceremony, though they are not part of the regulation uniform.
The British "infantry pattern" mess uniform is still worn by officers and senior NCOs for formal evening occasions. A universal pattern comprising scarlet mess jackets and blue-black trousers has replaced the various regimental and corps mess dress uniforms previously worn. The universal mess dress has also replaced the white jacket and black Barathea trousers previously worn in summer or tropical climates. The dark blue No 1 dress formerly worn by officers, before the general adoption of mess uniforms, was last worn in the early 1990s, although it was nominally retained for wear by the Chief of Army on appropriate State occasions.
Highland orders of dress (glengarry, kilt, sporrans etc.) are authorised for wear by the New Zealand Scottish Squadron of the RNZAC, at the discretion of the Squadron Commander. They are also authorised for the pipes and drums of the 5th (Wellington, West Coast and Taranaki) Battalion Group.
The New Zealand Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Chief of the General Staff until 2003), who is a Major General or 2-star appointment. The current Chief of Army is Major General Timothy Keating, MNZM, who was a former Assistant Chief of General Staff, Office of Strategy Management. The Chief of Army has responsibility for raising, training and sustaining those forces necessary to meet agreed Government outputs. For operations, the Army's combat units fall under the command of the Land Component Commander, who is on the staff of the COMJFNZ at HQ Joint Forces New Zealand at Trentham in Upper Hutt. Forces under the Land Component Commander include the 1st Brigade and 1 NZ SAS Group.
Tactical air transport for the army is provided by No. 3 Squadron of the RNZAF.
Land Training and Doctrine Group
The Territorial Force (TF), the long established reserve component of the New Zealand Army, has as of 2009–2010 been renamed the Army Reserve (matching the Australian Army Reserve). It provides individual augmentees and formed bodies for operational deployments. There are Reserve units throughout New Zealand, and they have a long history. The modern Army Reserve is divided into 6 regionally-based battalion groups. Each of these is made up of smaller units of different specialities. The terms 'Regiment' and 'Battalion Group' seem to be interchangeably used, which can cause confusion. However, it can be argued that both are accurate in slightly different senses. In a tactical sense, given that the Reserve units are groupings of all arms, the term Battalion Group is accurate, though usually used for a much more single-arm heavy grouping, three infantry companies plus one armoured squadron, for example. NZ Reserve Battalion Groups are composed of a large number of small units of different types.
The term 'Regiment' can be accurately applied in the British regimental systems sense, as all the subunits collectively have been given the heritage of the former NZ infantry regiments (1900–1964).
| Regiment |
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| 2nd Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Battalion Group | 5x |
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| 3rd Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Battalion Group | 3x |
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| 4th Otago and Southland Battalion Group | 3x |
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| 5th Wellington West Coast and Taranaki Battalion Group |
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| 6th Hauraki Battalion Group | ||||||||
| 7th Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Battalion Group | 3x |
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TF regiments prepare and provide trained individuals in order to top-up and sustain operational and non-operational units to meet directed outputs. TF regiments perform the function of a training unit, preparing individuals to meet prescribed outputs. The six regiments command all Territorial Force personnel within their region except those posted to formation/command headquarters, Military Police (MP) Company, Force Intelligence Group (FIG) or 1 New Zealand Special Air Services (NZSAS) Group. At a minimum, each regiment consists of a headquarters, a recruit induction training (RIT) company, at least one rifle company, and a number of combat support/combat service support companies or platoons.
3/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment previously existed on paper as a cadre.[10] If needed, it would have been raised to full strength through the regimentation of the Territorial Force infantry units. Army plans now envisage a three manoeuvre unit structure of 1 RNZIR, QAMR, and 2/1 RNZIR (light), being brought up to strength by TF individual and subunit reinforcements.
The New Zealand Cadet Corps also exists as an army-affiliated youth training and development organisation, part of the New Zealand Cadet Forces.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Light operational vehicles
Support vehicles
Fire support/artillery
Missile/rocket systems
Weapons
New Zealand decided in 2003 to replace its existing fleet of M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, purchased in the 1960s, with the NZLAV [1], and the M113s were decommissioned by the end of 2004. An agreement made to sell the M113s via an Australian weapons dealer in February 2006 had to be cancelled when the US State Department refused permission for New Zealand to sell the M113s under a contract made when the vehicles were initially purchased. [2]
The replacement of the M113s with the General Motors LAV III (NZLAV) led to a review in 2001 on the purchase decision-making by New Zealand's Auditor-General. The review found short-comings in the defence acquisition process but not the eventual vehicle selected.
In 2010 the government said it would look at the possibility of selling 35 LAVs, around a third of the fleet, as being surplus to requirements.[11]
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