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Behind the Scenes in Darwin
19 September 2006
Located in the metropolis of Darwin, Australia, six personnel make up the national support element (NSE) for NZDF’s operations in East Timor.
On the previous deployment to East Timor, the NSE was located in the suburb of Winnellie. This time, the NSE is embedded within RAAF Base Darwin, and activities centre in a quaint office at the edge of the runway. The NSE’s location has enabled networking and the smooth running of day-to-day NSE activities.
The NSE provides support to the NZDF operation in East Timor by facilitating the ordering and procurement of stores and equipment, from New Zealand or Australia.
Movement of all personnel and freight in and out of Darwin is provided by the resident movement operator, who covers sea and air freight. Admin support provides mission pay and allowances, and out-of-theatre leave is provided by the admin sergeant.
Relying heavily on communications systems, the information systems operator comes to the fore, as well as being a “jack of all trades” and assisting everyone else with their tasks. All of this is under the watchful command and control of the OC NSE. The NSE team also provide support and a friendly face for all NZDF flights transiting through this northernmost base of Australia.
Not only does the NSE interface in Australia, but each member rotates into East Timor for a minimum of 30 days. This provides them with operational exposure and a chance to follow the supply chain from “factory to foxhole”.
Although the working hours are long, the NSE team are loyal to their country and will down tools to support the men in black. Despite being out numbered by a sea of green and gold, the cheers from the small NSE group can be heard like stampeding elephants – this is often a brave move but thankfully it has been a great sporting year for New Zealand. The fortitude the NSE team display whilst supporting the All Blacks can be likened to the fortitude they apply to supporting operations in East Timor.
Being posted to the NSE provides a day filled with variety and an opportunity to cement our very good working relationships with our Australian counterparts by advocating the ANZAC spirit, with our motto “work hard, play hard”. It has been a rewarding deployment, both professionally and personally.
This page was last reviewed on 21 September 2006 and is current.
