News from the Top

Chief of Army
Major General Lou Gardiner

13 February 2007

2007: Working Together

In this first edition of the Army News for 2007, I would like to wish all Army personnel all the best for 2007, thank you for your efforts during 2006, and emphasise some of the themes I discussed with you during my first eight months as Chief of Army.

During 2006 I re-emphasised the NZ Army vision to be a world-class army that has mana; the Army mission of providing a world-class, operationally focused land force that is led, trained and equipped to win; and the core values of courage commitment, comradeship and integrity that underpin the Army.

My purpose was to ensure we remained focused on what we are about as an organisation, and where we are heading as individuals. It is easy to slip into a routine, even though most recruits into the Army comment that they come into the Army because of the challenges and variety.

Our vision is where we want to be in the future, both as an organisation and as each individual. It’s an aspiration. A world-class army needs world-class individuals. Individuals must desire to be what they can be; to develop their potential to the fullest. The Army Leadership Team has a responsibility to create the environment in which this can occur.

The Army mission is about focusing on operations and being successful. During the Christmas break, I re-read the book The Mark of the Lion, a biography of our most famous soldier, Charles Upham. Throughout, the reader is left in no doubt about Upham’s determination to prepare his soldiers and himself for combat, with other activities receiving lower priority. It was about survival and succeeding. For commanders at all levels, this is a good guide for determining where priorities and emphasis should be when allocating time, personnel and materiel to various functions and tasks.

Core values determine organisational and personal attitudes, and behaviour which are critical in the attainment of our vision. Positive and supportive attitudes towards the Army, its values, its people, its reputation, its equipment and materiel will ensure that the desired behaviours will occur. Behaviours such as achieving excellence in everything we do, wanting to be the best, to be in a winning team, using initiative, judgement and innovation in order to improve the way activities are conducted and ensuring that compliance occurs when it is required.

If we all play our part I am confident that we can meet our organisational and personal goals. Conversations with Army personnel confirm to me we have the quality individuals to do not only the immediate tasks required of them, but also to achieve our Army vision. However, it will not just occur and it will not occur overnight. A culture of excellence needs to be developed Army wide, and become entrenched.

In 2007, let us all work together in moving the Army significantly towards achieving the Army vision.