Geraldine RSA

03/10/2026

Corporal David Steven "Steve" Askin and members of the New Zealand Special Air Service leaving the InterContinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, following a five-hour firefight to stop a Taliban attack that began on June 28, 2011. The look on his face says it all.

Askin and his fellow NZSAS operators were in Kabul mentoring Afghanistan's Crisis Response Unit when su***de bombers stormed the hotel, and they were pulled straight into the fight as Afghan police were nearly overwhelmed. Alongside fellow operator Jamie Pennell, Askin fought his way up the hotel's internal stairwells, confronting armed militants throwing gr***des along the way. One detonated close enough to him that it, in Pennell's words, dropped him on his backside, wounding him by both gr***de and r***e fire and tearing part of his ear. He kept going anyway, helping pull guests from the hotel as flames spread through the building.

His actions that night, and others across his 2011 deployment, earned him the New Zealand Gallantry Star, the country's second-highest award for valor, though his identity was kept secret for years, known publicly only as Serviceman D until it was finally revealed in 2017. Pennell, his teammate that night, later wrote in his own memoir that he believed Askin's actions deserved the Victoria Cross itself.

Askin enlisted in 1998, served until 2013, and stayed active in the SAS reserves afterward. He became a civilian helicopter pilot, and on February 14, 2017, he was killed when his helicopter crashed while fighting the Port Hills bushfires near Christchurch, a warrior who survived the worst Kabul could throw at him only to lose his life trying to protect his own community years later. Who Dares Wins.

21/09/2026

NEWS📢 The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) have reinforced their enduring maritime partnership through the signing of Plan Tasman, a framework designed to strengthen cooperation and support a more integrated and interoperable Anzac naval force.

Signed by Deputy Chief of the RNZN, Commodore Karl Woodhead, and Deputy Chief of the RAN, Rear Admiral Darren Grogan, Plan Tasman translates shared strategic objectives into coordinated action across personnel, training, capability development, warfighting, engineering, regulation and international engagement.

The agreement will enhance collaboration, information sharing, training and operational alignment between the two navies, strengthening their ability to operate together in an increasingly complex Indo-Pacific security environment.

Full story ➡️ nzdf.mil.nz/Plan-Tasman

📸 Deputy Chief of the RNZN, Commodore Karl Woodhead (right), and Deputy Chief of the RAN, Rear Admiral Darren Grogan.

20/09/2026

15/09/2026

12/09/2026

🇳🇿 FROM GROUND ZERO TO AFGHANISTAN — THE NEW ZEALAND CONNECTION

On 11 September 2001, the world changed.

Twenty-five years ago, terrorists hijacked four passenger aircraft in the United States. Two were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, another struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought back.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Among the countless objects recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center was something with a remarkable connection to our country — a New Zealand flag.

The flag had been kept in the World Trade Center's flag room before the attacks. Damaged in the destruction, it was recovered from the rubble and eventually returned to New Zealand. Today it is held at Parliament in Wellington, dedicated to the firefighters, police officers and others who lost their lives attempting to save people on 9/11.

But New Zealand's connection to 11 September did not end with that flag.

The attacks triggered the international intervention in Afghanistan and the beginning of what would become New Zealand's longest-running military commitment of the modern era.

By December 2001, members of the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) were deploying as part of the international response.

They would be followed by thousands of other New Zealanders.

Over the following two decades, more than 3,500 NZDF personnel served in Afghanistan. New Zealanders served with the NZSAS, the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan, headquarters and intelligence organisations, training teams and numerous other coalition and NATO appointments.

The RNZAF and RNZN also contributed to operations in the wider region.

For many New Zealand servicemen and women of this generation, Afghanistan became their war.

Ten New Zealand service personnel lost their lives during our involvement in Afghanistan.

For their families, friends and comrades, the consequences of the events that began on a September morning in New York were very real and very personal.

Twenty-five years later, the damaged New Zealand flag recovered from the World Trade Center provides an extraordinary physical link between two chapters of history:

Ground Zero in 2001 and nearly twenty years of New Zealand military service that followed.

Today we remember the almost 3,000 people who died on 11 September 2001.

We remember those who ran towards the burning buildings when others were running away.

And here in New Zealand, we also remember the thousands of Kiwis who subsequently served in Afghanistan — particularly the ten who never came home.

We Will Remember Them. 🇳🇿

#911

06/09/2026

🪖 NZ Army tests drones, LAVs and artillery in major Waiōuru exercise

The New Zealand Army is testing new ways of operating in the field, combining drones, protected vehicles and artillery while strengthening cooperation with Australia and other allied forces.

According to reports:

🔹 Soldiers are taking part in a major exercise at Waiōuru, testing how modern military technology can be integrated into battlefield operations.

🔹 Drones are being used alongside Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) and artillery as the Army adapts to changing military environments.

🔹 The exercise also highlights closer cooperation between New Zealand, Australia and other defence partners.

🔹 Waikato Herald reporter Tom Eley joined soldiers in the field to experience the exercise and the realities of military training firsthand.

The exercise reflects the Army’s broader focus on modernising its capabilities and preparing personnel to work effectively with technology and allied forces.

read more - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/waikato-news/news/nz-army-tests-drones-lavs-and-artillery-in-major-waiouru-exercise/HEFWSSVHBNHQZBR2ZJYSSCJCFY/



📸 Post Credit: NZ Herald.

01/09/2026

Recognition in Edinburgh 🎶🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo brings together international military bands to take part in the annual performance spectacle at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.

The iconic event has come to a close for 2026 with the New Zealand Army Band once again receiving the prestigious Pooley Sword.

The ceremonial broadsword is presented each year to the act that has made the greatest contribution to the Tattoo, as voted by fellow cast performers.

Our Army band proudly represented Aotearoa New Zealand on one of the world’s biggest stages, earning recognition from performers around the globe.

01/09/2026

Legion of Merit 🎖️ The United States Armed Forces has again recognised the skills of NZ Defence Force (NZDF) warrant officers with the awarding of a Legion of Merit.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Stephen Rupapere received the award this month from Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, Commander United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), for his role as Deputy Command Senior Enlisted Leader within the Command between 2023 and 2025.

The award recognises exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievement by any member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a friendly foreign nation.

WO1 Rupapere, from Ngāruawāhia, has served in our Army for 36 years and continues a legacy of talented NZDF Warrant Officers in the Hawaii-based Headquarters. He is the fourth in the role.

Full story ➡️ nzdf.mil.nz/WO1-Stephen-Rupapere