just an update on the NZDF response
Ahh .. the joys of being young and so certain in your beliefs - the general ignorance of the press / public (protesters) when it came to all things military certainly re-enforced my opinion that the "public" had no idea what they were talking about. (Throw in Bob Jone's and "lets wind down the entire NZDF force to a civil defense force of 1500" idea) 1984 was certainly an interesting year.
From one of the other forums I read, P3-K has been overhead conducting "damage assessment" flights as well.
canty had embarked a couple hundred soldiers from linton for the ex, aswell and a few hundred more soldiers already there.
HMNZS Canterbury plus 3 other RNZN Vessels are at present berthed in Lyttelton Harbour. A fourth vessel is steaming from Oamaru at the moment. From what I have heard on radio (Power only came on an hour ago) the jack tars were being used in Lyttelton which has lost 60% of the buildings in it's main street. At that stage access to Christchurch was blocked with the tunnel closed and the road over the hills via Sumner closed because of slips, rockfalls and the bridge closure at Heathcote (I think). Only other way is long trip to Governors Bay and up over top via Sign of Kiwi and that road had boulders and rocks strewn across it. 350 NZ Army soldiers helping NZ Police cordon off city certain from the 4 Avenues in, with further 250 troops ready for deployment. 70 medics helping with triage and medic teams. 100 Singaporean Army engineers in vicinity who may be used. RAAF C130 flying in USAR team(s) & Equip.
I remember going on guard duty at Weedons in the mid 70's because some idiots had manged to get in and cut the aerials. so a group of us from Wigram got volunteered to be out there at night guarding it along with 4 police and 2 police cars. To relieve the tedium the Police cars raced around the perimeter track which was good until one managed to burst a 4 tyres at the same time and rip the front end out.Ahh .. the joys of being young and so certain in your beliefs - the general ignorance of the press / public (protesters) when it came to all things military certainly re-enforced my opinion that the "public" had no idea what they were talking about. (Throw in Bob Jone's and "lets wind down the entire NZDF force to a civil defense force of 1500" idea) 1984 was certainly an interesting year.
I was 18 at the time, on 5 Squadron, enjoying Triad '84 as this was going down. All I could think of at the time was re Marilyn Waring was " You B^&^^*&^h, thanks for screwing up my time in the RNZAF", and geeze, wasn't it great that the F-15s were rotating right above the "protesters" outside Whenuapai's main gate with 'after burners on'. I remember discussing this with a USAF MP ...
(As an aside, while on training as an avionics tech, my course got pulled for 'guard duty" at Weedons (South Island) early in 1984, because of the protesting re the visit of a USN submarine .. some idiots previously had attempted to damage the HF Aerials used for Deep Freeze -- hence the guard duty).
So, for me, ANZUS certainly was more personal than most, and I never forgave its collapse for denying me the opportunities to go on exercise with the US
You guys
Apart from compromising the safety of the Hercs, pity a wee fry up (or natural sterilisation) didn't happen to make them think twice about trying it again next time!
Some police had to do some explaining to an irate Senior Sergeant. Didn't want a fry up - would have generated a herc load of paperwork and then somebody would have had to write an environmental impact statement.You guys
Sure had some fun back then eh! Wonder if that would be allowable in today's PC climate!
Apart from compromising the safety of the Hercs, pity a wee fry up didn't happen to make them think twice about it next time!
Even back then?
Mind you would it all have been typed or hand written? Perhaps the one and only original copy could have got "lost in the mail"? !!!Sorry I left the RNZAF at the end of 83 and had been out of DEF HQ rumour mill since the end of 79. But like most debates concerning America and /or defence at the time and up until quite recently it was played out on an emotional level and anyone trying a factual approach was simply ignored or shouted down. A reason for the American over re-action could have been due to a technology that NZ had developed to detect nuke weapons on ships. this was used in Singapore to monitor Soviet ships going into the Indian ocean. How it worked I dont know, but a small artical was published about it and the two units using it, one in NZ and one in Singapore. It was stated that it was a world first, So the fact that we could detect nukes could have influence the American responce, as some other countries had similar policy's and where largely ignored by the US.
Hehehe - went for a "ride" with one of the police at around 02:00 to check on some more antennas at the back of Harewood -- Commodore had impressive "off-road" performance <sic>. Rabbits also run very fast
Defence Force playing huge role (as one would hope) - getting lots of kudos in press too! Snippet from NZHerald:
TVNZ said 2 NZ Infantry battalions in city one relieving other. We are still getting shakes and it is raining and cold 12 Degrees C (2300 NZDT) I have power and water but no dunny. Back to the long drop out the back. Have heard Iroquois most of afternoon. It is good to see NZDF pulling out all the stops and to see the very positive public reaction. My family all safe and well but we have a lot of people hurting so I think we all need to remember the ones who are gone, who are missing and their families and friends in the way that is suitable for each of us. Ake Ake Kia kaha.
A C130J arrived early this morning with NSW USAR team and another C130J was due in this arvo. TV3 footage showed a C17 on tarmac but didn't see if it was USAF one or RAAF one as was front on view USAF C17's have green band on tail. TV3 didn't say time of day footage was taken. USAF would have one here for Deep Freeze Op. There was a USAF NYNG C130 in the background. Latest is still waiting for 26 Story Grand Chancellor to fall down. Longer gaps between shakes but still getting odd vicious one. No new rescues & a cold wet night.
They are also flying in about 300 -350 Aussie cops I think today to help out with law and order issues. Presume they will travel RAAF.
There's a window where rescue people burn out, so they're being sent in to assist and relieve some of your lot before that kicks in. At last check it was 200 from NSW, 100 from QLD and 50 from WA. basically they will get sworn in under national emergency conditions as local constables with arrest privileges etc... they will then pick up some of the general patrol and management work to enable NZ police to either break or get tasked to other critical duties by your CivDef chief.
It should also allow a stepdown, so that some of the NZ personnel can be re-tasked to some of the less stressful aspects of the rescue and recovery ops. While it does depend very much on the individual psychology of the rescuer, people can only operate for so long under such stressful conditions before their performance begins to degrade seriously. In a large scale crisis like the Christchurch earthquake, that point can come up very quickly, especially if a rescue involves children.
All 3 services falt-out with help from overseas...