These extracts from MajGen Ron Hassett's address at the Reunion Dinner at Taupo on 14 Nov 98 are featured as a Guest Editorial, in part to acknowledge his great service in his ten years as our Patron, and also because he expresses so well the spirit behind our Association, strongly evident at that gathering:
I am grateful for being given the opportunity to thank you all personally for the privilege you have accorded me these past ten years of making me your patron.
Since retiring 22 years ago I have had the good fortune to have held a number of Army related retirement appointments. They have all been rewarding but there are two that stand out as being very special. They are the Army Memorial Museum and the New Zealand Permanent Forces Old Comrades Association. It is the New Zealand Permanent Forces Old Comrades Association however that is closest to my heart for it is in this organisation that the spirit of our great Regiment truly rests. Seated around this dinner table is a group of old and dedicated gunners who have spent the greater pert of their adult lives in the service of the Regiment. It would be interesting to total the number of collective years that are between us; Jim Gilberd alone would contribute sixty seven years and Tom Chapman, now in his nintieth year, has had almost a life long EME association with the Regiment. A manifestation of the great spirit that pervades the Old Comrades is the fact that Tom caught a bus from Waikanae to be with us this weekend. The really sad thing for me is that while there is no organisation, other than the Old Comrades Association which has the interests of the serving regiment at heart, the Old Comrades have been largely ignored. It is a pity that the young gunners of today are not given the opportunity to brush shoulders with you and thus absorb some of the real spirit of our traditions and the service of the gun. My ambition when appointed as your Patron was to draw the serving gunner closer to the Old Comrades and I am sorry to say that I have failed you in this regard. I will be perfectly frank and say that I have been sadly disappointed at the lack of backing and support which 16 Field Regiment has given to us despite the many requests that have been made to them. Just a small token of interest at our annual gatherings, not involving any effort on their part, would mean so much.
However, I like to think that I had one success. The visit of the Master Gunner, St James's Park to our Taupo gathering some years back was a very special occasion. General Sir Martin Farndale was greatly impressed with the Old Comrades and was fulsome in his praise for the spirit of this "unique gunner association" and the "calibre of its members".
I am delighted that the recently appointed Colonel Commandant, Brigadier Ray Andrews has accepted the appointment of Patron. I hope that his close association with serving gunners, and 16 Field Regiment in particular, will serve to bring the Old Comrades in much closer contact with the young gunners of today.
Finally may I once again say thank you for the privilege of being your Patron.
Letters
None this time.
Events & Reunions
THE TAUPO WEEKEND: 13 to 15 Nov 98
Annual General Meeting | Reunion Dinner | Church & Disperse
Part I: Annual General Meeting
Total 347 compared with 362 last year. I am not standing for President, due to the increase in my work load and our family business. I would like to thank the Committee for their support and in particular Wally Ruffell, Des O'Connor, Jim Ross and Barney Harrop. In closing I would like to thank our Patron, Gen Hassett for his guidance over the past years. To all members I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The following is not a speech as such but a list of five personal observations and may not represent the view of the New Zealand Defence Force or the majority of the RNZA.
I recently had the pleasure of attending 16 Field Regiment's 48th Birthday celebrations. The parade, the ceremonies, the displays and dinner were fine affairs but during the weekend celebrations I wondered what reply I would have received from a gunner on parade if I had asked him what is 'the Regiment'. I was concerned that he would have said 16 Field Regiment. This is not meant to be an indictment of 16 Field Regiment but it concerns me. The Regiment is more than one unit. It is more than those here tonight. It is the gunners who have gone before us. It is the gunners who currently wear the 'Badge' and it is the gunners to come.
My second observation is that New Zealanders pride themselves on the 'Can Do Attitude'. That ability to overcome any situation with a piece of number eight wire and bailing twine. The Can Do Attitude is a two-edged sword. In my opinion it is an attitude that the system relies on to under-resource us.
The third observation is that the New Zealand Defence Force recently released a report on the integration of the sexes in the Defence Force. My belief is that with Lt Kelly May currently in Bosnia with SFOR and by all Accounts performing her duties stirringly, the RNZA is in the vanguard of integration of the sexes.
I mentioned earlier the 'Can Do Attitude' and that it is a two-edged sword. The primary edge is the ability to overcome problems, to be resourceful and adaptable. Those attributes are seen in the current breed of gunners. As an ex Master Gunner I was always critical of standards and finding fault in procedures and drills. It is the nature of the beast. But the RNZA's ability to adapt, to learn and to overcome can be seen in the gunners deploying on SFOR. They, in a very short time learnt and in some cases mastered a new artillery system, the AS90, and have shown that our gunners are the measure of the Royal Artillery. I also believe that the RNZA gunners that have deployed with the RA, on SFOR, have determined that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
My last observation is that this week brings the first firing of the Mistral VLLAD missile in New Zealand and opens a new chapter in technology for the RNZA.
On that positive note please charge your glasses and be upstanding for the toast to the Regiment.
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Page last updated: December 17, 1998