Faces of your Force — Commander Lisa Hunn
Pride in New Zealand and her ship’s company is what Commander Lisa Hunn, Commanding Officer of HMNZS Te Mana, takes away from Exercise RIMPAC, which concluded this week.
“There is a sense of pride in knowing that both Te Mana’s and the New Zealand Defence Force’s reputation was enhanced through our participation, with the sporting events, a highly successful National reception, winning the Naval Gunfire competition and through the leadership skills demonstrated at sea during the sea phase.”
During that phase Te Mana integrated into Task Force 176, then swapped sides, becoming the ‘enemy’ to disrupt and challenge both the Expeditionary and Carrier Strike Groups in the final stages of the exercise. “Surface Engagement Exercises provide good opportunities to rehearse anti-surface warfare tactics to gain familiarity with each nation’s approach and enable the integration of a Task Unit,” she says. “We’ve witnessed maritime power first-hand, learnt more about working with other nations, we’ve built trust and made friends and showcased New Zealand on an international stage.” Highlights for her included meeting and working with five other women Commanding Officers at sea, winning the gunfire competition and keeping station with aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. “I’m not alone in that. It will no doubt have left a lasting impression on our team.”
The ship’s Maori Culture Group again showed the pride of New Zealand during the closing function on board Carl Vinson, as “the icing on the cake”.
“A performance such as the Haka brings forth the power of the ship’s company collective and reinforces the warrior spirit that is alive and well in our ship. We applied that warrior focus to all phases of Exercise RIMPAC.”
RIMPAC is just the start of a six-month deployment. “We’re looking forward to the remainder of our operation. With this excellent experience base — and new friends — we can move on to Guam and more naval exercises.
In being the ‘enemy’ CDR Hunn was pitted against her former Commanding Officer, Captain Blair Gerritsen, the first New Zealander to be appointed Sea Combat Commander at RIMPAC, in charge of 10 ships in defence of the Expeditionary Strike Group.
