Kerikeri man experiencing military life in the jungle
Kerikeri man Tim McLeod has swapped the pastures of Northland for the jungles of Malaysia for the next few weeks as he takes part in a large multinational military exercise.
His day job is an incident control point manager for AsureQuality, managing the eradication of Mycoplasma bovis on infected cattle farms.
However, Corporal McLeod is also one of more than 50 New Zealand Army Reservists from all over the country taking part in Exercise Bersama Lima, a military exercise held each year involving forces from New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and the United Kingdom. These countries signed the Five Power Defence Arrangement in 1971 as a commitment to defence co-operation and regional stability in South East Asia.
Corporal McLeod has family links to the military, with his great-grandfather serving in Africa during the Second World War and his grandfather serving as a Reservist, so it was little surprise when he joined the New Zealand Army Regular Force soon after leaving Rotorua Lakes High School.
“After a while I decided to look at other options but I enjoyed the military life, so on leaving I ticked the box to become a Reservist,” he said.
“Becoming a Reservist provides amazing opportunities to see parts of New Zealand that others don’t get to see. You also get to work with some awesome people and you get to serve your community and country,” he said.
“You also get opportunities like this to deploy overseas and test yourself in new environments.”
He has already been to Australia twice as a Reservist. The first was as part of an exchange programme run with the Australian Army, under which soldiers swap units for an exercise to see how the other side conducts business and to experience different training.
The second was as a member of the New Zealand Army Combat Shooting Team, which competed in Australian Arms Skill at Arms Meet against marksmen from 23 other countries.
Corporal McLeod couldn’t wait for Exercise Bersama Lima to begin.
“I was really looking forward to the training opportunities and experiences,” he said. “It is such a great opportunity to travel to Malaysia, take part in an international exercise with our ally and partner nations, and learn new skills in a new environment.”
Exercise Bersama Lima, from 29 September to 19 October, is usually based in Singapore and takes place in the South China Sea and around the Malaysian Peninsula. It involves Royal New Zealand Navy, New Zealand Army, and Royal New Zealand Air Force units and supporting units conducting training with Five Power Defence Arrangement air, land and maritime assets.
Members of the New Zealand Army Reserve regularly work and train alongside their Regular Force counterparts in New Zealand and overseas. Their military training also strengthens the leadership, resilience, teamwork and focus they bring to their civilian roles — benefitting their employers and their communities.
