For 19 straight days in the Waiouru Military Training Area close to 350 soldiers of Ngāti Tūmatauenga, the New Zealand Army honed their combat skills and sharpened their battlefield capabilities ahead of a crucial run of overseas exercises.

Exercise Sangro was the largest combined-arms live-fire activity held in New Zealand for a number of years, with elements of armour, infantry, artillery, engineers, signals and logistics from across the 1st (NZ) Brigade operating as an integrated Combat Team.

1st (NZ) Brigade Commander, Colonel Mike van Welie, says the significance of the exercise can’t be understated.

“We know that we’re currently operating in one of the most strategically competitive environments for decades, so we have to make sure our soldiers are fully prepared for whatever lies ahead.”

The exercise tested commanders’ abilities to make the right calls under pressure in the midst of very realistic and dynamic scenarios, and showed the effectiveness of the NZ Army’s combat units as they defended, dominated and won various encounters both by day and night.

The exercise also saw one of the Army’s newest capabilities – the armoured Bushmaster vehicle - successfully work alongside combat support units to move infantry and other personnel efficiently and effectively around the battlefield.

“This was the first real opportunity for us to test the Bushmaster in a large live fire activity, in partnership with other combat and supporting units. The vehicles and their crews performed incredibly well,” Colonel van Welie said.

“There’s no question that the nature of warfare has evolved in recent years, but one thing that hasn’t is the need to still have highly skilled and highly trained soldiers on the frontline – that’s where the Bushmaster is proving invaluable, offering protection to those units.”

Over the course of the exercise more than 20,000 small arms rounds were fired, along with 7,350 25mm rounds, more than 600 artillery and mortar rounds, as well as three Javelin anti-tank guided missiles. Combat Engineers also utilised around 300kg of explosives and more than half a kilometre of detonation cord.

Supporting the exercise were a number of personnel from across both 2nd Combat Services Support Battalion and 3rd Combat Services Support Battalion who delivered more than 6,000 meals, 34 pallets of ammunition and 28,000 litres of diesel to support the frontline troops.

The Combat Team is now turning its attention to two major upcoming exercises in Australia, culminating with the multi-national, multi-domain Exercise Talisman Sabre, which will see New Zealand Defence Force soldiers, sailors and aviators link up with our ally Australia and 17 partner nations.

“We’ve seen just recently with the announcement of the Defence Capability Plan how integral our interoperability is with Australia, and will continue to be into the future. So for us, knowing our teams are ready to integrate and will perform well in combat is vital, and we can’t wait to see it come to fruition later this year when we exercise as part of an Australian Brigade across the Tasman,” Colonel van Welie said.

© Scoop Media