Hello all,
My name is Adam and i am interested in joining the New Zealand Army as an Officer, specifically in the Infantry regiment. Having read through numerous posts on this forum, and found it to be an exceptionally good resource - not to mention the presence of a few kiwis - and have decided to seek your valued opinions.
I am aware there is an "Introduce Yourself" thread, that will be next.
I have lived around the army all my life. My dad is a currently serving lieutenant colonel in the Signal Corps and has been in the army over 35 year and as such i have been with him on postings around the world. I have always enjoyed the resourcefulness, the well-roundedness, and intelligence of many of the army personal i have met and appreciate their commitment to what they do.
I personally have nearly completed a degree with majors in electronic commerce and information systems - the degree is such that it includes a number of project management, project implementation, or process analysis topics, along with an understanding of how organizations use information and more importantly, the underlying structure for that information flow. I believe these to be useful in any organization's context now and even more so in the future as systems of all kinds become more integrated, geographically dispersed, and real-time. Along with this i also have other minor qualifications in human resources and information technology. I am considered a natural talent (note: natural talent does not mean i think i am an expert at anything!) at many sports, notably Jitsu, my current fighting art - i enjoy being outdoors, working with other people, and having a sense of purpose and direction. One of the things that appeals to me the most about the army is that its a vocation rather than a money making endeavor. Many of my friends consider me intelligent, approachable, communicative, insightful and faithful.
Please don't take any of this to sound arrogant, i am just trying to give you some directed facts that i think are pertinent to this discussion. I am a VERY humble person.
I think i want to go infantry simply because it seems like a challenge and i find the tactics, technology, and organization to be very interesting, especially in the modern time where the infantry must be so multi-faceted.
My main problem with making this decision is that i don't really know allot of what will be involved after my initial officer training. There is little information available on the army's or other government websites, and my dad did his basic training a long time ago (with an M16 no less), so i feel i need an updated perspective on what to expect.
As an officer in the infantry what will i be expected to do? I understand that a lieutenant would be a platoon commander - but there must be more graduates to that rank each year than there are platoons, and those commanding platoons must be in those positions for a number of years, so what happens to those that do not get a command? Further, there are fewer company's, so what happens at the rank of captain? Staff positions?
What sort of training would i receive as a officer in the infantry? i am worried that i would be trained less than an enlisted man in certain aspects or particular weapons to a point that the officer is not really a combatant but a director or other combatants. I understand that different people in a unit will have specifications to a degree, but what amount of cross training amongst members of that unit exists - i assume there must be some to retain effectiveness due to attrition - but again, i have no idea.
Will my education help me get into this role? What sort of things can i do to enhance my possibility of getting into this role more readily?
I am aware that i will have several years of training to consider, this would presumably be at Linton after basic training. how long would i be training for? If i am posted to 1RNZIR will i only be deployed in a large scale war? it seems the majority of recent deployments have been from 2/1RNZIR topped up with territorials. Further, do the future prospects and plans for the New Zealand army in general, in terms of equipment, technology, training, logistics, command and control, make this choice a good idea?
A major concern for me is the amount of time i will have to spend away from my girlfriend, she is a major factor in my immediate reluctance to join up, as is being separated from family and a number of close friends.
I seriously think that this is what i want to do with my life, but i just to get a better understanding of what it will involve, immediately, and in the longer term. I just don't understand why it is just so damn ambiguous when it comes to finding this sort of information out, i think someone else mentioned that about the Australian system, i am sure the difficulty experienced in learning this sort of information is a contributing factor to recruitment crisis.
I appreciate that i have posed allot of broad questions here but my intent is to start a in depth discussion on this subject for the benefit of myself and others.
Many, many thanks for taking the time to read this post and any input you have for me would be greatly appreciated by myself and i am sure by others.
Adam
p.s. Apologies if this is in the wrong section.
My name is Adam and i am interested in joining the New Zealand Army as an Officer, specifically in the Infantry regiment. Having read through numerous posts on this forum, and found it to be an exceptionally good resource - not to mention the presence of a few kiwis - and have decided to seek your valued opinions.
I am aware there is an "Introduce Yourself" thread, that will be next. I have lived around the army all my life. My dad is a currently serving lieutenant colonel in the Signal Corps and has been in the army over 35 year and as such i have been with him on postings around the world. I have always enjoyed the resourcefulness, the well-roundedness, and intelligence of many of the army personal i have met and appreciate their commitment to what they do.
I personally have nearly completed a degree with majors in electronic commerce and information systems - the degree is such that it includes a number of project management, project implementation, or process analysis topics, along with an understanding of how organizations use information and more importantly, the underlying structure for that information flow. I believe these to be useful in any organization's context now and even more so in the future as systems of all kinds become more integrated, geographically dispersed, and real-time. Along with this i also have other minor qualifications in human resources and information technology. I am considered a natural talent (note: natural talent does not mean i think i am an expert at anything!) at many sports, notably Jitsu, my current fighting art - i enjoy being outdoors, working with other people, and having a sense of purpose and direction. One of the things that appeals to me the most about the army is that its a vocation rather than a money making endeavor. Many of my friends consider me intelligent, approachable, communicative, insightful and faithful.
Please don't take any of this to sound arrogant, i am just trying to give you some directed facts that i think are pertinent to this discussion. I am a VERY humble person.
I think i want to go infantry simply because it seems like a challenge and i find the tactics, technology, and organization to be very interesting, especially in the modern time where the infantry must be so multi-faceted.
My main problem with making this decision is that i don't really know allot of what will be involved after my initial officer training. There is little information available on the army's or other government websites, and my dad did his basic training a long time ago (with an M16 no less), so i feel i need an updated perspective on what to expect.
As an officer in the infantry what will i be expected to do? I understand that a lieutenant would be a platoon commander - but there must be more graduates to that rank each year than there are platoons, and those commanding platoons must be in those positions for a number of years, so what happens to those that do not get a command? Further, there are fewer company's, so what happens at the rank of captain? Staff positions?
What sort of training would i receive as a officer in the infantry? i am worried that i would be trained less than an enlisted man in certain aspects or particular weapons to a point that the officer is not really a combatant but a director or other combatants. I understand that different people in a unit will have specifications to a degree, but what amount of cross training amongst members of that unit exists - i assume there must be some to retain effectiveness due to attrition - but again, i have no idea.
Will my education help me get into this role? What sort of things can i do to enhance my possibility of getting into this role more readily?
I am aware that i will have several years of training to consider, this would presumably be at Linton after basic training. how long would i be training for? If i am posted to 1RNZIR will i only be deployed in a large scale war? it seems the majority of recent deployments have been from 2/1RNZIR topped up with territorials. Further, do the future prospects and plans for the New Zealand army in general, in terms of equipment, technology, training, logistics, command and control, make this choice a good idea?
A major concern for me is the amount of time i will have to spend away from my girlfriend, she is a major factor in my immediate reluctance to join up, as is being separated from family and a number of close friends.
I seriously think that this is what i want to do with my life, but i just to get a better understanding of what it will involve, immediately, and in the longer term. I just don't understand why it is just so damn ambiguous when it comes to finding this sort of information out, i think someone else mentioned that about the Australian system, i am sure the difficulty experienced in learning this sort of information is a contributing factor to recruitment crisis.
I appreciate that i have posed allot of broad questions here but my intent is to start a in depth discussion on this subject for the benefit of myself and others.
Many, many thanks for taking the time to read this post and any input you have for me would be greatly appreciated by myself and i am sure by others.
Adam
p.s. Apologies if this is in the wrong section.
