A new round of New Zealand Defence Force recruits are learning to deactivate lethal explosives to prepare for work in war zones around the world – and bases and camps closer to home.
The explosive ordnance disposal trade is a small speciality in our military, where recruits learn to locate, identify, destroy, or deactivate ammunition and explosives.
"They can have quite catastrophic consequences if they don't get it right," NZDF senior instructor Matt Dyson told 1News.
The initial trade training requires courses spread across two years, before participants go off to the Army and Air Force to start new jobs.
To help with training, the NZDF has a collection of 5000 weaponry remnants – some dating back to the New Zealand Wars, others retrieved from modern battlefields.
"I've been to some of the other ammunition schools around the world. We have, I think, one of the more extensive collections," Dyson said.
"And I think that is a by-product of Kiwis being a little bit like magpies – they pick stuff up and bring it home."
They're preparing for work in war zones around the world – and closer to home. (Source: 1News)
Staff at the training school at Trentham are constantly monitoring overseas conflicts and changes in weapons technology.
"We are geeks to a degree. We are watching that stuff. We're on the internet, looking at information coming out of those places to see because we've got to be prepared," Warrant Officer Dean Rennie said.
The NZDF tutor, and recipient of the New Zealand Gallantry Medal, spent some of his time overseas with a specialist US unit in Afghanistan, clearing bombs from routes under enemy fire to prevent human harm.
He's now using his experiences overseas to teach recruits the nuances of working around ammunition, explosives, missiles, and hand grenades.
"The learning curve can go from zero to everything... Going into situations you would have not thought of, like, 'Holy, that's everything plus three other things, plus everything else, super-sized'."
There are currently just over 30 ammunition technicians like him in our Army.
Private Corey Leathart-Sutherland is among those now learning from Rennie, having joined straight out of school.
"As a young man, kind of interested in ammunition, I thought it was really cool. You learn a bit more, 'rabbithole'-ing, and then you join the Army, you know," he said.
