Leading Combat Systems Specialist TeHuki McDonald
By Sarah Chandler, Defence Communications Group
LCSS TeHuki McDonald, 28, is 12 months into a two-year posting at the Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) Company at Burnham camp. The LSV Company hosts five intakes of approx 150 trainees each year, and is staffed by 50% Army, 25% Navy and 25% Air Force personnel.
Aged between 17 and 25, the trainees enter the LSV Company for a six-week period of limited military service, the focus of which is:
- respect for others,
- responsibility for themselves,
- self confidence, and
- goal setting.
The course is physically demanding and designed to enhance an individual’s self esteem while preparing them for working life or further training.
LCSS McDonald says his job as a Section Commander and instructor at the LSV Company has been both a challenging and rewarding one: “The trainees come from different backgrounds and often arrive at the camp with various issues, including drug and alcohol problems and gang affiliations. There’s definitely a counselling aspect to my role!”
LCSS McDonald says he’s glad to be doing something outside his usual job training Navy BCTs in Auckland, but being landlocked at Burnham, he still misses Navy life. He’s served in most current RNZN ships – both the old and new CANTERBURY, TE KAHA, TE MANA, RESOLUTION and the old WELLINGTON, as well as WAKAKURA. He is looking forward to the new ships coming through.
Adapting to Army life has meant “learning a new drill and getting used to living in the bush”.
Although he’s “not trying to be a recruiter”, LCSS McDonald says some trainees show they would make “awesome navy recruits” during their limited service, and he enjoys telling them about the Navy. “I tell them about Navy careers and how they differ from those in the Army. I highlight the perks of being in the Navy – the travel, the free medical and dental treatment, cheap housing, mates for life, and the sports activities”.
He thinks having instructors from all three Services helps to showcase the range of opportunities for trainees considering a career in the Defence Force: “Any force is good, at the end of the day. But if you like sleeping in tents, digging holes and walking in the bush with a pack on your back then the Army is for you. The Army often travel to dangerous places, while the Navy get to travel to places like China and Australia!”
LCSS McDonald says the job can be tiring and it’s necessary for the LSV Company to have a reasonably regular staff turnover to keep things positive: “Sure, I get tired of working with negatives sometimes,” yet he says the job is ultimately rewarding. ”After six weeks in a secure and positive environment, there’s a huge change in the trainees. When they march out on the last day, they’re completely different people from when they arrived on the first.”
The Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) scheme
The LSV scheme is a combined Ministry of Social Development and NZDF initiative hosted at Burnham Army Camp, south of Christchurch. The Ministry of Social Development provides the operating costs (about $2,800 is allocated to each trainee over a 6 week period), while the NZDF delivers expertise and the trainers.
About 700 trainees attend the six week courses each year. To be eligible for admission to the programme a trainee should be aged between 17-25 and be registered with Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ). The mission of the LSV is “to increase numbers of young New Zealanders entering employment or further training”.
It is estimated that about 75% of trainees find employment or go on to further training within two months of completing the LSV course.
For further information about the LSV scheme please contact Mr Peter Te Paa, National Coordinator LSV, Work and Income New Zealand, telephone 029 246 3574.
Previous | Contents | Next