Commanding Officer - HMNZS TE MANA F111
Commander David Toms joined the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) in January 1985 as a Midshipman in the Seaman Specialisation and completed initial and specialist officer training at the RNZN Officer Training School, TAMAKI. From December 1985 until December 1995, Commander Toms held a number of seagoing appointments including bridge watch-keeping and navigation positions in HMNZ Ship’s, CANTERBURY, WAIKATO, WELLINGTON, SOUTHLAND, MONOWAI and ENDEAVOUR. Other sea appointments included Executive Officer of the Patrol Craft HMNZS PUKAKI and Officer in Command of HMNZS KAHU.
Commander Toms undertook a 12 month Principal Warfare Officer’s Course from January 1996 and graduated from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Warfare School, HMAS WATSON with the Saint Barbara Association prize for excellence in gunnery. On returning to New Zealand he served in CANTERBURY, initially as the PWO and then as Operations Officer until early 1998. In addition to the cycle of deployments, during the time he served in CANTERBURY, the ship operated in support of Operation Coracle and Purple Haze, the Australian/New Zealand Truce Monitoring Group in Bougainville.
After 18 months in CANTERBURY, he was posted to the staff of the Maritime Commander as the Project Officer responsible for rationalising the Navy’s Operations Branch Structure (Project NONTEK). Promotion to Lieutenant Commander came in August 1998 with a posting to standby the ANZAC Class Frigate, HMNZS TE MANA, then being built in Melbourne Australia, as Operations Officer. After an interesting sixteen months involved in the build, developing procedures and routines, LTCDR Toms returned to New Zealand with the ship in December 1999. Twelve months of varied and challenging service followed, with the ship successfully conducting first of class trials, an operational work-up, and a Services Assisted Evacuation in the Solomon Islands.
From December 2000 until October 2002, Commander Toms served on the staff of the Chief of Navy in Defence Headquarters Wellington, as the Deputy Director of Naval Warfare and as the Naval Science Officer. In this capacity he was responsible for the development and staffing of RNZN warfare policy and the coordination of user requirements for the procurement of warfare capabilities.
October 2002 saw Commander Toms return to TE MANA as the Second in Command and as Executive Officer. During this period the ship conducted a successful Workup and made two operational deployments to the Persian Gulf participating in Operation Enduring Freedom. For the work he did in these two deployments, Commander Toms was made for Operational Service a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2005 Queens Birthday Honours.
Commander Toms was posted to the Five Power Defence Arrangement’s, Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System in Butterworth Malaysia in October 2004. Whilst in this post he was initially assigned the role of Director of Development where he had responsibility for Doctrine, Exercise Concepts and Training. In December 2005 he was made the Director of Operations where he was responsible for the planning and conduct of the five nation Combined and Joint Exercises.
Commander Toms returned to New Zealand and on the 27 February 2008 was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Replenishment Tanker, HMNZS ENDEAVOUR. In October 2010, after a challenging and varied time in command, including deployments to North Asia and the United States, he was posted to the staff of the Maritime Component Commander as Executive Officer and then as the Commander Maritime Operational Evaluation Team. In May of 2011 he also assumed the role of Captain Fleet Operational Support.
On 29 July 2011, he was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the ANZAC Class Frigate, HMNZS TE MANA.