Kiwis in Iraq

[Dave the Dawg]

This is the mission description from the New Zealand Defence Force website:

The New Zealand government has approved, under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483,the deployment to Iraq of an engineer group of 61 personnel to undertake humanitarian and reconstruction tasks. Comprising about 40 engineers plus their support staff, the group will work alongside British and other nations' forces under British control in Southern Iraq. An advance party of nine personnel left New Zealand on Sunday, September 14, 2003 and the main body will leave NZ on September 26 for the six-month deployment.
The Labour/Progressive government is just so nice and sensitive! Engineers, undertaking humanitarian and reconstruction tasks. Doesn't that warm the heart?

Task Group Rake, the NZ contingent, is made up of engineers, and they are doing wonderful humanitarian things. As the NZDF website shows, they brought water to 200,000 people outside Basrah, in southern Iraq:

http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/images/news/IMG_0044.jpg

In a statement when they announced the deployment, Defence Minister Mark Burton said that "NZDF engineers would work to repair and refurbish hospitals, health clinics, schools, police stations, law courts, and municipal and government buildings. In addition, they will assist in restoring electricity the rebuilding of bridges and water pipelines." In a Q&A, they did acknowledge that the engineers would be armed "for self-protection."

Since then, the NZ government has so underreported their contribution that many New Zealanders had no idea they even had troops in Iraq, and thought that they had civilian engineers there. I am here to cure that!

The NZ engineers are attached to the UK 35 Engineer Regiment. The 35 Engineers were nice enough to host pictures:

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_16_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_22_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_21_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_23_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_25_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_26_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_27_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_SgtDonald_jpg.jpg

http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_Sgt_Donald_Sgt%20Rax_jpg.jpg

[MVSpartan117]

Great pics!
Those augs are exceptionally short! :D

[stuntman]

what kind of body armor is this?http://www.35engrregt.co.uk/nz%20photo%20album/images/nz_27_jpg.jpg

[Glock]

Why did they use the Steyr AUG with a 14inch barral? In Austria only SF use this Type of AUG. And they dont like it.
Greating Leo

[digrar]

Being engineers, geting in and out of plant equipemt all the time, they would be issued with the shorter barrel version.
The front hand grips are locked in the down position unlike the other longer barreled versions.

[Flagg]

Thanks very much for posting photos of the RNZE contingent in Iraq!

Until now, with the exception of the NZ Army News I haven't seen many photos of NZers in A'stan or Iraq(lots of stories at Batt Grp Xmas piss-up though!)...even when the PM visited them late last year photo/video coverage was very low profile.

Only one per injured to date, fortunately(Army Captain traveling with Pom contingent in IED attack on convoy).

It's interesting to see the Desert DPMs.....as I had heard internally the possibility of staying with Woodland DPM to differentiate themselves from other contingents.

Ubique....Kia Kaha!

[Flagg]

Being engineers, geting in and out of plant equipemt all the time, they would be issued with the shorter barrel version.
The front hand grips are locked in the down position unlike the other longer barreled versions.

And they're bloody loud!

[marktigger]

nice to see the pics of the kiwis in Iraq

[Ngati Tumatauenga]

Issueing of weapons depends on mission task-org. If the weapon is in the 'system' and you can justify the need to the pogues chances are you'll get it.

In my experience you only notice the difference between the 14inch and 20inch barrels out past 300m.

The armour is produced in Britain I believe.