1(NZ) Bde Change of Command

CHANGE OF COMMAND FOR 1(NZ) BRIGADE

By Judith Martin

People are the centre of 1 st (New Zealand) Brigade so training and well-being will be at the core of how it achieves its outputs, says the newly appointed Brigade Commander Colonel Stef Michie.

“The Brigade is on a really good path so I want to add my energy to that rather than try and make big changes. Right now, the Brigade has a large role to play in operations as part of the All-of-Government Covid response; we have to get that right and help assure the people of New Zealand the risk is being managed effectively,” he says

“Beyond that immediate priority, we have Army25 which sets out what we are to achieve.”

COL Michie, who takes over from (now) Brigadier Matt Weston, says he wants to help make training as interesting and stimulating as possible as forces are generated ready for operations.

“There are a lot of peoplerelated initiatives such as the WIRES programme that I’m keen to see reach their full potential. The Brigade must also do its part in growing the Army and preparing for the future, so that means supporting individual training through TRADOC as well as getting ready for new capabilities, both in the immediate future and further downstream such as NEA or the recently announced PM-V acquisition.”

COL Michie has served in the Sinai, Timor Leste, Afghanistan and Iraq, and has held a variety of training and command posts in New Zealand and Australia. Before taking up his current role he was Chief of Defence Strategy Management.

What is he looking forward to as Commander 1 Brigade? “Primarily it’s the chance to work with so many motivated Kiwis serving their country – 1 Brigade has people and purpose; those are the things that drew me to the Army in the first place.” Today’s young soldiers face many challenges, he says. “Any young person in New Zealand society today has to deal with a myriad of complex social issues and soldiers are not immune from them. Additionally, the Government has high expectations of Defence, especially here in NZ and around the Pacific so that has helped pump up the tempo, together with things like vastly more complex technology, a much more rigorous approach to training standards and Health and Safety requirements.

“Along with rising expectations, soldiers today will also find themselves under greater scrutiny in almost everything they do. Ubiquitous mobile devices and social media means that almost anything can become public knowledge within minutes, both on operations and domestically. That makes for a higher-pressure environment than previous generations grew up in.”

With respect to the Brigade’s training focus, COL Michie notes that “first and foremost, the Army is required to generate land forces ready to undertake combat operations. Until that changes, preparation for combat will always be the core purpose of our training. While we can be highly adaptable, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and similar operations are something we can do because of our training and readiness, not the primary reason for them.”

COL Michie was awarded the Distinguished Service Decoration in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his role in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquake in February 2011.

COL Michie and his wife Lieutenant Colonel Roz Michie have two daughters, Molly and Grace.

“My own whanau give me amazing support. As many people know, being part of a Service couple brings its own special challenges and there is no way I could do this job without the support of my wife Roz who is already a very busy officer herself, while also being the primary caregiver to our girls. She is just awesome.”

The Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell welcomes Colonel Michie.