This role was initiated in the 2010 Defence White Paper to broaden the expertise of the Defence Force Leadership board and bring fresh thinking to the wider Defence Force.
More specifically the White Paper said the COO must be able to “drive the reforms to redistribute resources to front line capability and ensure this redistribution is planned and executed with vigour.”
In July CDF Lieutenant General Rhys Jones announced he was delighted Mr William Peet had accepted the role of COO.
Background
A civil engineer by trade, Will brings over 13 years experience from the private sector including CEO of ONTRACK and Acting Group CEO of KiwiRail. This dovetails with the White Paper recommendation that the COO be recruited from a commercial background rather than from a core government background. Will has vast experience dealing with complex, large scale organisations with big budgets.
Together with his family, Will also spent 2010 in Niue as the Government's Infrastructure Coordinator, where he was responsible for public works, ICT, power, airport, civil aviation and bulk fuel.
What drew Will to this position?
When we spoke to William after just three days in the new job, he was clear about what drew him to this challenging role.
”The Defence Force presents interesting opportunities in the sense that yes, we have to make savings of $350-400 million a year, but we actually get to keep the savings and reinvest them in new capability – that’s more exciting than straight down sizing.
“I like that NZDF is more than just a business – it’s an organisation that’s important both at home and on the world stage. That means that we have to take the best of both Defence and business experience for us to achieve our goals.”
Will says he had “real confidence coming into this job” after staying at the PRT Base in Bamyan, when he was working as a consultant for MFAT, and meeting Defence Force personnel. He says he was particularly impressed by their “commitment, professionalism, ability to do the job and friendly attitude.”
What will the COO do?
While the COO does not make military command or operational decisions, it is the highest position a civilian can attain in the NZDF, with William having equal status to the Vice Chief of the Defence Force.
Although William will be based at Defence Headquarters in Wellington, he says he recognises the majority of what the NZDF does takes place outside Head Office, and one of his initial priorities is “to just get out and meet people”, by visiting the ships, aircrews, camps and bases and gathering information about how the NZDF does business.
Once he’s got a firm handle on the issues facing the Defence Force as a business, William says he wants to ensure that “there’s a working pipeline for innovation” and people feel what they are doing is making a difference.
“I want people throughout the organisation to have the skills, the tools and the ability to make decisions in their areas”.
He says CDF is focussed on sharing responsibility down the layers of the organisation, and William agrees with him that “that’s the way to get things done.”
While his approach is “action” and Will maintains it is “sometimes it is better to get 80% right, rather than 100% done”, he is also conscious that Defence must be accountable. “We spend lots of money and are answerable to both Ministers and the public as a whole.”
What about the future?
Will says his focus will be in building the business for tomorrow.
“No matter how great our plan is, if we don’t have the organisational systems and the logistics systems and the support we need to make it work, we won’t deliver.”
He and the DFLB also want everyone who works for the Defence Force, whether military or civilian to be “really passionate” – both in theatre and here at home.
“As an organisation the NZDF has the ‘X’ factor,” he says. “But how do we get the same sense of zing here at home as we do in theatre?”
NZDF’s top civilian
As COO, Will will work closely with all members of the DFLB but especially with VCDF, with whom he shares responsibility for strategic reform. While Will will look after the reform areas to “run the business”, including the areas of Logistics, Estate, Shared Services and CIS, VCDF looks after capability and military areas.
William says he has been made to feel very welcome by all DFLB members.
“They seem keen on having a civilian on board to bring in a different perspective. I’m expecting to be both challenged and be challenging, which makes us all perform.”
Family Life
Will is married to Gabrielle, a former corporate lawyer, with whom he has three girls aged between four and eight. He is also a keen yachtie with a 48’ yacht berthed in Evans Bay and also likes to keep fit by jogging, biking and kayaking.
Will is originally from Christchurch and remains a loyal Crusaders’ supporter.