Ross Hickey with the pennant presented to him on Monday (Photo Credit: Antarctic NZ)
3 March 2009
Timaru man Ross Hickey, a Lieutenant in the Royal New Zealand Navy, has just returned from a five month posting to the Antarctic, where he was the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) Senior National Officer and Logistic Support Coordinator for Antarctic NZ.
His daily tasks included overseeing a team of NZDF personnel and providing logistic support to the scientific teams working in the ice fields. At times this would involve Ross and his team departing Scott Base to take fuel and supplies up to 150 miles south of the Base to around the Darwin Glacier - an area Ross describes as “breathtakingly stunning”.
During his 'watch', he oversaw over 60 ship offloads on the third largest NZ operational mission overseas which at times saw over 80 NZDF personnel sited within McMurdo Station and Scott Base.
Antarctic New Zealand has selected Ross as the recipient of the prestigious 'Change of Season Pennant' for his work at Scott Base over the summer's deployment.
Erik Barnes, Manager Antarctic Programme, said "Every year we perform the raising and lowering of the flag (summer flag to winter pennant). This is a ceremony indicates the transition from the summer to winter season and hand over of leadership. The flag is traditionally given to star performers as one of our highest recognitions. I wanted to present the Scott Base Winter Flag to Lieutenant Ross Hickey this year for his outstanding performance this summer in both his roles as Antarctic NZ Logistics Support Coordinator and Senior National Officer. Ross was a key player in the success of this season and worked hard to provide an appropriate level of awareness about NZDF issues and presence with Antarctica NZ".
Unaware he was the recipient and expecting only to have a cuppa with the staff, Ross, the first NZDF serviceperson to receive the award, was presented the pennant at a small ceremony at the Antarctic NZ Centre in Christchurch on Monday 2 March.
The pennant flew on the flag pole outside Scott Base - the same flagpole used during Scott’s Expedition. "It was an absolute privilege to accept the pennant and I am keen to note the fantastic work of the rest of my NZDF team during the deployment", says Ross.
The 'ice' environment was not a new one for Ross. He was posted to the Antarctic in 1999 as Instructor for the Antarctic Field Training Team. Ross says his most recent posting to the Antarctic was completely different from his first experience as this time he was used a lot more in the ice fields flying supplies and fuel to remote out stations for the scientific field parties.
Ross, an old boy of Timaru College, joined the Navy in 1976 for what he says was "for the adventure". Ross joined initially as a Seaman (Sailor) - specialising in Radar. By 1982, Ross, who excelled and enjoyed many sports, applied for and was selected to become a Navy Physical Training Instructor. His love of the great outdoors and enjoying anything sporty and adventurous, Ross has continued his career motivating, coaching and actively participating in fitness and multi sports. The next step for Ross was to be commissioned as an Officer in the Navy in 2001 - specialising as the Fleet Sports Officer initially, prior to appointments at sea.
Summing up his time in Antarctic, Ross says he and his team of Defence Force personnel thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to continue to strengthen the long term partnership between the New Zealand Defence Force and Antarctic NZ.