20 April 2010
By Judith Martin
The effort the New Zealand Defence Force puts into helping its Southeast Asian military neighbours with English language and other military skills has been “incredibly beneficial” towards the relationship the countries share, says Chief of Army, Major General Rhys Jones.
He has recently returned from a diplomatic visit to Vietnam and Thailand. In Vietnam he held discussions with his military counterparts, and addressed a Vietnamese Army logistics organisation about operational logistic lessons learned from New Zealand’s recent deployments.
MAJGEN Jones also visited Nui Dat where New Zealand troops were based during the Vietnam War, as well as the Long Tan site where mainly Australian but also a handful of New Zealand soldiers fought a long and fierce battle during the war.
The Vietnam military is dedicated and focussed, he said, and full of smart and competent people. They are keen to hear about their neighbour’s military deployments. They appreciated the support provided by New Zealand, particularly teaching its officers English language skills.
“For the next 10 years or so our focus with regard to Vietnam will probably be on reinforcing that support.”
The Vietnamese, he said, had “very much moved on from the Vietnam War, and are focused on the future not the past. There’s no bitterness there—they are proud of their strength and resilience as a country. The war cost them a lot, but it is a great source of pride that they got where they are today largely on their own.”
In Thailand MAJGEN Jones also visited his military counterparts, and spoke about, among other things, New Zealand’s recent military deployments. He was shown around a Thai Special Forces Centre and inspected a guard.
“New Zealand’s military has a long and comfortable relationship with Thailand. They value the access to courses and study in New Zealand as well as our practical approach to training. I came away with an appreciation of how important our Military Studies Institute, our Defence Language School, and Staff College are to countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the Grade Two and Three Courses at Tactics School.”
“That sort of involvement has a significant impact on our military and diplomatic relationships. Militaries in those countries are influential, and if they have a positive approach towards New Zealand that can only help their entire government approach towards New Zealand. The knowledge those students pick up here creates a very long lasting impression.”
The western approach taken during the Vietnam War reinforces his view that New Zealand troops are on the right track with the work they are doing in Bamyan Province in Afghanistan, says MAJGEN Jones.
“The struggles that Vietnam endured during its counter-insurgency campaign are, I feel, quite a strong lesson for us as we operate as a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. A military operation can either dampen down or inflame insurgent activity, but tackling problems at their root cause is key to their solution.
“Our Provincial Reconstruction Team is targeting poverty, unemployment and education, and that is what is needed. The role of the military is to stop conflict so that the real issues in countries such as Afghanistan can be resolved by other agencies.”