25 January 2006
Nineteen-year-old, Tauranga woman Lance Corporal Hollie Mathieson is putting three years of Army training to good use on her first overseas deployment. In December Lance Corporal Mathieson was deployed as a signaller/driver with the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.
"My main role will be as a signaller, but on a daily basis I expect to be doing a lot of slow driving, and digging my vehicle out," she says. "I’m looking forward to experiencing a different culture and meeting the local Afghani people - especially the children. I’m also looking forward to putting my three years of training to good use."
LCPL Mathieson joined the Army with her twin sister, LCPL Eve Mathieson, who is based in Linton Military Camp in Palmerston North. She says her parents Mary and John, who live in Tauranga, have been very supportive of their daughters’ Army careers.
"I am very proud of what I have achieved," says LCPL Mathieson, who was promoted to the rank of lance corporal at the tender age of 18, just before completing two years in the Army. “Joining the Army never really came into my life plan but I have no regrets. I have done so much choice stuff and I’ve met some awesome people. I’m really looking forward to my first deployment."
LCPL Mathieson’s first introduction to Afghanistan’s Bamyan province was a white Christmas in the region’s harsh, sub-zero-degree winter. Along with 93 other New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team personnel, LCPL Mathieson will play an important role in restoring and maintaining stability in the province. The team assists the Afghan Government by promoting reconstruction in Bamyan and assessing civil, political and military reform efforts. The team conducts liaison patrols throughout the province and interacts with members of the community at all levels.
Originally deployed in September 2003, the PRT has been extended through until September 2006. The contingent is the seventh rotation of personnel to the area, with each rotation serving for approximately six months.
For further information contact Major Charmaine Pene, Army Public Relations, on 021 487 980 or (04) 496 0296