Auckland school’s Services Academy sparks NZ Army career for electrician

This has lead to his latest task helping to improve the lives of people in the Cook Islands. 

Lance Corporal Fata, a member of the New Zealand Army’s 25 Engineer Support Squadron, 2 Engineer Regiment, is overseeing electrical tasks for Exercise Tropic Twilight on the small island of Ma’uke, population about 240. It’s his second stint of work in the Pacific following a trip to Tonga earlier this year. 

He has been leading a team of six electricians, including personnel from Australia and Vanuatu, as they tackled upgrades and maintenance of bore pumps and the island’s solar farm and school. 

The work, funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, involved replacing water pumps and replacing switches to ensure the six pumps were not constantly pumping, which was wasting water and wearing them out quicker. 

“We work mainly on residential, but this is bigger. Same concept but bigger scale,” Lance Corporal Fata said. 

“It was a bit overwhelming in the beginning but once I got my head around it, it made sense.”

Part of his role was assessing where each of the individual’s electrical knowledge was at and how to allocate work from there.

Lance Corporal Fata said the exercise had its challenges. Ma’uke is about 277 kilometres northeast of Rarotonga and most of the materials had to be brought in by aircraft or boat. 

“We are quite limited with resources. We don’t have the luxury of a supply store. We are working with what we have and trying to deliver the same outcome.”

However, making a meaningful difference for the people of Ma’uke was a motivation.

“They are lovely people, very friendly and make you feel like one of them. They have welcomed us with open arms, which makes me more driven and motivated to get these jobs done for them.”

Lance Corporal Fata is Samoan and was enjoying the hospitality and food on Ma’uke. 

“It feels like home. All the elderly people here remind me of my parents and grandparents and you show them the same level of respect, which I think is appreciated.”

It was Onehunga High School’s Services Academy, run in partnership with the New Zealand Defence Force’s Youth Development Unit, which inspired him to join the NZ Army. 

He enlisted in 2015 when he was 20 and initially trained as a gunner, posting to Manawatū-based 16^th Field Regiment. He became a mortar detachment commander and spent a lot of time at Waiouru Military Training Area.

“But once I had a family, I felt I needed to spend more time at home, hence the trade change to be a sparkie.”

Lance Corporal Fata’s career has allowed him to attend multinational exercises in Hawaii, centenary anniversary commemorations for the Battle of Messines in Belgium in 2017, and more recently carrying out electrical work in Tonga and now the Cook Islands.

“The Services Academy just painted a picture, and I thought, yes I’ll go for that. I’ve never looked back.”