Naval officer recognised for four decades of service to New Zealand

Forty years later and now retired, he has been appointed an Officer of The New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the King’s Birthday Honours - for his contribution to the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) after a storied career as a helicopter pilot, ship commander and finally as the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand. 

He has led the NZDF response to a range of disasters around the country and Pacific, and major multinational naval task forces further afield.

“I’m honoured and grateful to be recognised. But my thinking is most of it should be attributed to the support of my family through nearly 40 years of service, but also the men and women, in uniform and civilians, I’ve worked alongside,” he said.

Rear Admiral (Rtd) Gilmour joined the RNZN in 1985 as a communications rating and was soon commissioned from the ranks. He trained to be a helicopter pilot.

He flew fixed wing aircraft such as the CT/4 Airtrainer and the Strikemaster jet before moving on to helicopters such as the Bell 47, Iroquois, Wasp, Squirrel, Bell 206 and F- and G- model Seasprites.

His flying took a back seat in 2004 as his senior career took off. 

In 2009, as Commanding Officer of HMNZS Canterbury, Rear Admiral Gilmour was in charge of New Zealand’s response to a deadly tsunami that devastated Samoa. In 2011 Canterbury was again to the fore in response to the Christchurch earthquake under his command. 

Rear Admiral Gilmour became the first New Zealander to command Combined Task Forces (CTF) 151 and 176 – leading the international counter piracy mission CTF 151 in the Indian Ocean in 2011 and CTF 176 in the Rim of the Pacific exercise in 2016, which is the world’s largest international maritime combined training event.

He led the 2016 maritime response to the relief efforts in Kaikōura after the earthquake meant relief was only possible by sea. 

In 2018, Rear Admiral Gilmour was appointed as Commander Joint Forces New Zealand and was its longest-serving commander with nearly six years in the position.

During that time, New Zealand faced events such as the Christchurch mosque shooting, the Whakaari/White Island eruption, the fall of Afghanistan the war in Ukraine and Cyclone Gabrielle. Meanwhile, Joint Forces missions continued in the Middle East, Korea, Europe, Japan, Israel and the Sinai Peninsula, South Sudan and in the Pacific. 

Rear Admiral Gilmour was born and grew up in Devonport. He attended Takapuna Grammar and also Marlborough Boys’ College. 

His motivation to join the Navy was more practical than anything else.

“I joined to get free transport back to Devonport from Blenheim. I thought that I would probably last a couple of months so it wasn’t obvious that I was there for a ride home. 

“And I left 39 years and 10 months later.” 

Rear Admiral Gilmour said working for the NZDF was “absolutely stacked” with opportunities. 

“I wouldn’t have imagined driving a ship let alone commanding one, or frankly riding in a helicopter let alone being a pilot. It’s an awesome opportunity to advance yourself through a career.” 

Rear Admiral Gilmour said his career had been “an absolute blast”.

“There have been challenges but overall it’s been a real adventure. There’s adventure around every corner.”