Running the Gun for 75 years

As the dust settled at the end of the Korean conflict, gunners from the Royal New Zealand Artillery Regiment would have reflected on what they’d contributed, what they’d achieved and what they’d sacrificed in the pursuit of peace.

Seven years deployed. Three years of active conflict. 750,000 artillery rounds fired, more than any other commonwealth Regiment.

45 New Zealanders killed either during, or as a result of their deployment.

Our forebears earned the Korean Presidential citation for their efforts, which we proudly wear on our service uniforms today. An acknowledgment that we cannot and will not forget those who came before.

So much has changed in 75 years since our Regiment was founded.

From equipment and capabilities through to wider societal norms and behaviours, and the world order itself.

But we can also draw clear parallels from 1950 through to today, particularly as it relates to our fundamental purpose.

We are living in an increasingly volatile strategic environment. The international rules-based system is strained, and aggressors are pushing boundaries in ways we haven’t seen.

Warfare has also changed significantly. We only need to look at Ukraine, and its defence against Russia’s illegal invasion to see the impact new technology has had on the 21^st century battlefield.

But what remains as fundamental as it did on the Korean Peninsula is the skill, courage, integrity, commitment and comradeship of our soldiers and personnel.

Like our forebears, the 16^th Field Regiment of 2025 is a modern, highly capable, highly trained fires unit that delivers close support to not only our own people wearing the New Zealand Defence Force uniform, but our ally and partner forces.

We have the technology, people and capabilities to tap into significant lethal and non-lethal multi-domain effects to support frontline troops and units, and we continuously test these both domestically and overseas.

We’re also focused on the areas that we know are crucial for future success, with long-range lethality a capability we are progressing towards.

But crucially, we do all this whilst standing on the shoulders of those who first fired those rounds in anger in Korea.

That is why it is important for us to mark occasions like these. This was a chance for the Regiment to reflect on the journey it has been on, and crucially the path that lies ahead. Particularly in a time and in a world where things seem to come and go more readily.

In honour of our founding gunners, the Regiment carried out a 75-kilometre Gun Run. A gruelling 22-hour slog pushing a 1,900-kilogram 105mm light gun through the night.

Running a Gun takes resilience, sacrifice, teamwork and courage. All things we work on every day.

And so, when the Gun gets heavy, we will think back to those who fired the first rounds in Korea. We will dig deep. And we will remember the task we are here to do.

The 16^th Field Regiment is here to deliver the lethality and protection our people need, when our nation calls on us to do so.

Ubique.