It's farewell to Timor Leste

BON VOYAGE: The President of Timor Leste, Xanana Gusmao, inspects members of NZBATT 6 and No 3 Squadron RNZAF at a farewell parade held at the Suai Forward Operation Base, marking the end of more than three years of peace support operations by the New Zealand Defence Force.

The New Zealand flag has been formally lowered, the troops have come home, and a New Zealand three-year-plus military excursion, the largest since the Korean War of the 1950s is finally over.

NZDF Director of Communication Warren Inkster was there …

"Kiwi Aqua…Kiwi Aqua…" They were the calls of local Timor Leste (formerly East Timor) residents in the Cova Lima district as the blue beret teams of the New Zealand Defence Force did their work in the villages.

They were there to help restore water supplies, build schools, reconstruct roads, re-roof civil buildings, provide support within their limited resources, and for the locals, a gift of bottled water - Kiwi Aqua - from New Zealand Defence Force personnel became a treasured offering.

According to the commander of NZBATT 6, Lieutenant Colonel Dean Baigent who led the parade for the lowering of the New Zealand flag in Suai for the last time on November 15, civilian aid was only 10 per cent of the New Zealand task.

"Our officers, senior NCOs and serving men and women had a range of secondary trades including forestry, dentistry, medical doctors, teachers, and general Kiwi handyman skills in everything from roading to agriculture and fixing a broken water pipe," he says.

"We laid a challenge for members of our battalion to help mentor the local population through their administrative functions. We knew we were leaving and it was important to have an eye to the future."

Under the guidance of Battalion personnel, the Cova Lima hospital was inaugurating an ambulance service and members of the Battalion had set up a fund for four students from the district, one of the poorest in this new country, to attend University in Dili.

The hard work was patrolling the border, the green beret patrols, where in excessive heat and high humidity, young soldiers would set out for five and 10 day patrols carrying all their equipment and water. At the end of their tours of duty they were seasoned soldiers.

The role of the battalion as enforcer of the peace won the greatest respect for New Zealand. Groups of East Timorese posing as former freedom fighters, extorting money off local residents, wearing uniforms, becoming unruly and a law unto themselves, were brought to heel by the New Zealanders giving confidence for the residents of the Cova Lima district that they can rebuild their lives.

Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, told a parade in Darwin hosted by the Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force to acknowledge the effort of the "Kiwis" in Timor Leste, that one lesson to emerge from the deployment was that New Zealand can be a significant asset to any multi-nation coalition.

"New Zealand's battalion group was self deployable, self contained and self supporting in spite of logistic difficulties in deploying and sustaining an expeditionary force with long lines of land and sea communications," he said

New Zealand Defence Minister, Mark Burton, said the Australia and New Zealand relationship is long-standing.

"The friendship, camaraderie, and support Australians and Kiwis offer each other is nowhere more demonstrated that when our Service men and women serve together, shoulder to shoulder, in times of trouble or conflict.

"East Timor has seen the Service men and women of our two nations continue - and indeed live up to - the highest standards of this ANZAC tradition"

The contribution of New Zealand was warmly praised first by General Peter Cosgrove who admired the professionalism of the New Zealand Defence Force and the confidence it gave to Australia in protecting the dangerous border with West Timor.

Australian Assistant to the Minister of Defence, Dana Vale, told the Darwin parade that over the past three years, the New Zealand contingent has made a remarkable contribution to peacekeeping in East Timor and played a key role in securing the young country's future.

"The work performed by New Zealand, Australia and other coalition nations under the United Nations mandate in East Timor will not be forgotten by the UN and the international community or by the people of East Timor, Minister Vale said.

	SALUTING THE REPLACEMENTS: An Iroquois helicopter from No 3 Squadron RNZAF dips low over the Suai parade ground as the Thai flag is raised signifying the changeover of peacekeeping responsibilities in the Cova Lima district of Timor Leste.

A highlight of the parade was the awarding of an Australian Meritorious Unit Citation to No.3 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force for outstanding service during East Timor operations.

In presenting No.3 Squadron RNZAF with the Meritorious Unit Citation, Minister Vale said the award was further recognition of the esteem with which Australia holds the professionalism and dedication of coalition partners like New Zealand, in East Timor.

The Untied Nations East Timor operation has been New Zealand's largest overseas military deployment since the Korean War. In total, about 4000 NZDF personnel served in East Timor.

Some 26 NZDF personnel will remain in East Timor, including staff officers, military observers and training personnel. The force extraction team in East Timor is currently loading containers of equipment for return to New Zealand.

Photographs by RNZAF photographer Sgt Kevin Randles