SIAF was established in November 2021 in response to a request for assistance from the Government of the Solomon Islands, issued after public upheaval.
Major Gareth Collings, Warrant Officer Class 2 Lawrence Colvin, Lieutenant Mitchell Berryman, and Lieutenant Hamish Finlayson have finished their six-month tour. During their deployment, they worked with the Australian Defense Force (ADF), the Australian Federal Police (AFP), and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF).
Major Collings, a combat veteran who served in Bougainville, Afghanistan, and Iraq, served as the operations officer for the multinational team. In this role, he was responsible for the planning and delivery of activities for the team. He claimed he had gotten a lot out of his time with SIAF.
“We have put lot of efforts to create positive engagement opportunities with local communities, and we have implemented some low-level, quick-impact construction tasks that have helped complement our security tasks.” We have established contacts here, and it’s beautiful that the local communities view us as Pacific neighbours.
“The commanders and troops from Australia I’ve dealt with here have been highly motivated, committed, and professional. Despite the significant discrepancy in personnel numbers, I had the pleasure of working for two Commanding Officers in the Australian Defense Force who genuinely valued and protected the identity of the New Zealand Defense Force and gave us the impression that we were equal participants in the organization.
“Working with the New Zealander team that’s been stationed here has been the highlight of this deployment for me, while I’ve liked many facets of it. They put in a lot of effort, are motivated, have a fantastic sense of humour, and are professionals.
The new New Zealand squad assembled will be stationed for around half a year.
