In high school, Tom Gilbert led fellow students.
Now the former deputy head boy of Central Hawke's Bay College is leading a 35-member New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) engineering contingent bound for the Sinai Peninsula.
"It is a massive honour to lead NZDF personnel on operations overseas," Lieutenant Gilbert, a Troop Commander in the New Zealand Army's 2nd Field Squadron, said.
"A position of leadership comes with a unique set of challenges, which I very much look forward to. Every officer aspires to lead soldiers on operations and few get this opportunity.
"I am very humbled to be chosen to lead the contingent. It is my last year of troop command, so this deployment is the perfect way to finish my term as troop commander."