Napier man swaps welder for military kit in Malaysia

New Zealand Army reservist Lance Corporal Matt Rasmussen from Napier in the jungles of Malaysia. Photo / Supplied

Napier man Matt Rasmussen may have put aside the heat from his welding job for now but his temporary home for the next few weeks will be turning plenty of heat on for him.

He, along with more than 50 other New Zealand Army reservists, has taken up residence in the jungles of Malaysia where the major multinational military Exercise Bersama Lima is taking place.

The annual exercise involves forces from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and New Zealand and was forged by the Five Power Defence Arrangement set up in 1971 as a commitment to the enhanced security of Malaysia and Singapore.

In the civilian world, Lance Corporal Rasmussen is a welder for Motus Hydraulics and works part-time as an engineering contractor carrying out maintenance work at the Pan Pac mill.

He said he signed up as a reservist because he wanted to challenge himself and pursue challenging new opportunities.

"There is something extremely rewarding about putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and overcoming them," he said.

"You also learn a great set of skills and gain strong core values that can be translated to everyday life — and you get much more interesting work stories."

Since signing up he has excelled on the army front and in 2017 was declared top soldier in the 5/7 Battalion East Coast Company as well as being nominated for New Zealand Army Reservist of the Year.

He said he was fizzing about the latest deployment to Malaysia.

"Deployments are why we do what we do — it doesn't get any better than this."

Rasmussen said such events were always a "great opportunity" to put the knowledge gained and skills learned to use in a challenging environment, and the bonus was working in with soldiers from New Zealand's ally and partner nations.

The three-week exercise runs until October 19 and involves Royal New Zealand Navy, New Zealand Army, and Royal New Zealand Air Force units along with supporting units.

An army spokesperson said the reservists regularly worked and trained in with their regular force counterparts and that training provided great benefits to their civilian roles, benefiting employers and communities.