Aussie general salutes NZ Army

An Australian Army chief has paid the highest compliment to the New Zealand Army.

The deputy chief of the Australian Army, Major General Ian Gordon, stunned his Kiwi counterparts by saying Australian soldiers did not strive to be better than New Zealand soldiers - they would be happy to be as good.

The deputy chief of the New Zealand Army, Brigadier Barry Vryenhoek, said in the latest issue of Army News that General Gordon made the comments at a conference in Burnham, Christchurch.

"He said that just as the Wallabies strive to match the All Blacks in rugby, so does the Australian Army strive to match the New Zealand Army's standard," Brigadier Vryenhoek said.

"General Gordon then went on to expand his remark by stating that the Australian Army did not try to be better than the New Zealand Army, but simply tried to be as good as us and reach our high standards."

He said it was high praise from an Australian Army officer who worked closely with New Zealand in East Timor.

The Army's vision was to be a world-class Army that had mana but it was difficult to establish if they had achieved that, he said.

"General Gordon's comments indicate that in the minds of some external observers we are well on the way to achieving our aim."

Brigadier Vryenhoek said at the meeting of top officers from both sides of the Tasman that the Australians showed a keen interest in several areas they felt they could learn from New Zealand, including the development of the Army brand, recruiting, and its training course.

- NZPA