KEY POINTS:
Rowena Gattsche is no stranger to her husband being overseas and in harm's way.
But saying goodbye to her husband and her son, as they take up arms to keep the peace in the troubled Solomon Islands for four months, has been a new experience.
Major Nigel Gattsche,
48, and son Private Josef Gattsche, 20, have put their jobs exporting housing materials on hold to serve with the Army's part-time Territorial Force , which is providing 33 of the 44 personnel who left Christchurch yesterday in the latest New Zealand deployment to the Solomons.
"Nigel has been involved with the Army for 30 years, so I'm used to him coming and going. But it's not what I expected, to have Josef keen to join as well," she said. "I have a fairly positive outlook. You can't concentrate on the risks. They could just as easily get run over by a bus here in New Zealand."
The make-up of the group travelling to the Solomons represents the highest percentage of reservists in an overseas deployment since World War II. It has been seized on by critics as a sign there are not enough full-time troops left to go.
Major Gattsche, who heads the deployment, has no doubt his team of part-timers are up to the task.
"It's one of those things the TF train for, exactly the same as the regulars. It's good to be considered you are good enough to do the job."
He said the mission had a different feel about it than others he had been on. "The attitude is quite different being TF. There's a real sense of adventure. I would equate it to being the same as those heading off to the first World War.
"The TF deployed then, and packed up and shot through. The TF have a different perception on things. Whereas the regular troops are purely military, we can think outside the square, so to speak."
He said the Solomons was "relatively stable", with contingents of Australian and New Zealand police and military keeping a lid on the disorder of recent times.
"But it is one of those places where there can be flashpoints and it can change overnight."
The TF troops had strict "rules of engagement" to follow before firing their weapons in any situation.
"It's defensive only," he said.
"There's no way you can just go and shoot anyone. It's probably not any different to a policeman. I'm sure no one would ever want to [fire on someone], but it may be the case they have to."
The group will have the tasks of patrolling the outer islands of the Solomons and providing security around the country's Rove Prison.
Although Christmas without her husband and son would be tough, Mrs Gattsche said she and her two teenage daughters were looking forward to a "laidback summer with the boys away".
