In the national interest: Case studies

CASE STUDY ONE

The quick and the dread

Jason Easthope wanted to stay with the Air Force but could not bear the thought of flying transport planes.

The squadron leader flew nimble Skyhawk jets for 13 years until the Air Force's strike wing was disbanded in 2001. He was told he could choose which of the remaining aircraft he wanted to fly, but lumbering transport planes held little appeal.

"It was like going from racing cars to buses."

Fortunately, skilled and well-trained pilots are in demand by foreign air forces keen to acquire talent without having to pay the training costs.

Squadron Leader Easthope left for the Royal Australian Air Force a year ago and now teaches rookie pilots at a base north of Sydney.

"A whole bunch of us - eight or nine - are now flying fast jets," he says of the former Skyhawk pilots.

"The Australians were crying out for guys like us."

The squadron leader is an example of the talent draining from the New Zealand military that defence papers show is causing concern.

The remaining Air Force staff are said to be "extremely busy" with Orion, Hercules and Iroquois aircraft being deployed overseas.

New Zealand's 17 Skyhawks - some 30 years old - were the butt of bar-room jokes for being antiquated aircraft with little military value.

But Squadron Leader Easthope says the perception was wrong. He flew many new jets with other air forces during pilot exchanges, and "given the choice, I would take the Skyhawk with me".

The Skyhawks were capable, robust, great bomb-carriers, easy to fly and had avionics designed with pilots in mind.

He concedes that by 2007 the aircraft would have been expensive to keep flying, but believes New Zealand should have a strike wing.

He has seen the benefits Australia receives from military interaction with allies, and has heard "a lot of comments about Kiwis being bludgers".

CASE STUDY TWO

Traditions hinder ambition


Alex Gray joined the Navy in her late teens as an ambitious woman wanting to go places fast.

She was one of the first two people sent to Australia to set up administration for the New Zealand Navy's Anzac frigate programme.

It was a responsible job for such a young woman. She indeed seemed to be going places fast.

But not fast enough.

Miss Gray, now 26, found the Navy hierarchy too rigid. She left five years ago - and became an accountant.

"You serve for a set time and although you might be better than someone else at your job, you will be paid the same as everyone else," she said. "It was very old-school, mainly men, very traditional."

The Navy's corporate relations manager, Jo Bunce, said there was no shortage of recruits but there was a shortage of officers.

"We take five to eight years to train staff to be valuable. If they decide to go after that, we lose the investment."

One solution would be to encourage staff who have left the Navy to come back, he said.

The military usually does better with recruiting when it is busy - as the Navy has been with its frigates in the Gulf.

Mr Bunce said the media was taking a bigger interest in the military, and it was hoped the publicity would help with officer recruitment.

Social changes have made it harder to retain good staff, the trend being for people to have several careers in their lifetimes.

Miss Gray said that if she had wanted to become an officer the Navy would have paid for her to study at university. But she would have had to commit to the forces for nine years.

That prospect was "daunting".

The armed forces must find some other way to retain the likes of Miss Gray.