Bradley Foster on a posting in New Zealand in 2015. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Bradley Foster on a posting in New Zealand in 2015. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Bradley Foster personifies the Anzac spirit.
He's an Australian soldier, working for and teaching in the New Zealand Defence Force and is the guest speaker at the 2018 Rotorua dawn service on Anzac Day.
The Warrant Officer Class Two was born in Queensland and joined the Australian Army at 23 as a rifleman in 1999.
He was first posted to the 42nd Battalion, The Royal Queensland Regiment, then the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment.
Foster served in East Timor from 2003 before posting to the School of Infantry in 2007. He became a sergeant in 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
It was for his work mentoring the Afghanistan National Army that Foster received a Commander Joint Task Force 633 Silver Commendation.
He was awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal in 2012 and was posted to the Royal Military College - Duntroon.
By 2015 he was posted to the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, as the Company Sergeant Major before coming to New Zealand at the start of this year.
Foster has now found himself as the Field Training Warrant Officer at the Officer Cadet School of New Zealand and on Wednesday will be the guest speaker at Rotorua's dawn service.
He believed the Anzac spirit was still alive.
"As we speak we've got Australian soldiers deploying with New Zealand Defence Force soldiers," he said.
"I'm part of the New Zealand Defence Force now, I'm living it.
Warrant Officer Bradley Foster is the guest speaker at the Rotorua Anzac Day dawn service. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
"We are different nations but we're very alike."
Foster said the role he was currently in was his career highlight.
"Without a doubt. Having the opportunity to post to New Zealand, the term Anzac means a hell of a lot. It's such an honour to come here and have the opportunity to train up the next generation of leaders for our armies."
Foster plans to talk about the tie he has seen between the two nations, the importance of that history and how to maintain it going forward.
There are several ways for locals and visitors to commemorate Anzac Day in Rotorua including the dawn service at 5.45am, a civic memorial service at 9am and by visiting the Rotorua District Field of Remembrance any time before April 29.
The team from Rotorua Museum will be at The Arts Village from 10am until 2pm on Anzac Day with a free craft activity.
Need to know: Dawn service - 5.45am: Gather at Ohinemutu, 5.50am: Parade to Muruika Soldiers' Cemetery, 6am: service begins. - Prayers by Reverend Tom Poata, dedication by Major Pita Anaru, hymn by the Combined Schools Choir, guest speaker Warrant Officer Class 2 Bradley Foster.
Anzac parade and civic memorial service - 8.45am: Meet at Memorial Drive Parade, 9am parade heads through Government Gardens to the Southern Trust Sportsdrome, 9.30am service begins. - Officiated by Reverend Tom Poata, guest speakers are Brigadier General Ian Thorpe CBE and John Paul College drama captain Olivia Temm, bugler Ken Douglas - Music from the City of Rotorua Highland Pipe Band, Evelyn Falconer, Rotorua Brass and Western Heights High School Band.
The Rotorua District Field of Remembrance - At the Government Gardens from now until April 29. - Walk among the crosses and place personal tributes.
Road closures - Memorial Drive at the lakefront from 8am to 10am. - People driving to the Southern Trust Sportsdrome are encouraged to avoid the Princes Gate entrance to Government Gardens and instead enter past Polynesian Spa and take the road behind Rotorua Museum and the Energy Events Centre, or arrive before 9am.
