Room At The Top In The Defence Force

[dpdouglas]

Ther'll be room at the top of the NZDF when the contracts for three top jobs end in february 2006. Contracts for Chief of Defence Force AIRMSHL Bruce Ferguson, Cjief of Air Force AVM John Hamilton and Chief of Army MAJ GEN Jerry Mateparae all expire on february 2006.
The Process of selecting successors will be overseen by the State Services Commisioner and the Government. Appointment recommendations are expected to be put forward to the governor general early in the new year.
A Number of high ranking senior officers in all three services are expected to be invited to put their name forward for the vacancies.
It is not known if AVM Hamilton or MAJ GEN Mataparae will be seeking the CDF's position but both are eligible for promotion.
AIRMSHL Ferguson took over as CDF four years ago at a time when the NZDF was wracked with rivalry but unde his leadership it has shrugged off the past and developed a strong tri-service commitment.
It has also been a busy time for the NZDF with major deployments to Solomon Islands ,Afghanistan and the middle east stretching its resources.
New Defence Minister Mr. Phil Goff commended AIRMSHL Ferguson on his contribution to the NZDF.

[Sean Strang]

They have all been given extensions of service until April to allow for a selection process for replacements.

[dpdouglas]

thank you for the update.

[corsair67]

The new CDF will probably be that 'Nachos Tandoori' bloke from the Greens, if Helen's and her cronies have any say in it!

Winston Peters might be looking for a new job by April, so maybe he could be CDF too? ;D

[Dave Homewood]

Why April? Do you think he won't be Foreign Minister by then?

Sadly he's doing a terrible job - he hasn't thrown out any foreigners or upset one country yet!

[corsair67]

I think a lot of aged pensioners are feeling a little peeved because "their" Winnie hasn't started a war with some south-east Asian nation yet. ;D

I reckon that Helen will have definitely had enough of Winston by April, if not sometime before then!

[dpdouglas]

For the countries sake i hope the new CDF is someone with enough smarts to put our Defence Force right.

[rnzafhusband]

It won't be the CDF who decides.... it will be the Labour led coalition Government. I don't particularly like your chances under the current regime.