Leading Hydrographic Survey Technician Renee Mullins has transferred a love of being on the water and marine science to a career in the Navy.

25 September, 2025

From Heyward Point in Dunedin, Renee joined the Royal New Zealand Navy following a suggestion from her science teacher at Otago Girls High School.

“I loved being on and around the water and spent a lot of time sailing on Otago Harbour,” she said.

“At high school I did a lot of the marine science side of things and really enjoyed it. I had a science teacher who suggested maybe the Navy offers a combination of both being on the water and marine science. That’s how I found hydrography over all the other things I could have chosen.

“I spent the first year in Basic Common Training and then a year at sea focussing on the seamanship side of things before starting surveying as a trade at HMNZS Matataua at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.

“I’ve had some pretty good opportunities and travelled the world a little bit. I’ve been to a couple of different islands now, Nauru being one of them. I also did RIMPAC in 2020, and I’ve had two years sailing with the Experiential Leadership Squadron sailing with new recruits and promotional courses.”

At the beginning of 2024, Leading Hydrographic Survey Technician Mullins came back to surveying, work which has recently seen her return to her hometown of Dunedin as her tightly knit team conducted boat ramp surveys in Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Bluff in preparation for potential future operations of Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) in the South Island.

The Navy’s newest USVs, named Tahi and Rua, are seven metres long and weigh one tonne. They can be transported by ship, air or by road on a trailer and are renewably powered by solar, wind and wave energy, giving them a three-month mission endurance and unlimited range. This means they can stay at sea for long periods without support.

While the Navy has no current plans to operate the USV from the South Island, the survey would ensure it could do so if the need arose.

Acoustically silent, they are particularly suitable for conducting surveillance and reconnaissance operations and are packed with sensors, radar, camera and communication equipment. While at sea, they are monitored 24/7 by Navy personnel in a control room at the Devonport Naval Base.

If there was a message Leading Hydrographic Survey Technician Mullins would give students at Otago Girls High thinking about a future career, it’s to consider the Navy.

“I’d tell the kids at school it’s definitely worth it. It gave me the opportunity to work, learn and travel and earn money without the pressure of university.”

A Seasprite maritime helicopter and its associated equipment and ammunition is on its way to Singapore thanks to the transport capabilities of the Royal Australian Air Force.

19 September, 2025

The SH-2G(I) Seasprite Helicopter from No. 6 Squadron, was this week loaded aboard a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at RNZAF Base Auckland.

The helicopter will connect with Maritime Sustainment Vessel HMNZS Aotearoa which has been undergoing maintenance in Singapore since April.

Watch Seasprite helicopter transported for duty in Asia | Royal New Zealand Navy video

Seasprite helicopter transported for duty in Asia | Royal New Zealand Navy

Aotearoa is set to take part in Exercise Bersama Lima, a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) tactical level military exercise being hosted in Malaysia. The FPDA is a multilateral defence pact established in 1971 between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The ship and its embarked helicopter will also contribute to the monitoring of United Nations Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea.

While Royal New Zealand Air Force NH-90s have been transported by C-17As before, this is a first for this variant of Seasprite.

No. 6 Squadron maintainers prepared the helicopter for transport, folding in and securing the rotors, while Air Movements packaged the freight and assessed the weights.

Flight Sergeant Sam Collis, Air Movements Section Coordinator at Base Auckland, says the total weight was nearly 21 tonnes, around 45,000 pounds.

Air Movements can weigh the helicopter using portable vehicle scales.

“The helicopter weighed in at 4,971kg. The rest was freight.”

That included the ‘Mantis’, the aircraft tug needed to pull a helicopter within a ship’s hangar and on the flight deck.

Aotearoa undertook the same operation last year, refuelling international navy vessels in support of the Seventh Fleet and conducting monitoring to detect and deter sanctions evasions.

Roger Sheehan has been awarded a Chief of Defence Force Commendation for his work in improving Navy Reserve Force training. Photo / Supplied

After 56 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and Navy Reserves, Warrant Officer electronic warfare instructor Roger Sheehan is still contributing to the service and has crowned his career with recognition at the highest level.

Sheehan has been awarded a Chief of Defence Force Commendation for his work in ensuring the Navy Reserves’ training aligned with the requirements of their Regular Force counterparts.

He demonstrated dedication and devotion to address the personnel training issue with the naval reserve forces and he was a worthy recipient, according to his citation.

Sheehan, who has been a warrant officer for 28 years, has been in a range of naval training and recruitment roles throughout his career.

In 2019, he transferred to the Naval Reserve. He quickly identified reserve recruits that joined a local unit would not have any formal training or induction for anything up to 18 months.

Aware that the reserve recruits need the same competencies as their Regular Force counterparts, he developed comprehensive training programmes Reserve personnel would be required to attend in unit training, monthly weekend training blocks and four 10-day residential phases, paced over 10-12 months, which would deliver the same content as full time sailors.

Portrait of WO Roger Sheehan at Devonport Naval Base – HMNZS PHILOMEL. Recieving CDF Award for 2025, Warrant Officer Roger Sheehan, who has spent 56 years in Navy, including work with Reserves which smooths the transition for them to Regular Force and good graduation rates. Warrant Officer Electronic Warfare Instructor Roger Sheehan has been awarded a Chief of Defence Force Commendation for his work in improving Navy Reserve Force training. Photo / Supplied

The Reserve units had always been responsible for their own training. Sheehan determined that by adopting this model trainees could be brought together using military camps and bases throughout the country, while ensuring the core maritime training was carried out at Devonport Naval Base – the home of the navy.

“We would maximise the time in that first 10-day block to get them through the essential part of the programme.”

The last 10-day block was the officer leadership phase, where officers would be undertaking leadership tasks in an unfamiliar environment over five days and living under canvas.

The Reserves were adults and most were accomplished professionals in their own fields, but everyone starts with a clean slate. If you use it, you clean it and timing and discipline are key components in the military, Sheehan said.

“They have to perform to move up, so that is a mind change for them. Some of them struggled in the beginning but when it was explained to them why we do it, they were quite happy.”

The work was so successful that since 2022 it has led to the graduation of 85 personnel over three intakes and reversed the decline in Reserve Force numbers.

Additionally, 15% of the new Naval Reserve recruits were able to seamlessly transfer to Regular Force service.

“I’ve earned three Commanding Officer commendations during my career, but this is easily the highest,” Sheehan said.

“My family’s pretty impressed and I am very proud.”

After 56 years in the Navy, Sheehan laughs he is “probably past use-by date and rapidly approaching the best before” but is still loving life in uniform.

Roger Sheehan, left, enlisted with his twin brother Ronald in 1969 and has gone on to a 56-year career in the Royal New Zealand Navy and Navy Reserves. Photo / Supplied

He and his twin brother Ronald grew up in South Auckland and were involved with Sea Cadets before enlisting in 1969.

Ronald, who has since died, was a steward and spent 25 years in the Navy.

Roger Sheehan joined as a radio operator and his first big deployment was 11 months aboard HMNZS Otago to Southeast Asia in 1971 and then to Mururoa Atoll for nuclear testing in 1973.

Other highlights included an electronic warfare instructors’ course in the United Kingdom and a short period of time at Fleet Operational Standards and Training (Fost), inspecting Royal Navy, German and Dutch ships at Portland.

He also enjoyed eight years in recruiting, working from Tauranga and covering the east coast of the country.

“The Navy really breeds a camaraderie that is second to none. You build a bond that just never goes away and it’s from admirals down.”

“The funny thing is that if I had to do it all over again, I probably would.”

– Contributed content