The prime minister's flyover in June 2021 of the areas affected by flooding in Canterbury in May. Photo: Pool
The team leaders behind a daring rescue in the face of dangerous flooding in Canterbury and a deployment to support the response to the Russia-Ukraine war have been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours.
Royal NZ Air Force Squadron Leader George McInnes has been awarded the Distinguished Service Decoration for his efforts in leading his four team members in the May 2021 Canterbury rescues.
"The Christchurch floods were in full swing at that time," McInnes tells RNZ's Anna Thomas about the day.
It was the second NH90 Air Force helicopter to be called out to the area, but the first got stuck due to technical issues.
"We got called out by the New Zealand Police about 9 O'clock at night, the weather was pretty bad but wasn't too bad at that point in time for some potential rescues of three gentlemen.
"The local helicopter company couldn't get airborne, because it was outside their weather limits, which is a bit different to the Air Force weather limits at the time."
They landed at a paddock, where they found a man holding on to a tree in a raging flood that was like a river.
Royal NZ Air Force Squadron Leader George McInnes. Photo: Supplied / Defence Force
The initial assessment came back that it was too dangerous for them to attempt a rescue but they got called back by police when the flooding became worse and a swift water rescue attempt failed, he said.
"It was quite high winds, you're probably looking at gusty 60km/h winds," he said.
"We had a go at winching one of our crewmen down ... he ended up in the water and that was a bit of an ordeal for him.
"He got within fingertips of this gentlemen ... but he couldn't [reach him], and he ended up underwater for a period of time so we pulled him out and he was quite shaken, and at the point in time I had to decide to call off that attempt because it was too dangerous."
While heading to the location of another rescue callout, the man stuck in the tree dived into the water and officials lost sight of him in the darkness of the night.
"We got a call on the radio from the police and Search and Rescue who were quite flustered at that point, asking if we could come back for a look."
The aftermath of flooding seen in June 2021 around Selwyn Huts, Canterbury. Photo: Pool / Stuff / Chris Skelton
After 10 minutes of searching, the man was spotted holding on to a branch in the floodwaters.
"So very quickly we sent our crewman back down on the winch, but the way that guy was holding on to the tree, with his arms wrapped around the tree, we couldn't put the strop on him properly to correctly secure him.
"Our crewman, Adam, he basically lifted this guy out with his strength and held on to him as we moved them across the riverbank.
"It was pretty amazing feat of strength and tenacity from Adam."
While the team was highly trained in rescue scenarios and the crew was experienced, there was no way to train fully for swift water rescues at night in bad conditions, he said.
"Luck was certainly on our side. The loadmaster risked his life when I sent him down the winch - so that plays on my mind the most. He was able to hold onto the man while hanging upside down at the end of the wire. If he didn't have that sheer strength and tenacity the man would have probably died.
"I was lucky to have the right crew in the right helicopter in the right place at the right time. It was a combination of everything going the right way for the people in the water."
Wreckage of a car in the Ashburton Forks area, inland from Ashburton in June 2021. Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
Down at Ashburton Forks, they found two men stuck in a car where a river had burst its banks.
"In the second rescue, we didn't want to anymore crewmen down the wire, because they were maxed out.
"We were trying to communicate with these guys in their vehicle, how to put on the strop and safely winch them back up."
While McInnes was aware of the risks, he said he did not dwell on them at the time and focused solely on mitigating them.
"I didn't sleep that night that's for sure.
"I pushed the crew past their limits and sent one of my former mates down the wire which very nearly could've gone quite bad."
He believed it went well thanks to the whole crew's efforts.
Asked what he would do to celebrate the honour, he said: "I'll just have a quiet beer with the family and reflect and flick a text to the rest of the crew and tell them they deserve it more than I do to be fair; Nicole, Jen, Bruce, and of course Adam, they're the stars of the show. I was just there pushing them as hard as they could to peak performance."
McInnes has left the Air Force now and works for PHI International which flies helicopters offshore to oil rigs in Western Australia.
Recognition leaves deployed team leader 'lost for words'
Lieutenant Colonel Vanessa Ropitini. Photo: Supplied / Defence Force
Lieutenant Colonel Vanessa Ropitini, who had just two weeks' notice that she was deploying to Europe to support the international response to the Russian-Ukraine war, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Decoration.
"When it was confirmed we were going on the deployment we had between 10 to 14 days from when it was confirmed to when we got on the plane, so this [the Distinguished Service Decoration] feels like a little bit of a reward for just ditching the family at that short notice and it makes everything all worthwhile on reflection," Ropitini said.
"I was lucky I was working in the operational headquarters of our joint forces at the time, and I'd been involved in the planning. So I went into that in two weeks with a lot of knowledge," she said.
"I think I couldn't do that without the support and acceptance of my family and my husband just steps in and just carries on.
"It was a huge surprise, it's the sort of thing that you kind of expect to happen to other people but when it happens to you, it just left me lost for words to be honest."
She has been liaising with teams from 26 nations as the Logistic Task Group Commander with the International Donor Coordination Centre (IDCC).
In her role, she looks at the donations offered to Ukraine from various nations and ensures they can be made full use of.
"There were a lot of nations that were donating kits that they determined that they wouldn't necessarily need in the near future but it didn't come with the repair parts, the ammunition, the training the Ukrainians needed to receive that donation and use that immediately."
A member of New Zealand's armed forces personnel (centre) gives a demonstration inside a trench, during a trench warfare training session at a British Ministry of Defence training base in southern England on 27 March, 2023. Photo: AFP / Ben Stansall
Although New Zealand's army might be underestimated, Ukrainians recognised the country's contribution, Ropitini said.
"The Ukrainians we were working with daily, face-to-face, were just absolutely astounded and so thankful that a tiny little country down the bottom of the world would commit what we committed at the time ... to support them.
"Just that recognition from them and their thankfulness was just amazing."
She believed New Zealand's positive reputation came from people's can-do attitude.
"Above and beyond that, we receive world-class training and we're real team players, we're just wanting to do the best in the environment we go into."
She also thanked the person who submitted the documentation for her to be considered in the honours list.
"A lot of the time in the NZDF, we just get on and do the job and there's lots of people that have probably done the work and are deserving of recognition but they don't get recognised, so for someone to write it up is really amazing.
"As you go through your military career you go through peaks and troughs, and this came at a good time for me. It reinforced why I stay in the military, it gave me a sense of purpose, I was engaging with such a highly diverse group of people and it was just an amazing opportunity."
