New Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Auckland Commander Group Captain Andy Scott at the change of command ceremony at Whenuapai recently.

3 July 2019

Porirua Man Takes Command at RNZAF Base Auckland

Porirua man Group Captain Andy Scott is the new Commander at Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Base Auckland at Whenuapai.

The majority of his time in the RNZAF has been with No. 40 Squadron at Base Auckland, where he has been a co-pilot, a captain, a flight instructor, a Hercules flight commander and a commanding officer.

However, despite his strong association with Auckland, Group Captain Scott considers Porirua his home.

“I emigrated from the United Kingdom when I finished High school and settled in Porirua in 1996,” he said.

“I joined the Air Force a year later and although I have spent most of my time in Auckland, Porirua has always been home and I have lived there again for the past five years.”

Flying has always been the focus for Group Captain Scott.

“I have wanted to fly and to be in the Air Force since a young child,” he said.

He enlisted in the RNZAF in 1997 and after completing the Initial Officer Training Course, started pilot training, graduating in February 2000.

He has served in many senior roles on exercises in New Zealand, Canada and the United States and has been on multiple operational deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor and Antarctica.

He was on-scene air coordination commander in Christchurch after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. He has also spent time at Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand in Wellington, as the Lead Staff Officer Regional Operations, overseeing planned and emergency response activities in New Zealand, the South West Pacific, Southern Ocean, Antarctica and South-east Asia.

“The highlights so far include the chance to visit some amazing places and to feel as though you are really helping following a natural disaster, and serving alongside some amazing people,” he said.

At the recent change of command ceremony at Whenuapai Group Captain Scott was presented with the korowai and taiaha as symbols of command.

“I’m looking forward to creating an environment for people to thrive in so they can enjoy their time on Base Auckland and their career as much as I have,” he said.

ENDS

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