Support Command was a support
formation
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of the
New Zealand Army
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. It was active from 1984 to 1998.
After the 1983 Defence Review the Army's command structure was adjusted to distinguish more clearly the separate roles of operations and base support training. There was an internal reorganisation within the Army General Staff, and New Zealand Land Forces Command at Byron Avenue in
Takapuna
Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...
,
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, was split into a Land Force Command and a Support Command. Support Command from then on comprised three elements, the Army Training Group in
Waiouru
Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The t ...
, the Force Maintenance Group (FMG) based in
Linton, and Base Area Wellington (BAW) based in Trentham, and assumed responsibility for individual training, third line logistics and base support.
The Force Maintenance Group of 19 units was designed to provide logistical support to both the Rapid Reaction Force (a battalion plus group) and the Integrated Expansion Force (brigade sized).
In 1985 the command's units were listed as two field squadrons (one TF, one RF/TF), at Linton and Petone, one engineer support squadron at Linton (25 ESS), one signals squadron (RF/TF) at Linton, one transport regiment (integrated RF/TF) at Linton, one general hospital at Linton, two
RNZAOC supply companies at Linton and Waiouru,
1 Base Supply Battalion at Trentham, 2 independent workshops (Waiouru and Linton), one base workshop at Trentham, one engineer workshop at Linton, the
School of Military Engineering at Linton, the Military Police School at Trentham, and the
RNZAOC Ordnance School at Trentham, plus three camp headquarters at Linton, Trentham, and Fort Dorset.
Later on the command's responsibility were described as the provision of individual training, equipment management, static support, and base support, and command of the
Army Training Group (Waiouru) and 5th Base Logistics Group (Trentham).
The headquarters was initially at
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
, but was moved to the Messines complex at Trentham in the 1990–1992 period. Brigadier Graham Birch commanded the formation about this time period.
[Army News 2013]
Headquarters Support Command was disestablished in mid-1998, with the Army's training and support systems being transferred to the newly established Headquarters
Land Command (New Zealand) and management of logistic and support functions going to Logistics Executive within the Army General Staff.
References
Military units and formations of the New Zealand Army
Army logistics units and formations
Military units and formations established in 1984
Military units and formations disestablished in 1998