Combat Drivers

Military role

As a Combat Driver your skills keep the team moving, carrying personnel, supplies, and equipment wherever they’re needed. From motorbikes to heavy operational trucks, you’ll drive, operate, and maintain vehicles in all conditions—day or night, on highways or off-road—ensuring the team can deploy and operate effectively. You’ll receive specialist training, earn recognised driving and mechanical qualifications, and know that your expertise is critical to every mission’s success.

As a NZ Army Combat Driver you will operate all of our general service vehicles, from motorbikes through to articulated trucks. You will be a member of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistics Regiment (RNZALR), and within that you’ll operate in a Combat Service Support unit as part of a close-knit transport section (four to six vehicles).

You will be trained to operate your vehicle by day and night, in all weather conditions and terrain, from convoy driving on sealed state highways to tactical, off-road navigation. You will drive, operate, service and maintain your vehicles, gaining a range of licences, licence endorsements, and NZQA unit standards towards New Zealand Road Transport Industry National Certificates.

The New Zealand Army uses a huge variety of vehicles: motorbikes, cars, the Pinzgauer Light Operating Vehicle, the Unimog U1700L truck, the new technologically advanced family fleet of MAN Medium Heavy Operational Vehicles (MHOV,) and Heavy Equipment Transport (HET). You will be taught how to safely operate all these vehicles in all kinds of operational situations, such as passenger transport, distribution of supplies and hazardous goods transportation. You will also learn basic mechanic skills for operator servicing and routine maintenance.

Requirements

Basics

Must be 18 years old by the time you graduate from recruit course.

Eligible to meet national security clearance criteria, as stipulated by the Government's Protective Security Requirements.

You will need a restricted Class 1 driver's licence and should have no traffic convictions. Any other licence is an advantage i.e. motorbike.

Education

3 years secondary school.

Note, qualifications may be used to assess trade suitability.

Fitness & Medical

You must be medically fit for service.

You must meet the minimum entry fitness standards.

Citizenship

There are strict citizenship and security requirements to gain the required CV security clearance for this trade.

Find out if you’re eligible here.

Period of Service

A Return of Service obligation will be required after you have completed your training.

Basic Training

Upon successful enlistment into the Army you will be posted to Waiouru Army base. Here you will do 16 weeks of basic military training to find out if you have what it takes to be in the Army, and learn various subjects including:

Organisation and Administration

Army Customs and Protocol

Drill and Parades

Military Field Skills and Weapon Training

First Aid

Physical Fitness

Job Training

RNZALR BASIC TRAINING

(2 Weeks) Location: Trentham Military Camp (near Upper Hutt)

During this course you will be introduced to basic RNZALR skills including:

Understanding operational Combat Service Support concepts

Operating in-service communications equipment

Camouflaging and concealing equipment

Operating vehicle recovery equipment

Basic loading onto vehicles, and vehicle guiding

You will also learn about all military vehicles and their functions.

DRIVER LICENSING AND VEHICLE OPERATOR COURSE

(8 Weeks) Location: Linton Military Camp (near Palmerston north)

This course will give you the basic driving knowledge you require. You will learn a variety of skills including on-road convoy driving, defensive driving, vehicle dynamics and off-road driving in light 4WDs and Unimog trucks. You will finish this course with a Full Class 2 (truck) licence.

RNZALR JUNIOR TRANSPORT

(6 Weeks) Location: Trentham Military Camp

Held at the Trade Training School, the Junior Transport Course will introduce you to advanced RNZALR driver skills:

Vehicle Familiarisation on the MAN HX60 & HX58 MHOV (depending on the class of licence you hold on completion of the Vehicle Licence Operator Course above)

Deployment as part of a transport organisation

Helicopter under-slung load procedures and air delivered stores

Tactical night driving

Advanced vehicle recovery

Navigation using in-service navigation aids

Participation in Combat Service Support distribution procedures

Career Progression

Initially you will train as a Combat Driver, then progress to Driving Instructor and Section Commander positions. Although you initially remain within a specialised transport company, as you progress you may be posted to an embedded logistics section within other military unit, such as engineers or infantry. Here you may be employed as a Combat Driver, and as you gain more experience, a Fleet Manager in charge of 50 - 100 vehicles. You could also train to be a Driving Instructor where you will teach general and military driving and vehicle operation skills.

As your career progresses, you will gain experience in the different positions within the driver trade. You will perform military command and leadership duties, holding command positions within a section (around 7 trucks and 14 personnel).

Later, as you progress in rank to Sergeant, you could hold the position of Platoon Sergeant where you will be in charge of three transport sections, or Transport Sergeant where you will manage around 30-40 vehicles.

Up to this level opportunities and training to develop leadership and personnel management skills will enable you to become more effective within the wider organisation. As you progress further in your career you will begin to fill more strategic roles, gaining responsibility for transport compliance, procedures, and driver safety and training.

Benefits & allowances

Earn a competitive salary while training or learning your trade, along with additional allowances for time spent in the field, at sea, overseas, or deployed on operations.

In addition to salary and allowances, other benefits of joining the New Zealand Defence Force include:

• Access to your Service marae or tūrangawaewae
• Sponsored tertiary study programmes at all levels
• Free access to gyms and swimming pools on camp and bases
• Opportunities to travel
• Free and subsidised medical and dental care
• Subsidised food and accommodation on camps and bases
• Subsidised insurance cover