Communicator Recognised in New Years Honours

One of our own Chief Petty Officer Communications Warfare Specialist Anthony Nickel was recognised in the 2016 New Years Honour by being awarded the New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration (DSD).  Congratulations Anthony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citation reads – Chief Petty Officer Anthony Nickel was posted in late 2014 as the Communications Staff Officer on the headquarters of Combined Task Force 151, a New Zealand-led multi-national naval group conducting counter-piracy operations within the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

In this role Chief Petty Officer Nickel was responsible for the effective management of the Task Force’s command and control systems used to coordinate operations and disrupt piracy and other criminal activity within the Area of Operations. His abilities were recognised by his superiors and he was frequently sought out to provide specialist advice across the Task Force and the United States Fifth Fleet. In particular, he identified significant opportunities to improve the way in which the command and control systems were being used, resolved long-standing communications problems and made significant improvements to the operational readiness of the Task Force. Chief Petty Officer Nickel’s performance enhanced Task Force and Fifth Fleet operations and was above and beyond that expected of a person of his rank and experience.