Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Williams has spent more than half his life in Army uniform.
Enlisting as a rifleman with the territorial forces in 1995, he later transferred to the Regular Force and underwent his Officer Cadet School training in 1997. He’d go on to achieve significant accomplishments and overseas deployments including to East Timor, Sinai, Afghanistan and South Sudan in a variety of leadership roles and positions.
Today, he commands The Army Depot (TAD) at Waiouru Military Camp, heading up the Army unit in charge of training New Zealand’s future soldiers.
But Lieutenant Colonel Williams is also, first and foremost, a family man. Husband to wife Caroline ‘Daisy’ Williams – herself a photographer with the Army Reserves – and father to two boys, Angus and Sam. A military family, through and through.
“Becoming a father was a key milestone in my life – it meant a lot of added responsibility for one! But I remember thinking at the time that the next 18 years would be a large part of my life – it is amazing how quickly the time has flown,” Lieutenant Colonel Williams said.
One of his early priorities when juggling military and family life was to take advantage of what an Army career could offer.
“I tried to make sure that my time in the Army was an adventure for the family as well. While posting to different locations as a family means the boys have had to make new friends in each location, we have looked at the opportunities provided nearby in the outdoors as well. For example, while living in Upper Hutt we spent a lot of time tramping in the Tararua Ranges, and since being in Waiouru I have taught the family to ski.”
Part of making sure the family was on board with the adventure included throwing himself into educating his boys and their schoolmates on what he did with the Army. He would often go into the classroom to keep students involved and following his overseas deployments.
“For example, I’d go to the boys’ classes and talk to them about South Sudan before I deployed there. I’d take large maps of South Sudan with me and give them a bit of a presentation. Then later, throughout my deployment I’d regularly send photos and stories back to the boys so that they could share with their classmates and track my deployment on the map.
“Also, it was during that deployment to South Sudan that we used my mid-tour leave as an opportunity for us to meet in Singapore and have our first overseas family holiday!”