New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration

New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration
Obverse of the decoration
Type	Medal for Meritorious Service
Awarded for	Distinguished military service, by regular, territorial and reserve members of the New Zealand Defence Force
Presented by	New Zealand
Eligibility	all members of the New Zealand Defence Force, or uniformed members of allied forces serving with the New Zealand Defence Force
Post-nominals	DSD
Status	Currently awarded
Established	14 May 2007
First award	4 June 2007 [1]
Latest award	31 December 2025
Total	133 [2]
Ribbon of the medal
Precedence
Next (higher)	New Zealand Antarctic Medal [3]
Next (lower)	British Empire Medal

The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration (DSD) was instituted by Royal Warrant as a New Zealand Royal Honour in 2007 to recognise distinguished military service, by regular, territorial and reserve members of the New Zealand Defence Force. ^[4] Until 1995, this type of service was recognised by awards of the British Empire Medal (Military Division). After the change to a totally New Zealand Honours system in 1996, these Commonwealth awards were not available to be awarded to New Zealand military personnel.

Eligibility

All members of the New Zealand Defence Force, or uniformed members of allied forces operating with or alongside units of the New Zealand military are eligible for the decoration. It may be awarded for the outstanding performance of military duties in either warlike or non-warlike operations, or for individual efforts toward peacetime and humanitarian service which brings great credit to the New Zealand Defence Force. The acts must contribute significantly, through exceptional devotion to duty, dedication, judgement or application of skills to the conduct of an operational deployment, the conduct of military training or a military operation or operations, or the management and implementation of a project or activity with significant implications for the current or future capability of the New Zealand Defence Force. The Distinguished Service Decoration also may be awarded for a single accomplishment or instance of extraordinary performance of duty, or can be awarded for cumulative efforts over a long period of time.

Appearance

The decoration, made of sterling silver, is a representation of a kotiate, a Māori eight bladed war club. In the centre of the kotiate is St Edward’s Crown. The blades alternate between frosted and polished silver. The reverse is inscribed “FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE” and its Māori language equivalent “MO NGA TE MAHI KAHURANGI”. The ribbon is dark blue with a center stripe of red, two narrow yellow stripes separate the red stripe from the blue. ^[5]

Recipients

Name	Rank	Unit	Honours list
Jonathon Aaron Ishmael Fatu	Private	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment	2007 Queen's Birthday Honours
Shane Andrew Meighan	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Robert James Mills VRD	Lieutenant Commander	Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve
Barry John Nelson	Wing Commander	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Brett James Rankin	Lieutenant Colonel	Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery
James Patrick Rankin	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Darren Kavan Te Whata	Corporal	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
William Peter Watters	Corporal	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Michael Edward Yardley	Group Captain	Royal New Zealand Air Force
David Anthony Bamfield ONZM	Air Vice-Marshal	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2008 New Year Honours
Brenton Lee Beach	Staff Sergeant	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
David Murray Chisnall	Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Navy
Richard Lance Cook	Commander	Royal New Zealand Navy
John William Lovatt	Wing Commander	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Mark John Richard Mortiboy	Warrant Officer Class One	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Sean Anthony Ngatai	Corporal	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Timothy Andrew O'Donnell	Lieutenant	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Terence Albert Joseph O'Neill	Major	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Kevin Andrew Yorwarth	Warrant Officer Class One	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Gregory John Burroughs	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2008 Queen's Birthday Honours
Helen Joy Cooper	Lieutenant Colonel	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Michael Peter De Boer	Captain	Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers
Timothy Richard Evans	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Timothy Hopkins	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Robert David Joseph Martelletti	Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Wayne Robert Morris	Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Navy
Christopher Gerard Mortiboy	Major	Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals
Phillip John Manning	Gunner	Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery	2009 New Year Honours
Neil Andrew Roberts	Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Navy
George Sean Trengrove MVO	Colonel	Colonel's List, New Zealand Army (Territorial Force)
John Francis Weel	Warrant Officer Class Two	Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery
Thomas Michael Allen MNZM	Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Navy	2009 Queen's Birthday Honours
Robert William Gillies	Major	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Shirley Anne Patton	Acting Warrant Officer Master-at-arms	Royal New Zealand Navy
Simon John Caulfield Strombom	Major	Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (Territorial Force)
Dougal Andrew Barker	Major	Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps	2010 New Year Honours
Mark Stanley Brunton	Wing Commander	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Bryce Cameron Gurney	Major	Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers
Peter Wayne Jacobs	Major	Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps
Mary Elizabeth Cox	Group Captain	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2010 Queen's Birthday Honours
Jason Stewart Haggitt	Commander	Royal New Zealand Navy
Blake William Herbert ED JP	Lieutenant	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Territorial Force)
Michael William Koberstein	Lieutenant	New Zealand Intelligence Corps
Simon Montague Marriott	Major	Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (Territorial Force)
Andrew Gavin McMillan	Commander	Royal New Zealand Navy
Matthew William Pearce	Corporal	Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Brendon Pett	Wing Commander	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Brendan Patrick Wood	Major	Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps
Suzanne Lynn Koia	Captain	Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps	2011 New Year Honours
Wiremu Beamish Simon Moffitt	Warrant Officer Class Two
Donald Napier	Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Christopher John Parsons MNZM	Lieutenant Colonel	New Zealand Special Air Service	2011 Queen's Birthday Honours
Ian Richard Ponse	Warrant Officer Class One	Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Darren Smith	Acting Warrant Officer	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Serviceman A	Undisclosed	New Zealand Special Air Service	2011 New Zealand gallantry awards
Keith Murray Bartlett	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2012 New Year Honours
John Raymond Boswell	Colonel	New Zealand Army
Simon Campbell Griffiths	Lieutenant Commander	Royal New Zealand Navy
Russell Mostyn Kennedy	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
David Bruce Ackroyd	Major		2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours
Layamon John Bakewell	Lieutenant
Aaron Douglas Benton	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Hugh Richard McAslan	Lieutenant Colonel
Christopher James Wilson	Warrant Officer Class One
Anatoliy Valerievich Derepa	Lance Corporal		2013 New Year Honours
Athol James Forrest	Group Captain	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Arthur Jordan Gale	Lieutenant
Shane Ruane	Major
Brent Lockwood Wellington	Lieutenant Colonel
James Ernist Harper	Warrant Officer		2013 Queen's Birthday Honours
Robin Michael Hoult	Lieutenant Colonel
Stefan John Michie	Lieutenant Colonel
Lindsay Norriss	Sergeant
Brent John Quin	Major
Scott Matthew Treleaven	Petty officer	Royal New Zealand Navy
Graeme Alexander Bremner	Warrant Officer Class One		2014 New Year Honours
Paul Allister Mumm	Warrant Officer Class One
Ewen Vanner	Corporal
Richard Clive Henstock	Warrant Officer		2014 Queen's Birthday Honours
Richard John MacGregor Weston MNZM	Lieutenant Colonel
Dominic Gareth Crosby Wylie	Captain
David Tale Hamill	Warrant Officer		2015 New Year Honours
Andrew Ross McKinlay	Captain	Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery
B	Undisclosed
Michael Nochete	Major
Murray John Thomson	Flight Sergeant	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Daniel Alexander Edginton	Captain		2015 Queen's Birthday Honours
G	Undisclosed
Robert Victor Keith McGee	Staff Sergeant
Sean Denis Bolton	Major
Simon Andrew Wasley	Lieutenant
Louisa Ann Gritt	Commander	Royal New Zealand Navy	2016 New Year Honours
Anthony Nickel	Chief Petty Officer	Royal New Zealand Navy
Andrew John Scott	Wing Commander	Royal New Zealand Air Force
C	Undisclosed		2016 Queen's Birthday Honours
Anthony Clinton Childs	Lieutenant Colonel
J	Undisclosed
Graham Ross Hickman	Major		2017 New Year Honours
Tina Kathleen Grant	Staff Sergeant		2017 Queen's Birthday Honours
Anthony Bryan Howie	Brigadier
Nicholas Michael Pedley	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Charmaine Maurita Tate	Major
Andrew James Anthony Thornton	Major
Rhys Lloyd Evans	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2018 New Year Honours
Gabrielle Louise Gofton	Captain	Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers	2018 Queen's Birthday Honours
Jan Joseph Tupuola Peterson	Lieutenant Commander	Royal New Zealand Navy	2019 New Year Honours
Ruth Leonie Putze	Colonel
S	Undisclosed
Daniel Lawrence Broughton MNZM	Civilian		2019 Queen's Birthday Honours
Peter Rodd Hurly OStJ	Civilian
Richard Alan Walker	Captain	Royal New Zealand Navy
Michael James Cannon NZBM	Group Captain	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2020 New Year Honours
Michael John Shapland	Brigadier		2020 Queen's Birthday Honours
D	Undisclosed		2021 New Year Honours
Matthew Gordon Carey	Captain		2021 Queen's Birthday Honours
Adam John Modd GM	Lieutenant Colonel	New Zealand Army
Anthony Dean Blythen	Lieutenant Colonel	New Zealand Army	2022 New Year Honours
Richard Francis Deihl	Wing Commander	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Brendon John Clark	Captain	Royal New Zealand Navy	2023 New Year Honours
L	Undisclosed
Hayden Peter Smith	Sergeant	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Glenn Gowthorpe	Group Captain	Royal New Zealand Air Force	2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours
George Samuel McInnes	Squadron Leader	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Vanessa Maria Ropitini	Lieutenant Colonel	New Zealand Army
Louis James Munden-Hooper	Lieutenant Commander		2024 New Year Honours
Makoare Kohupara Te Kani MNZM	Lieutenant Commander
Mark Alan Whiteside	Wing Commander		2024 King's Birthday Honours
Paul Leslie Stockley	Squadron Leader		2025 New Year Honours
Andrew Gilchrist Brown	Commodore		2026 New Year Honours

References

1. "The Queen's Birthday Honours 2007". Scoop Independent News. Scoop Media. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
2. Medal Yearbook 2023. Honiton, Devon: Token. 2022. p. 548. ISBN   978-1-908828-63-7.
3. "THE WEARING OF MEDALS IN NEW ZEALAND TABLE – A GUIDE TO THE CORRECT ORDER OF WEAR". New Zealand Defence Force.
4. "The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration (SR 2007/116)". New Zealand Legislation: Regulations. Parliamentary Counsel Office. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
5. "The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration". Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.