A Nelson-born New Zealand Army warrant officer who led emergency engineering responses to both a light aircraft crash and a deadly earthquake in Vanuatu has been awarded the New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration.
Warrant Officer Class 2 Rob Allen’s decoration, for services to the New Zealand Defence Force, was announced in the King’s Birthday Honours List. His leadership during both incidents helped save lives and reinforced the Defence Force’s reputation in the Pacific nation.
An emergency responder with the Royal New Zealand Engineers, Rob has been seconded to the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF) Engineer Squadron since 2023.
In July 2024, a light plane crashed into a plantation near Port Vila Airport with five passengers aboard.
Rob assembled a team of VMF engineers to extend an access road so ambulances and rescue services could reach the scene, allowing the evacuation of the five injured occupants. One passenger later died in hospital.
Five months later, on 17 December, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Port Vila, killing 14 people.
Rob’s team carried out a search and rescue operation in the collapsed three-storey Billabong building while he coordinated with Vanuatu’s first responders.
Over three days, he coordinated recovery efforts, provided technical guidance and organised logistical support.
His leadership was critical in the immediate rescue of two trapped victims, the subsequent rescue of another four survivors, and the recovery of four deceased victims.
Rob says he was humbled by the honour and paid tribute to his VMF team and the Vanuatu locals.
“Like most soldiers I am not great at receiving awards. I feel grateful to be nominated, that someone took the time to do that.
“The crash and the earthquake highlighted the ability of people from all walks of life and professions to work together to help people in their time of need.
“The people working on the Billabong building site had all experienced the earthquake and had damaged houses and frightened families. They stayed and worked through the days and nights to extricate fellow people from the rubble.”
Rob was born and raised in Nelson. He enlisted in 1993 and has served in Timor-Leste and Iraq.
His posting to Vanuatu involves improving the capacity of the VMF Engineers and Engineering Squadron.
There has also been rewarding work on community projects, including rebuilding a school classroom, a childcare classroom and a boys’ dormitory.
“The childcare classroom and dormitory were severely damaged in a cyclone and the school classroom was three-quarters completed and ran out of funding,” Rob says.
All three projects were due to be completed last week.
