HOHENFELS, Germany — The presence of New Zealand troops at Hohenfels’ Joint Multinational Readiness Center this month as part of the Cooperative Spirit exercise signals warming in a defense relationship that has been frosty for more than 20 years.
The United States and New Zealand were once the strongest of allies — democracies that stood together through two world wars, the Korean War, Vietnam and other Cold War conflicts. New Zealand hosted thousands of Marines and other U.S. servicemembers during World War II on their way to stopping the Japanese at Guadalcanal.
But in 1985, the Labor government passed a law banning nuclear armed or powered ships from New Zealand waters, effectively removing New Zealand from the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, U.S.) alliance that had provided security in the South Pacific since 1952.
The United States responded by banning bilateral training with New Zealand forces with a few exceptions granted under presidential waivers, according to Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.
New Zealand public opinion in favor of retaining the nuclear ban is so entrenched that all political parties represented in the national parliament, except the right wing Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, have promised to retain it.
On paper, isolated New Zealand, protected by leagues of ocean and its much larger neighbor, Australia, appears to take little interest in military matters these days. The nation of 4 million spends just 1 percent of gross domestic product on defense and employs only 9,000 military personnel.
However, there is evidence that Kiwis want to contribute to global security.
New Zealand Defense Minister Phil Goff, fresh from a trip to Washington to argue for a free trade agreement with the U.S. in his role as trade minister, outlined a host of steps the country is taking to boost its defense forces in a speech to New Zealand veterans this week.
Goff highlighted billions of dollars of recent or planned defense spending including the acquisition of 105 eight-wheeled light armored vehicles similar to those used by the U.S. Marine Corps.
New Zealand soldiers have taken an active role in South Pacific peacekeeping missions in places such as East Timor and the Solomon Islands. And New Zealand has deployed its Army, Air Force, Navy and Special Air Service troops in support of the war in Afghanistan, he said.
Goff also spoke about the fact that New Zealand and U.S. troops were training together in Germany.
"The defense relationship with the United States has undergone a major shift over the past nine years," said Goff, whose nephew, 1st Lt. Matthew C. Ferrara, 24, of Torrance, Calif., a dual New Zealand-U.S. citizen, was killed in Afghanistan while fighting with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in November.
The U.S. still requires a presidential waiver before bilateral training with New Zealand but this no longer defines the relationship, Goff said.
"Since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, there has been an acknowledgement that we can and should work closely together in support of our shared interests, while maintaining our commonly understood difference," he said.
The participation of a 171-man contingent of New Zealand troops at Cooperative Spirit — which also involved troops from the ABCA Armies nations, Australia, Canada and Britain — is the most significant training with the U.S. Army in more than 23 years and suggests that the defense relationship may be becoming more normalized, Upton said.
ABCA Armies is an organization that promotes interoperability among the member armies, which New Zealand joined in 2006.
Cooperative Spirit may pave the way for future bi-lateral and multilateral training between forces from the two nations, which is desirable for soldiers likely to find themselves working together in hotspots like Afghanistan, Upton said.
