RENNIE Dean Maurice
D993143, Staff Sergeant (then Acting Warrant Officer Class Two), Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (The Duke of York’s Own) (Retired)

CITATION
New Zealand Gallantry Medal
From October 2010 to April 2011, Staff Sergeant RENNIE (then in the acting rank of Warrant Officer Class Two) served in Afghanistan in the
Combined Explosive Exploitation Cell at Regional Command-East situated at the Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost Province.  He was the only
non-US serviceperson attached to the US Brigade that operated from this base.  This was Staff Sergeant RENNIE’s second tour in Afghanistan.
Staff Sergeant RENNIE  was heavily involved in dismounted patrols supporting special coalition task forces deployed from the Base in searches of
high risk compounds.  His particular role was to provide advice on Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and,
where a device had been activated, to determine its type, construction, and means of initiation, from the results of the explosion and the recovered
components.  He attended many incidents of this type and often came under enemy fire.  From the information he gathered on these patrols, which
included over 450 individual pieces of evidence, he was able to identify individual builders of IEDs by their different construction methods, and the
different patterns of placing these devices.  This intelligence led to the detention and prosecution of many insurgents for possession of illegal
weapons and IED construction materials, and the lessons learned were able to be shared throughout the theatre.
Staff Sergeant RENNIE frequently took part in route clearing patrols.  These dangerous missions were specifically designed to locate and deal with
IEDs, and on numerous occasions his patrol was struck by these devices or came under direct fire from insurgents.  In one of the most active IED
environments in the world, and in one of the most dangerous appointments in the theatre, Staff Sergeant RENNIE  constantly placed himself at risk in
order to protect Coalition forces and local civilians, and to disseminate potentially life-saving intelligence about insurgent operations in Afghanistan.

KNOWN AWARDS
New Zealand Gallentry Medal
New Zealand Operationa Service Medal
United Nations Medal
New Zealand East Timor Medal
New Zealand General Service Medal Afghanistan (Primary)
NATO Service Medal
New Zealand Army Long Service & Good Conduct Medal
New Zealand Defence service Medal
Regular
INTERFET Medal
US Army Commendation Medal
THE PRO PATRIA PROJECT