Singapore commander appointed

Press, 3 December 1985, Page 3

Singapore commander appointed

PA Wellington Lieutenant-Colonel Bob Upton, of Nelson, has been appointed commanding officer* of the Ist Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, which is based in Singapore. Colonel Upton will assume command on December 12 when he will-become the battalion’s fifteenth commanding officer. There has been a New Zealand infantry battalion in SouthEast Asia since 1957.

Colonel Upton, aged 40, graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia, in December, 1967, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the R.N.Z.I.R. He saw active service in Vietnam in 1970 and since then has held a range of command and training appointments at Burnham and Waiouru.

A 1980 graduate of the Australian Army’s staff college at Queenscliffe, Victoria, he was appointed the Army’s director of equipment policy in 1983. Until now he has been director of co-ordination and secretariat at Defence Headquarters. He and Mrs Upton have four children, and live in Tawa.

Colonel Upton succeeds the present Singapore commanding officer, LieutenantColonel Grant Steel, of Christchurch, who has commanded the battalion since January, 1984. Colonel Steel will attend

a six-month course at the Australian Joint Services Staff College, Canberra, before returning to New Zealand.