In 2017 Des Ashton was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the New Zealand Defence Force and aviation. This illustrious award is a reflection of Des’ long career as both a New Zealand Air Force officer, aviation and airline industry executive and Deputy Secretary (Acquisition) in the Ministry of Defence. It is a career that has seen Des travel the globe and rub shoulders with officials at the highest levels but it all started with a small boy who spent his days gazing into a blue Fijian sky and dreamed of flying planes.

“I think I was just twelve years old when I decided I wanted to join the air force. I also wanted to be a marine biologist but it was the air force that drew me in, “ Des recalls.” Des’ family has a long history in aviation; his grandfather and father were in the air force and his father was later an airfield and seaplane base manager who took his family to postings in Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa. Inspired by his early experiences Des joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force where he completed a Bachelor of Engineering at Canterbury University in 1972. He later trained as a pilot at Wigram and Ohakea and also as an Aeronautical Engineer at the Royal Air Force College in the UK.

Des’ career in the air force took him to postings in the UK, Washington and Singapore where he lead a staff of 200 Singaporean air force engineering personnel operating 50 jet fighters when he was only 29. He left the air force in 1993 and subsequently has been General Manager of aviation companies, CEO of Port Marlborough and Marlborough Airport and sat on numerous boards.

From 2008 to 2016 Des was Deputy Secretary (Acquisition) to the Ministry of Defence and had responsibility for providing $3.5 billion of major capital capabilities for the Defence Force. Projects that he worked on included the upgrade of the air force’s C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to keep them in service, the upgrade of the P3K-2 Maritime Patrol fleet also for the air force, and the acquisition of new maritime helicopters for the Navy. Currently, Des operates his own company, Ashton Technologies, which specialises in aviation, technology and defence and still sits on a few boards.

When asked if his time at Lindisfarne had had an impact on his career, Des replied, “Definitely, the learning environment was great for those who wanted to take up the opportunities offered by the motivated staff in small classes. I particularly enjoyed Latin and Physics. . The school taught me the importance of enlightened leadership, hard work, teamwork and a sense of humour not exercised at the expense of others. It was a school that provided great opportunity and I am proud to have attended it.”

Recalling those early school days, Des went on to say, ”The first year, living in the Farne with cold showers, compulsory morning runs and swims in the frigid pool was an eye-opener after years in the Pacific but, as they say, “it built character”. When I first arrived at Lindisfarne, the occupants of my dorm were told that the “new boy” was from Samoa and might need help settling in. They were all expecting an athletic Polynesian rugby player but what they got was a less-than-athletic pakeha (or palagi actually) and they were convinced I was in the wrong room!”

The best part of attending Lindisfarne for Des was seeing the remarkable development of some of the students who may not have made the strides they did in a different environment and he includes himself in this category. As Des, himself puts it: “Amongst the things that Lindisfarne taught me was the amazing hidden strengths that some people have that just need opportunity or encouragement to manifest themselves.”

In this category would certainly be Des’ performance at cross country; “I came last in my first cross country but won most of them in subsequent years. That taught me that hard work and practice could produce some surprising results.

Des is married to Patricia and has two sons, Thomas and Robin and one grand-daughter – Amelia (named after Amelia Earhart) For the last 25 years he has been based in Marlborough but has commuted regularly to other parts of New Zealand and overseas. He enjoys gardening with native trees, is a wine buff and in January 2019 will have been playing squash for 50 years!”

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Article added: Wednesday 06 November 2019