By Webfit News | 15 October 2026 For Lieutenant Teagan Andrews-Paul, the children who visited her team’s work site each day were a reminder of why she joined the New Zealand Army.
By Webfit News | 15 October 2026
For Lieutenant Teagan Andrews-Paul, the children who visited her team’s work site each day were a reminder of why she joined the New Zealand Army.
The combat engineer officer, who grew up partly in Ōhope in the Bay of Plenty, recently led New Zealand Army engineers during Exercise Trident Resolve in Banten, Indonesia, where they helped renovate a medical facility.
“Working with the local community has been my highlight of the exercise,” she said.
“We had a school very close to our work site and the children would come down every day to watch and hang out with us.”
According to information supplied by the New Zealand Defence Force, Trident Resolve brought together about 2,200 personnel from 19 militaries and civilian agencies. Training focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, cybersecurity and military medicine.
Andrews-Paul, of 2nd Engineer Regiment, served as a troop commander during the exercise. A group of 13 New Zealand Army engineers managed a work site and assisted with the medical facility renovation.
Personnel from Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the United States worked together on the clinic project. At the end of the exercise, the renovated facility was handed over to the Tentara Nasional Indonesia, Indonesia’s national armed forces.
For Andrews-Paul, it was her first opportunity to work overseas in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capacity.
“Exercise Trident Resolve was my first real opportunity working in a HADR capacity overseas and it was very rewarding,” she said.
Born in Canada, Andrews-Paul grew up in Masterton and Ōhope, attending Wairarapa College and Trident High School.
Both her parents served in the New Zealand Army. Her mother was a transport officer, while her father served as a chef and was also a professional athlete.
An outdoors-focused upbringing and an appetite for physical and mental challenges helped draw her towards the Army, which she joined in 2021.
“Anything involving mental and physical perseverance has always been a huge draw for me and that is why the Army felt like the right choice,” she said.
The opportunity to keep learning has remained part of its appeal.
“Just when I think I understand my job, there is always something new I get to learn about.”
Alongside the challenge of military service, Andrews-Paul wanted a role that would allow her to help communities facing difficult circumstances.
“I was very interested in being able to provide HADR support to countries during times of crisis and that is why I wanted to join the Corps of Engineers. It’s a big part of our role.”
The Indonesia exercise gave her a chance to put that interest into practice, combining disaster-response training with work on a local facility.
For anyone considering a Defence Force career, her advice is to prepare well and expect to be pushed.
“The work and training is rewarding but it can be hard,” she said.
“If you want to be challenged, learn new skills and have experiences you cannot get in any other job, the military could be the right pathway for you.”
Photo caption: Lieutenant Teagan Andrews-Paul at the entrance to the renovated medical facility in Banten, Indonesia.
Photo credit: Australian Defence Force
Source: New Zealand Defence Force media release, 15 October 2026.
