An Ōtaki man described as a pillar of Ngāti Tūmatauenga (NZ Army), and a dedicated soldier who served on seven assignments overseas, was farewelled at Linton Army Camp on February 13.

Lieutenant Colonel Oiroa Kaihau was 59 when he died suddenly on a bike ride at Kimbolton on February 28. His eulogy, written by Chief of Army Major General Rose King who was overseas at the time, was delivered by Brigadier (ret) Jon Broadley.

Oiroa – or Oods as he was universally known – was born in Ōtaki. His parents were Robert Oiroa Kaihau (Ngāti Raukawa) and Te Ao Te Uira Herangi (Waikato/Maniapoto). He was the eldest child, with sisters Hinetu, Maewa and Kotuku, and brother Watene.

He went to Ōtaki School and then St Stephens School in Auckland for several years before returning to Ōtaki College for his senior years. Sister Maewa says he was a popular college student: handsome, confident and articulate with a knack for churning out witty one-liners like a seasoned comedian.

He proved to be studious,  bright and disciplined. He was head boy at Ōtaki College and captain of the first XV rugby team.

Oiroa had his eyes on a career in broadcasting, but finally chose the army. His first day as a recruit was January 8, 1986.

“I think it suited him well because he already had great leadership qualities, was disciplined and focused,” Maewa says.

She says in many respects Oiroa was the archetypal big brother, shouldering with confidence the responsibility of the oldest child in a family of five.

Last year, he decided to embark seriously on his reo journey, taking a year off work to study the heke reo (diploma) programme at Te Wānanga o Raukawa. It’s a total immersion te reo language course over 30 weeks.

“It was transformative,” Maewa says. “He dedicated himself to learning as much as he could during that time. Although he had to return to his army role at Defence House in Wellington, he had planned to come back to Te Wānanga o Raukawa to finish the poutuarongo reo degree programme once he had retired at 65.

“Sadly that wouldn’t come to pass, but I know that coming back to te reo and the journey of learning about his hapū and iwi had become quite important to him.”

Oiroa had 35 years in uniform. After he completed the commissioning course in Waiouru in 1985, he graduated as a second lieutenant into the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, later the Army Logistic Regiment.

During his. career Oiroa held many command and staff positions.

Brig Broadley said his operational experience was significant, and his record of service was “a mark of the deep respect and trust placed in him not only by the NZDF and his army colleagues,  but also our international partners, with whom he worked closely on numerous occasions”.

Oiroa was deployed overseas seven times: to Bosnia in1995 as a maintenance commander; to Laos in 1998 as a logistic technical advisor; to the Nationnal Support Element in Darwin supporting operations; in Timor Leste in 2001 as its commander; to the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq as a military advisor in 2005 and 2012; and two deployments to Afghanistan in 2008 and 2016, as the national support element commander and-as a battalion command mentor respectively.

The experiences not only shaped his own successful military career, but formed an integral part of the mentoring he provided for so many in the army and the wider Defence Force.

He spent several years out of active service, in the Army Standby Reserves, where he had roles at Massey University in its Defence and Security Studies Department. In two separate tenures he was a lecturer at the Royal Brunei Command and Staff College, and was responsible for managing key military relationships.

“But first and foremost, he was a soldier,” Brig Broadley said. “On both occasions while at Massey University, he answered the call to return to the regular force when his expertise was required for significant overseas postings to Iraq and Afghanistan.”

In his final deployment, to Afghanistan in 2018, he was at a battalion command level mentoring at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy.  In 2005 Oiroa completed a masters degree in defence and strategic studies at Massey University. In June 2022, he was posted as chief of staff to Headquarters Defence Logistics Command.

He had only recently started in his latest position as senior Māori advisor within the Office of the Chief of Defence Force.

“His selfless leadership and his mana will never be forgotten, and his legacy within Ngāti Tūmatauenga will always remain steadfast,” Brid Broadley said.

Oiroa is survived by his wife Linda (Bloor); and first wife Kirsty (MacKay), their two sons, Wiremu and Matiu, and grandson Kupa.