Simon Strombom
Major Simon Strombom, of Porirua, received the Distinguished Service Decoration for services to the New Zealand Defence Force. Major Strombom joined the Territorial Forces in 2000. He has twice been transferred to the Regular Force to undertake operational deployments; the second being when he served as a liaison officer in the Civil Military Co-operation Branch of the International Stabilisation Assistance Force Headquarters (ISAF) in Afghanistan. He was proactive and effective in the way he established and maintained relationships with ministers of the Government of Afghanistan. He also implemented changes to meet threat from Improvised Explosive Device, developing special utility vehicle armoured standard operating procedures, which became a bench mark of best practice at the ISAF Headquarters. He also extended these efforts to include counter IED training for all in theatre personnel, including those attached to the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan Province.