Le Sueur Van der Byl was awarded the Sword of Honour on 6 June, by the Minister of Defence, Hon. Chris Penk at the Royal New Zealand Navy graduation of Junior Officers Common Training (JOCT).
This is not a regular or even annual award. In the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), the Sword of Honour is a prestigious award presented to the best overall Officer Cadet graduating from a training course, such as the Junior Officer Common Training (JOCT). It recognizes supreme military leadership, integrity, character, and outstanding overall performance.
This honour was bestowed on this local Whitianga young man whose parents, Leon and Gwynneth Van der Byl reside in Whitianga. This is Le Sueur’s home.
Le Sueur had many opportunities for fun and development through his high school years at Mercury Bay Area school, and the rest of the ‘village’ raising him up. He was involved in the Diving Academy, the Plane Build programme and a prefect in his senior year. While looking for a scholarship to assist his plan to be an engineer and also provide sone financial assistance, Le Sueur found that the navy had a very good scholarship to join the navy plus do the officers course. If he was successful in this, the navy would send him to do an engineering course at University.
He applied for and was granted a RNZN scholarship to study engineering. His first commitment was to complete the Junior Officer Training as part of his scholarship requirements prior to starting university. It commenced in January, and as is his usual, he ‘made the most of the opportunity’. Le Sueur really enjoyed the adventures and challenges that this particular opportunity presented. However, he also applied himself fully to the study aspects aiming to be at or near the top of all the students. He did not know until the ceremony that he would receive the Sword of Honour but he had an idea that he might be the top student.
Saturday, 6 June was the long awaited Graduation Parade in which the Leadership Development Cadets showed off their newly acquired skills to friends and whanau – a real treat to all despite the pouring rain that started the day.
It was towards the conclusion of this ceremony that Le Sueur was presented with the Sword of Honour. The Coromandel wishes Le Sueur all the very best for his upcoming career in the Royal New Zealand Navy.
