Leadership Week - Thursday 7th July 2016: Squadron Leader Tim Costley, RNZAF
Squadron Leader Costley is an Old Boy of PNBHS (1996-2000). He enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 2001 and was commissioned in the Operations Branch as a Pilot Trainee. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor whose background has been primarily in Rotary Wing Operations and Pilot Training, largely based at RNZAF Ohakea. He has also served in staff positions and on a number of operational deployments.
Squadron Leader Costley developed his military aviator skills flying the Iroquois Helicopter for more than six and a half years which included flying search and rescue missions, missions in support of Flood Response and Snow Relief Operations, overseas training exercises, and a large amount of training in New Zealand with regular forces, special forces, and the New Zealand Police.
Squadron Leader Costley deployed on his first operational tour in 2003 as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) during which he received a Theatre Commander’s Commendation for his work both in flying and in mission morale support.
Squadron Leader Costley deployed to Timor Leste in 2007 as part of the ANZAC Peace-Keeping force where he was Flight Commander for the Iroquois helicopters. This tour also involved fly night rescue operations in challenging climatic conditions.
During his time Aircraft Captain, Squadron Leader Costley was the squadron display pilot for two years, flying both solo and formation displays – in this role he competed in, and won, the 2007 NZ Helicopter Championships.
In 2009, he became a Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) and a short time later deployed on a short-notice deployment to Afghanistan, working for the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) as the liaison officer between the SAS Task Force and the US 82nd Airborne Headquarters, as well all the aviation forces deployed to Regional Command East at Bagram Air Base.
Following this deployment his service career saw him conducting Pilot Training, followed by a posting to Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand, responsible for coordinating all helicopter operations in New Zealand and overseas which included the response to the Canterbury Earthquake, the Pike River Coal Mine disaster, air support to the Rugby World Cup in 2011, and the on-scene coordinator for both the civilian and military air response to the MV Rena grounding and oil spill in the Bay of Plenty in 2011.
In 2013 Squadron Leader Costley returned to Pilot Training and he also served as Equerry to HRH The Duke of Cambridge during the 2014 Royal Visit to New Zealand. He then attended the senior staff course at the Defence Academy in the United Kingdom, gaining a Master of Science in International Defence and Security before returning to New Zealand Capability Branch, HQ NZDF. During this time has also been seconded to Operation Pacific Relief in Fiji, working as the Director of Air Operations.
In 2010 Squadron Leader Costley founded ‘The Missing Wingman Trust (RNZAF)’. Until this time there was no charity in New Zealand to support military families. The trust, now a Registered Charity, was setup to look after Air Force families where someone was killed, seriously ill, or seriously injured. The trust continues its work today, chaired by former Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Sir Bruce Ferguson. Squadron Leader Costley is a trustee and the Trust Administrator in his spare time.
Tim is married to Emma and together they have three daughters; Lucy, Rebecca and Alice.
