Tower De Force – NZ Army to Rise to the Challenge!

Tower De Force – the multi-discipline fitness event held at SKYCITY Sky Tower on 20 April in Auckland, putting teams from the Royal New Zealand Navy, New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Air Force, a group of NZDF Contemporary Veterans, St John, New Zealand Police, New Zealand Fire Service and the SKYCITY Rigging Team to the test, in a battle of skill, agility, teamwork, stamina and strength.

The Tower De Force consists of gruelling physical challenges starting with a military skills course at the base of Sky Tower, moving up the Tower to complete a First Aid challenge, racing to the top of the Tower to remove a flag from the top of the mast, before partially descending the Tower and abseiling to its base. Teams consist of six members, two of whom must be women.

Who will be champion this year – will Navy retain its hold on the Shield won at the inaugural event in 2017? Will Army or Air Force topple them from the podium? Or will one of the other teams beat all three of our Defence teams?

Tower De Force has been put together by SKYCITY and the Auckland RSA as an additional fundraising event to support the national annual Poppy Appeal which will be raising funds to support New Zealand Veterans (past and present), their families and dependants.

Not only is our Army team competing physically, we’re also competing to be the top NZDF team raising funds for Poppy Day!

All funds raised on this page go directly to the Auckland RSA, who will use it for the welfare and support of our Veterans, and the currently serving men and women of our Defence Force.

The theme for this year’s RSA Poppy Appeal, ‘Not all wounds bleed’, highlights the fact that mental health injuries are the most common, but least understood, of all wounds suffered by New Zealand servicemen and women.

New Zealand now has 41,000 veterans – the most at any time since the end of the Second World War, and nearly three quarters of those veterans have served in overseas deployments since the Vietnam War. Of course this number is multiplied many times over by the numbers of family members supporting our Veterans.

The Poppy Appeal is a time for New Zealanders to recognise that service and give back to those who have made sacrifices and put their well-being at risk for others.

Please support us in our efforts to raise awareness of the Poppy Appeal, our bid to become the Tower De Force 2018 Champions, and our goal of being the top NZDF Poppy Day fundraiser!

https://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/whats-on/

http://www.aucklandrsa.co.nz/towerdeforce/