Dr Moremon has been awarded the Royal Australian Air Force Heritage Fellowship.
Massey University defence studies scholar and military historian Dr John Moremon has been awarded the Royal Australian Air Force Heritage Fellowship for 2018-2020.
The research fellowship is normally awarded to one researcher every two years, however Dr Moremon's will be across a three-year period. He is the first New Zealand-based scholar to be awarded the fellowship.
As a visiting fellow at the Air Force’s Air Power Studies Centre, Dr Moremon will be researching rotary wing (helicopter) experience during the Cold War, including operational use during the Confrontation, Vietnam War, and peacekeeping missions in the Middle East.
The project will be the first to specifically examine the rotary wing experience, providing a record of an important episode in regional air power history while at the same time producing a case study that can contribute to informing future air force asset management.
Dr Moremon will produce a book and articles examining the history of rotary wing operations. He is keen for the book to honour veterans of the Australian helicopter squadrons, including those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. This includes Flight Lieutenant William (Bill) Waterhouse, the first Māori helicopter pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, who was killed in 1969 in a crash at Canberra while preparing for service in Vietnam.
Dr Moremon teaches defence studies and military history at Massey's Centre for Defence and Security Studies. As well as having a PhD in history, he graduated from Massey with a Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies this year.