They are a family of servicemen and women that can boast four generations of military service to New Zealand, with more members potentially on the way.
New Zealand Army medic Corporal Leigh Albert has been on one tour of Iraq, and now she spends most years providing disaster relief to cyclone-stricken Pacific islands.
Cpl Albert is one of three sisters in the armed forces, following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather.
Their grandfather, Warrant Officer Class 2 Hori Kerei Waititi, of Opotiki, started the defence tradition and was a sergeant major in the New Zealand Army and served in World War 2 in the 28th Māori Battalion.
WO2 Waititi’s son, Private Eric Albert, followed in his father’s footsteps and served in Vietnam between 1969 and 1971 with the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
Cpl Albert said having numerous family members in the armed forces was not intentional, but "it kind of all just ended up that way".
"Our oldest sister joined up when she was 17. She’s now in her 30th year of service.
"I’m in my 20th year and the third sister, Grace, is in her 17th year."
Cpl Albert and her two sisters, one in the navy and one in the army, often deploy together.
"One of the first times we got deployed together Grace and I were on the same ship when the [2011] Christchurch earthquake happened."
When the earthquake hit, the sisters were heading further south when their ship made a sharp turn to help with relief efforts.
Their third sister soon headed south to join the pair.
After 20 years as an army medic and travelling the world, Cpl Albert is now in her final year of medicine at the University of Otago, with the goal of being a rural doctor.
Cpl Albert’s two 15-year-old sons, Sam and Tawhiri Albert-Renata, are in the City of Dunedin Cadet Unit and her 17-year-old daughter, Marea Albert-Renata is looking at joining her family in the army after finishing school.
The siblings’ half-brother Lance Corporal Marvyn Rua-Raroa, is also in the army with the Royal New Zealand Signals Corps.
The children’s father, Sergeant Wairongoa Renata, was in the Royal New Zealand Military Police, and served in Timor-Leste when the country broke away from Indonesia and fell into a state of anarchy.
Having spent decades looking after New Zealand, they are very close-knit and look out for one another.
