Major Andrew Brooks is an experienced New Zealand Army Officer with over 35 years service. Throughout his service Major Brooks has developed his knowledge and passion in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations, gaining significant expertise in planning and supporting Tsunami Relief operations in Papua New Guinea, Banda Aceh, Samoa and Tonga; drought relief operations in Tokelau and Tuvalu, tropical cyclone response in Vanuatu and Fiji, and in New Zealand support to maritime oil spill, flood, cyclone and earthquake response operations.

In 2014, Major Brooks completed a Master of Emergency Management degree through Massey University graduating with Distinction. He has also undertaken training in Joint Operations Planning, UN Civil-Military Coordination and Health Emergencies in Large Populations and has been a regular attendee at Multi-National Planning Augmentation Team exercises.

Between Sep 2016 – Aug 2019, Major Brooks held the appointment of Principal Advisor for Readiness as a member of the Emergency Management Team at the New Zealand Ministry of Health. During this time he was involved in the planning, delivery and evaluation of a national level Pandemic Influenza exercise. He was also a member of various multi-agency working groups at the National Level including the Coordinated Incident Management System Steering Group, Incident Management Reference Group, National Exercise Programme Planning and Coordination Team, National Security System Training and Development Group and the LessoNZ Community of Practice.

In Sep 2019, MAJ Brooks was a member of the Massey University, Emergency Management Qualification Review Panel. In Dec 2019 Major Brooks returned to the NZDF and in 2020 was seconded back to the Ministry of Health to assist with COVID response planning and coordination. In Dec 2022, he assumed the role of Executive Officer, of the Deployable Health Organisation, Joint Support Group.