A new name after 50 years

BC 131 STA Bty Maj Dean Pearce and BSM WO1 Rene Van Oppen with a bronze relief lung dragon, given to the battery by The Locating Association on the occasion of their 50th birthday. Photo by Pte Simone Heyer, 1JPAU(P)

By Pte Simone Heyer
131 Loc Bty has been operating under a new name for the past four months – the locators are now known as 131 Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) Battery.

The renaming coincided with the battery’s 50th birthday celebrations and saw members, past and present, gather in Enoggera for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend reliving the past and forecasting the future.

BC Maj Dean Pearce said that the renaming better reflected the battery’s capability.

“It’s an aspect of looking toward the future” – “the reason being is that the unit is a strong candidate for managing new surveillance equipment due to come in to service in 2007.

“The locating term was dated and didn’t reflect the capability we have, or what we’re likely to have in the future.”

Maj Pearce said that a proposal was put to then CA Lt-Gen Peter Cosgrove, which he signed off on – the new name took affect in June.

“It was a milestone, closing the chapter on 50 years of locating history – and now we can look forward to maybe another 50 years of surveillance and target acquisition.”

To remember the past 50 years, The Locating Association made a gift to the battery of a bronze relief of a lung dragon, the battery’s icon.