By Cpl Jonathan Garland

SIX months on operations would normally be enough for anyone but one member of the 5/7RAR Bn Gp is about to finish 12 months continuous service in East Timor.

WO1 Craig Moffat spent five months as a United Nations Military Observer (UNMO) at the temporary rank of captain before taking up his current position as the RSM 5/7RAR.

WO1 Moffat said he would have completed six months as an UNMO but elected to take the RSM position when it was offered to him.

“I’ve basically been here 12 months with a one month break to march in to the battalion and move my family to Darwin,” he said.

Formerly RSM 1 Cdo Regt, WO1 Moffat was nominated for the UNMO position by his career adviser, spending three months in Suai and then moving to Sector East.

“There’s a huge difference between that job and this one – as an UNMO you’re pretty much on your own but in the battalion you’re part of a large group.

“I lived in a house with a Pakistani and a Bangladeshi, electricity three times a week if we were lucky, renting the house and buying our own food.

“Being an UNMO was a tremendous experience but I much prefer being in the battalion group, even though we do it hard at times.”

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