Setting the stage

By Cpl Simone Liebelt

AN Army chippie known as Squirrel left his mark on the Tour de Force concert held at Camp Smitty on Christmas Eve – in more ways than one.

Spr Scott Rogers, the only engineer (carpenter) attached to AMTG2 with 5/7RAR, built a 15m-wide plywood stage for the concert, much to the delight of the Aussie entertainers involved.

“This is the best stage I’ve ever stood on,” Little Pattie told the large crowd just before her performance. “Squirrel went to so much trouble to make it all even and perfect; so thank you so very much Squirrel.”

Even the Australian Navy Band members supporting the Tour de Force couldn’t stop raving about Squirrel’s fine craftsmanship.

“If I could play on a stage half this size every night, I’d die a happy, bald man,” said musician PO Matt Klohs. “It’s so flat and straight, he must have spent hours getting it right … and it’s so big we actually ran out of leads for all the equipment.”

The 1CER carpenter said constructing the stage was a good test of his trade skills and gave him the opportunity to contribute to the event that all of Camp Smitty was waiting for.

“It was a big task in relation to all the other tasks I do here, but it was great,” he said.

“Plus it was great to see [the entertainers] performing on my stage … and no, I wasn’t worried that it was going to fall down during the concert.”

He was also very pleased with the mural he painted on the stage floor, which proudly promoted his unit back in Darwin in the form of a lazy E with a pig’s head on top.

He admitted the paint job was a bit dodgy but added to the atmosphere of the concert. “It came up well didn’t it?” he said. “I just figured that it was my stage, so I’m putting my unit up there; plus, if it got it mentioned in Army news, my RSM [WO1 Pete Mangan] would owe me a carton.”

He said it also stirred up the guys he worked with, who would have preferred to see the AMTG’s emblem – a tiger’s head – featured instead.

“The best thing about it is if anyone gets photos of Angry Anderson or any of the other guys in the concert, they’re going to get my logo in their photos – smack bang in the middle … how good is that?”