HOME AND HOSED
Ferocious seas did not deter HMAS Anzac (CAPT Peter Lockwood) and HMAS Darwin (CMDR Aaron Ingram) from arriving at Fremantle to an emotional welcome on May 17 after being away for almost seven months participating in Op Slipper and Op Falconer.
Darwin and Anzac had been away for 210 days after leaving HMAS Stirling on October 28.

New site not a voice in the wilderness
A new, user-friendly Defence Voice Services web site is set to help users get the most out of their phone and improve productivity.


Beat of a different drum
The RAN’s Silver Drum Band made television in Sydney earlier this month. With their historic silver drums...estimated replacement value $1.5 million


DG Health warning for male members
Overweight smokers in the ADF who drink too much or use illicit drugs are more likely to receive counselling than a prescription under the policy for erectile dysfunction (ED) medication just published in a Defence Health Bulletin.
Certain job categories may be off-limits also for the two medications currently approved for use in Australia - Viagra and Cialis - at least when there’s a chance they can impair faculties needed for Defence work.


Geraldton makes catch of the day in Carpentaria
During the period May 12 to 23, some 28 Indonesian Foreign Fishing Vessels (FFV) were apprehended and escorted to Darwin.

Nineteen alone were apprehended during the period May 13 to 17.


Another cross to bear for padre
Last month the Governor of NSW, Professor Marie Bashir, presented PCHA Simon Hubbard with the Conspicuous Service Cross.

Navy forms PMKeyS management directorate
On May 14 the Director General of Naval Personnel and Training (CDRE Simon Hart) announced the formation of the Directorate of Navy PMKeyS with responsibility for managing the Navy aspects of PMKeyS.


Sea King records a record month
HMAS Kanimbla’s Sea King helicopter and crew, deployed from 817 Squadron at the Naval Air Station in Nowra, has recorded a record flying month during operations in the Persian Gulf.


Dark days recalled
Australian and American Diplomatic and Defence personnel gathered together at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta to commemorate the loss 61 years ago of the cruisers HMAS Perth and USS Houston in the Battle of the Sunda Strait.

Customs expedites Aussies quick return
ADF members have been able to reunite with their families faster thanks to a team of customs officers.

Toowoomba launched
“I name this ship Toowoomba. God bless her and all who sail in her.”


Parramatta tests systems stabilisers and stomachs
In early April, Nuship Parramatta (CMDR Mike Noonan) successfully completed Contractor Sea Trials (CST) and remains on track for an early delivery to the RAN on June 20.

Float exercise first for Collins Class
Australian Clearance Diving Team One (AUSCDT ONE) (LCDR Glenn Ker) recently successfully completed Float On, Float Off (FO/FO) workup training with HMAS Waller.


Tanking
If versatility could be measured, HMAS Westralia (CMDR John Alexander) would surely represent excellent value for money, and service in the Fleet Oiler is as much about challenges and the satisfaction of work well done as it is about life-style.


Avionics techo averts accident
The Director of Flying Safety (DFS-ADF) and Spotlight have announced that CPOATV Peter Calvert of 816 Squadron, HMAS Albatross is the winner of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s RAeS Field Award for Flying Safety for 2002.


Warramunga enters Tennant Creek
Over the May long weekend, 30 members of HMAS Warramunga and 12 members of the RAN Band Melbourne Detachment took part in a Freedom of Entry ceremony at Tennant Creek and Warumungu Tribal Lands in the Northern Territory.


Twenty plaques added to GI Chapel
The Ackerman family stood quietly looking at a new brass plaque positioned below many others in the Chapel of Remembrance at Garden Island, Sydney on May 18 and remembered a husband, a father and a grandfather, Percy Charles Ackerman. Aged 85, Mr Ackerman died in January.

100 remember Centaur
Nursing officers from HMAS Penguin attended a memorial service at Concord Hospital to remember the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship AHS Centaur.


JB's sisters in service
Two Australian built warships have the Stars and Stripes streaming from their mastheads.