 |
|
FLYING
HIGH: CDRE Geoffrey Ledger took one final flight in this
723 SQN Squirrel helicopter before his departure to become
the new Australian Task Force Commander in the Middle East.
|
|
Photo:
ABPH Paul McCallum
|
By
Louise Butcher
The
new Australian Task Force Commander in the Middle East Area of
Operations, CDRE Geoffrey Ledger, left Australia recently to take
up his challenging new posting in Iraq.
This will be the first trip to Iraq for CDRE Ledger, who in the
past has operated in a variety of adverse roles such as the clean
up following Cyclone Tracy.
He will take over from Commander of the Task Force AIRCDRE Greg
Evans. Based in Baghdad, CDRE Ledger will lead more than a 1000
Australian Defence Force personnel on active service in the Middle
East to support Coalition rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts
in Iraq.
He said he hopes his posting will remain incident free while he
is in charge.
“Unfortunately, with the AMTG going into an area of uncertainty,
that can’t be guaranteed. I would like to think that during my
tenure there that nothing changes in the professional way we do
our job for the coalition and that we help the Iraqis,” he said.
“We have a mandate from the government to do that - help them
rebuild the country and get them [Iraqi’s] rehabilitated.
I think the Al Muthanna Task Group (AMTG) will go a long way towards
doing that, towards winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi
people.
After my six months I hope to be able to handover to another one
star with our commitment in good order so they will be able to
continue the good work that has been set up by previous commanders.
“The main challenges will be the bedding of the Al Muthana task
group down the south west and generally managing a large contingent
of Australians in a fairly uncertain area of operations.”
CDRE Ledger, a helicopter pilot, leaves behind a posting at Nowra.
His passion for helicopters led him to fly the Squirrel helicopter
at 723 Squadron, located in Nowra, whenever he got the chance.
In late April, he flew with the squadron for the last time before
heading off to Iraq.
“It was really special,” he said.
