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LAC
James McDonald at an Australia Day ceremony. SNCOs and
WOFFs have been called on to recognise the achievements
of our airmen.
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Photo
by LAC Rod Welch
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WELL
it’s that time of year again and out roll the Australia
Day honours… and yet again (excusing my cynicism) Defence,
and particularly Air Force, has let down their enlisted personnel
in terms of recognition of Service performance.
It sounds like a tired rant, however it is a morale issue
and one that should be taken seriously.
Of 67 awards, while 15 went to Air Force officers, only three
went to Air Force enlisted personnel.
The Army managed to reward the achievements of (only) 15 officers
but 17 enlisted personnel.
Maybe attention was paid to a letter to the editor in a recent
issue of Army News by CAPT. I.G. Robertson, who compared the
Australian Army’s 2:1 weighting of awards in favour of
the commissioned ranks with the British Army’s 1:2 ratio.
It makes the Air Force’s 5:1 weighting effort look a
little average.
Captains Murray and Jones and Rev. McGavin in the Australian
Defence Journal (Issue 154, June 2002) identified the lack
of intrinsic rewards as “weakening the motivational package
for service personnel”.
The time has come for a serious review of the system of awarding
these medals and honours, at a time where both retention and
recruiting issues are at the forefront.
FSGT
T.D. Hill
RANTEWSS
HMAS Albatross
Response
from Air Force Headquarters
FSGT
Hill’s point regarding the morale impact of perceived
imbalances in our recognition systems is well made.
Unfortunately, the ratio of successful airman to officer nominations
in this year’s award list reflects the ratio of total
nominations received in Air Force Headquarters.
Simply put, this year’s recipients all had two things
in common – exceptional achievements and the fact that
someone had taken the time to describe the detail and impact
of those achievements in the form of an award nomination.
I strongly encourage all personnel, but particularly senior
officers, WOFFs and SNCOs, to recognise our exceptional achievers
and make the effort necessary to raise and submit honours
and awards nominations for them through the chain of command.
However, not all of our high achievers will meet the stringent
criteria for the award of Australia Day or Queen’s Birthday
honours.
I therefore also urge those in leadership positions to actively
identify and nominate deserving Air Force personnel for the
many other avenues of recognition available, including Service
Commendations, Australia Day Medallions, the AVM Eaton Airman
of the Year Award and at local level, CO’s Commendations,
Good Show Awards and Certificates of Appreciation.
Rob
Lawson
GPCAPT
Director Coordination – Air Force
Big
thanks in grief to Tindal two
ON
January 13, 2006, my brother, Glen Lally, passed away in an
accident in Alice Springs, while moving interstate with his
family.
During the following week, there were a number of RAAF personnel
who travelled down from RAAF Base Tindal to assist with counselling
and the funeral etc.
The reason I am writing this to you is because there were
many that I did not get to personally thank for the support
that they gave Fiona, her children and our family.
I understand that I may never have the opportunity to see
any of these good people again, and in my own personal grief,
did not extend my sincere thanks to any of them.
Of the people that did attend, there were two whose sadness
and compassion caught my eye. Unfortunately I only know their
first names, Jason and Macca, they stayed at the Novotel Hotel
in room 161 and did not fail, for one minute, to show how
much they cared.
I would like to write to these two people, as other than thanking
them, I would also like to hear some of the adventures that
they shared with my brother. If you could help me in any way
I would be greatly appreciative.
Deb
Lally
dkj.lally@bigpond.com
