You navigate,dad, I’ll drive

That’s my girl ... Wing Commander Murray Gordon congratulates his daughter, Pilot Officer Kirsten Gordon, after the graduation ceremony. Photo by CPL Kirsty Chambers.

AS A “RAAF brat” Kirsten Gordon became familiar with Air Force life at a young age.

Her father, Murray Gordon, was a navigator at No. 36 and No. 38 Squadrons and an instructor at the School of Air Navigation.

Despite her father’s background, Kirsten only ever wanted to be a pilot.

“I wanted to be doing the flying, and being in control of the aircraft. The actual hands-on flying is what I like best,” she said.

Kirsten recently achieved her goal by being one of eight Air Force pilots to obtain their wings at the graduation ceremony of No. 191 Pilots Course at RAAF Base Pearce.

Her dad, now a Wing Commander and CO of Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Unit (JEWOSU) at RAAF Edinburgh, was at the ceremony to congratulate her.

He expressed his pride in Kirsten’s achievement and believed that it resulted from “the culmination of great determination and plain hard work”.

“Kirsten took on an enormously difficult task when she set out to become a pilot in the Air Force. Clearly I am very proud of her,” WGCDR Gordon said.

These sentiments were echoed by parade reviewing officer Air Vice-Marshal Alan Titheridge.

He congratulated the graduates on their hard work but reminded them that they had just begun what would be a long and hard journey towards professional competence and making a meaningful contribution to the defence of Australia.

AVM Titheridge also encouraged graduates to work on their leadership skills both in the air and on the ground and to aspire to positions that will demand those skills.

Postings for Air Force pilots include the Hawk Lead-in Fighter at No.79 Squadron, the Beechcraft 200 King Air at the Aircraft Research and Development Unit and the HS-748 at No. 32 Squadron.

For the Gordon family, postings will see the wheel turn full circle as Kirsten is posted to ARDU to fly the B200 King Air.
Her dad’s unit, JEWOSU, is an element of ARDU, and part of the tasking for the B200 is to support JEWOSU.

As a newly graduated Pilot Officer, Kirsten is looking forward to the posting, not only as she will be closer to her family but also because “it’s a great chance to get some twin-engine experience and we get to watch the ARDU test pilots at work”.

• By FLGOFF Nigel Harrington

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