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Squadron
Leader Simon Sauer with members of the Indonesian Army (TNI)
in East Timor.
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Squadron
Leader David Paddison with Lieutenant Colonel Ali, of the
Jordanian Army, in the mountains of Oecussi.
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TWO
Air Force personnel have returned home after peacekeeping stints
in East Timor with the United Nations.
Squadron
Leader Simon Sauer and Squadron Leader David Paddison were among
a number of Air Force members who assisted in maintaining the
peace in East Timor by fulfilling roles as United Nations Military
Observers in the border regions of the world’s newest nation.
SQNLDR
Sauer was in the Covalima Sector for three months, while SQNLDR
Paddison spent five months in the Oecussi enclave.
As
United Nations Military Observers (UNMOs), the pair was stationed
on the border, or Tactical Coordination Line (TCL).
Their
duties included liasing between the Peace Keeping Force (PKF)
and the Indonesian Army (TNI), assisting in the preparation of
refugees to East Timor, investigating alleged breaches of agreement
between the PKF and TNI and observing, monitoring and reporting
on circumstances which could affect the UN’s ability to complete
its mandate in the country.
The
pair found the opportunity to serve as UNMOs as rewarding. UNMOs
are self-reliant, and are responsible for their own accommodation,
rationing and general living.
Both
lived among local communities, performing their duties as unarmed
uniformed personnel.
One
of the main challenges SQNLDRs Sauer and Paddison faced was isolation.
SQNLDR
Paddison often had to drive for one-and-a-half hours before encountering
another Australian, even though Australia had 15 personnel performing
UNMO duties in East Timor.
Twenty-two
countries provided UNMOs to East Timor, with individuals from
a variety of cultures coming together to achieve one goal –
peace.
