Moments like these
you need padre Pat

On a wing and a prayer ... Father Pat chats with Sergeant Paul Karo and Sergeant Chris Woods on his daily rounds of the base.

By SGT Julie-Anne Trundell and FLTLT Christine Bradley

THE parish of Father Patrick Woods is a little different to that of a normal Australian priest.

His conversations are interrupted by long bursts of jet-engine roar, there is the smell of Avtur in the air and a concertina razor wire fence surrounds it.

Father Pat, as he is more commonly known, is the unassuming but reassuring presence who quietly goes about supporting the people deployed on Operation Falconer with the F/A-18s.

Whether he is on the flightline, in the “clam shell” (deployable warehouse), visiting the headquarters, calling through the workshops, dining in the mess hall or celebrating mass in the chapel, he’s always ready for a chat or to just listen.

Treading the beat and hitching rides around the vast air base, he is constantly on the move checking on his international flock.

With his Minties-laden backpack he’s never short on company. In fact, as his AUSCAM Padre daypack says, “It’s moments like these ...”

Those who miss him on his rounds also have a chance to catch Father Pat at the Chaplain Centre in tent city, where he sets his backpack down for a couple of hours every day with the other padres from the US and UK.

While he is the Catholic Chaplain, and there are a number of other denominations among the coalition of the clergy, Father Pat believes the padres offer more than just spiritual guidance.

“While we can offer advice to commanders on morale we’re really more about being the airmen’s friend,” he said.
As Australia’s commitment in the Gulf rolls on, in the background will be Father Pat, our man of the (desert camouflage) cloth.

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