Hello and goodbye

Corporal Adam Pannell, of No. 11 Squadron, holds his one-year-old daughter Emma as he listens to the official welcome home speeches. Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt

By LACW Simone Liebelt
THE first Orion contingent to deploy to the Middle East was officially welcomed home at RAAF Base Edinburgh on June 6 as a new rotation of air and ground crew – which left last Saturday – was farewelled.

At the official ceremony, CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston, CDF General Peter Cosgrove and Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Danna Vale thanked the Edinburgh-based aircrew, maintenance and support personnel for their contribution to the Coalition operations in Iraq.

Originally deployed in January as part of Operation Slipper, the detachment, comprising more than 150 personnel from Maritime Patrol Group and No. 381 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron, was later assigned to Operation Falconer.

An AP-3C Orion formed the backdrop as AIRMSHL Houston took the stand in the No. 11 Squadron hangar to thank his people for a job well done. He spoke in detail of their strategic surveillance missions in the MEAO, and praised all the personnel – on deployment and in Australia – for achieving the 98 per cent mission success rate.

“This success comes from years of hard work; from good training, good doctrine, and the right culture,” he said.
GEN Gosgrove joined in congratulating the men and women, before bidding farewell to the crew preparing to take their place.

“The place you go to remains an area and a task of high challenge and some hazard,” he said. “But we know that you’ll do your job just as wonderfully, professionally, and successfully as those who preceded you on that arduous task.”

A Flight Lieutenant navigator, the only female on her crew, said while her first experience on an operational deployment was professionally rewarding, she missed her female friends and looked forward to having “coffee with the girls”.

Corporal Simon Verhaar, an aircraft technician who had been on other overseas deployments, was proud of the 100 per cent launch rate that had been achieved, but said three months of looking at sand made him miss “all the green things in life”.

Sergeant Yvette Davey, a clerk, said while she enjoyed swapping stories with her Coalition friends and experiencing the local culture, she couldn’t wait to get back to the “the lucky country”.

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