A
prime position
By
PTE John Wellfare
 |
|
Airfield
Engineer Flying Officer Cherie-ann Borghouts
double-checks statistical information.
|
|
Photo
by PTE John Wellfare
|
PLACING
supporting units around an airfield requires careful planning
and surveying by an Airfield Engineer to ensure the safe positioning
of all elements.
Flying Officer Cherie-ann Borghouts, of No. 1 Combat Logistics
Squadron, was responsible for placing No. 38 Squadron, No. 381
Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron and attached units into
positions around St Lawrence and Williamson Airfields during Croc
03.
“I was tasked, two days before everyone came in [to St Lawrence
Airfield] to take a look at the land and then place everyone down,
there was already a template [for unit placement], but I was there
to specifically look at airfield issues,” she said. “I
looked at problems with landing of aircraft, any problems with
the pavement, because obviously we have a lot of Caribous using
this area. Everything to do with infrastructure or anything like
that is my role.”
FLGOFF Borghouts, who completed a four-year civil engineering
degree at ADFA to qualify as an Airfield Engineer, said her job
incorporated a number of roles once the airfield position had
been set up.
“I’m also involved in planning for setting up field
latrines and urinals and also responsible for the scrapes to dig
in our tactical position,” she said.
“My job also involves airfield marking, so I work with different
people in those elements over the different phases of the exercise.”
Mum’s
the word for Ops Clerk
By
FLTLT Christine Bradley
 |
|
Corporal
Donna Watts-Endresz, of No. 3 Squadron.
|
|
|
|
A
C-130H from No. 36 Squadron at RAAF Base Richmond flies
over the drop zone at Shoalwater Bay Training Area near
Rockhampton.
Photo by CPL Mark Eaton
|
BECOMING
a parent can be one of the biggest changes life throws at you.
Add to that your first deployment in 9½ years with the
Air Force and you can imagine the challenges facing Corporal Donna
Watts-Endresz on Croc 03.
During the exercise CPL Watts-Endresz has been based in Townsville
as an Operations Clerk with No. 3 Squadron and describes it as
“the best job I’ve ever had”.
“My duties are varied and it’s unlike anything I’ve
ever done before,” she said.
Operations Clerks form an important connection in the big picture.
“We’re basically the radio link between the jets, the
maintenance crews and pilots on the ground. There’s a lot
of responsibility involved,” she said.
Originally quite nervous, she has relished the opportunities that
have come with the job.
“I hadn’t worked with aircrew before and had to learn
the lingo quickly so I could understand and pass on accurate information,”
she said.
Try talking to someone who has their hands cupped over their mouth,
add the complexity of another language and you’ll understand
some of the challenges she and other Operations Clerks face every
day.
Dogs
handle security role
By
PTE John Wellfare
 |
|
Aircraftman
Jamey McDonnell, of 381ECSS’s Military Working Dog
section on patrol with Art.
|
|
Photo
by PTE John Wellfare
|
IT
has been tiring but fulfilling work for the small team of Military
Working Dogs (MWDs) and their handlers deployed on Croc 03.
MWD handler Aircraftman Jamey McDonnell said the small number
of dog handlers made shift work tiring for both dog and handler.
“We’ve got six dog handlers for the duration of the
exercise, attached to No. 381 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron
and whoever else needs us,” AC McDonnell said.
“Continuation training with the dogs is basically always
ongoing, every shift we’re on we’ll do at least two
hours, sometimes six or eight hours a day.
“It’s continuous training from obstacles to basics like
sit, stay and that sort of thing, going through building clearance
searches and man-trailing.
“You have to keep the dogs continually going to keep them
switched on and to keep them getting better and better.”
AC McDonnell, who joined the Air Force as a dog handler in April
last year, said aircraft security was the primary role of an MWD
section deployed to an airstrip in the field.
The section attached to 381ECSS during Croc 03 also provided tracking
and detection capability for airfield defence units.
Tigers gather in Townsville
By
FLTLT Christine Bradley
 |
|
A
pilot from the US Marines Fighting Bengals F/A-18 Squadron
awaits take off from RAAF Townsville.
|
|
Photo
by LAC Rob Mitchell
|
BENGAL
Tigers have been sighted in Townsville – “The Fighting
Bengals” that is, the visiting United States Marine Fighter
Attack squadron in Townsville as part of Exercise Crocodile 03.
Usually based in Beaufort, South Carolina the Squadron is on a
six-month rotation through the west Pacific.
“During that time we’re based out of Iwakuni in Japan
but Australia really is the jewel in the crown,” said Lieutenant
Colonel Jeffrey Hannay, Executive Officer and Detachment Commander
for the Squadron in Townsville.
“It’s a great training opportunity and the hospitality
we’ve been shown by everyone here really sets it apart.”
About 50 United States Marine Corp personnel along with four F/A-18s
and one C-130 Hercules journeyed to
Townsville to work alongside No. 3 Squadron as close air support
for ground forces during the exercise that involves 7000 ADF personnel
and 3000 US personnel.
Although only a flying visit, the opportunity to work in a combined
and joint environment is important, explained Squadron Leader
Tim Churchill, 3 SQN Executive Officer.
“Usually we train at a unit level, honing individual pilot
skills. Here we get to train not only in a joint environment with
the Australian Navy and the Army but on a wider, combined scale
with the US Marines,” he said.
The Bengals arrived in Australia via Korea in early September
to take part in Exercise Southern Frontier in the Northern Territory
and Croc 03 in north and central Queensland.
 |
 |
 |
|
Corporal
Trent Tscheuschler, a Radio Technician from No. 3 Squadron,
inspects an F/A-18 prior to launch.
|
A
Herc from No. 36 Squadron is readied to support a paratroop
drop.
|
No.
36 Squadron Loadmasters Flight Sergeant Sam Lacey and Sergeant
Denis Matthews go through set procedures before a load is
released from a C-130H over the Shoalwater Bay Training
Area.
|
|
Photo
by LAC Rob Mitchell
|
Photo
by CPL Mark Eaton
|
Photo
by ACW Elizabeth Ginn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minister
of Defence, Senator Robert Hill and Chief of Army, Lieutenant
General Peter Leahy attend a firepower display during Exercise
Predator's Gallop at Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
27
August 2003 View movie clip (6.92 MB)
|
Soldiers
from 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment taking part
in a battalion parachute insertion from a RAAF C-130J Hercules
over the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
9
September 2003 View movie clip (4.87 MB)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
