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A
refugee steps off the plane at RAAF Base Darwin.
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Personnel
pack food aid for loading at RAAF Base Darwin in 1999.
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Photo
by WO2 Jeni Chiron
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STAFFING
was a major problem faced by the Air Force at RAAF Bases Townsville,
Tindal and Darwin during the initial stages of Interfet. At Darwin,
tanker drivers worked 24-hour days to refuel 1970 aircraft.
The refuelling team at Townsville refuelled 1005 aircraft despite
the shortage of aircraft refuelling personnel and the requirement
to perform other duties.
Everyone at Townsville worked 0700 to 2300 for a six-day week
– and then possibly worked a shift in the permanently- manned
base command post.
Wing Commander Chris McHugh recalls one corporal worked a number
of days straight with only a three-hour break on Sunday; his only
request was a couple of weeks off in October to get married.
The congestion at Townsville was epitomised by the aircraft there
on September 19-20. There were eight Hercules, two British VC-10s,
an Antonov AN124, a single Boeing 727, a “small” Airbus parked
at the military terminal, a Qantas Boeing 747 on the taxi-way
and Boeing 707 and 737 aircraft waiting at the civilian terminal.
The No. 1 Air Terminal Squadron detachment described similar challenges
at Tindal: “KC-10s and C-141s from the USAF were already inbound
for the exercise Southern Frontier; C-130s, 707s and 727s started
arriving, interspersed by packets of Black Hawks. The odd Orion
taxiing for customs and quarantine and the muchharried Caribou
from Darwin added to the nightmare of marshalling ...
“Our cargo hangar was used by an Army unit, so all pallet building,
weighing, loading and unloading took place on the hardstands ...
side netting became instinctive.
“Whether the aircrew got the joke when we posted a parking meter
on the northern invert we’ll never know, but it kept us amused.”
‘Marshalling was almost artistic and multi-storey parking became
a real probability’
