Air Force News :: Letters

By Corporal Cameron Jamieson

CHIEF of Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston has welcomed the efforts of the Armed Forces Federation of Australia (ArFFA) during his first meeting with representatives of the Federation since taking the ADF’s top job.

The CDF said ArFFA shared his strong interest in the welfare and conditions of service of ADF personnel.

“As an independent representative body for military personnel, I welcome the Federation’s continued contribution to the development of personnel policies for the ADF and acknowledge the Federation’s ongoing commitment and contribution to all remuneration matters considered by the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal,” he said.

“ADF personnel are free to become involved with the Federation. The Federation and its continued effectiveness are dependent on a strong membership base.”

High on the meeting’s order of business were the subjects of maternity leave and compulsory retirement ages for ADF personnel.

The ArFFA representatives requested that 14 weeks maternity leave be made available to ADF members, to bring their entitlement into line with that offered to the APS.

As a result of this request, the Head of the Defence Personnel Executive, Major-General Mark Evans, will present a paper on the matter to the Defence People Committee before the end of the year.

ArFFA President Flight Sergeant Gina Goninon said the meeting was a positive start to the relationship with the new CDF.

“ArFFA will continue to raise matters that impact on its members and ADF personnel to ensure an independent voice is heard by the commanders of the ADF,” she said.

“Commanders need to hear what the people at the coal-face are thinking and ArFFA provides that avenue of communication.”

SINCE [Air Force News] ran an article on the new Australian Defence Medal for six years service in the ADF since World War II on July 15, 2004, I have not seen any further correspondence on whether the medal has been formally established.

I believe issue of the medal was to commence in mid-2005. Do you have any further details on expected release or whether it already has been?

Director of Honours and Awards Irene Wilson responds:

The Government is still considering the eligibility criteria and regulations for the Australian Defence Medal.

There has been wide consultation with the Service Chiefs, and the ex-Service community, to ensure that all the issues and ideas raised have been carefully considered. However, there are some outstanding complexities to be worked through before all the eligibility criteria and associated regulations are finalised.

The full details will be widely publicised in the media after the final regulations and determinations required to establish the medal have been approved.

Application forms will be available from the Directorate of Honours and Awards on completion of the medal criteria deliberations.

I WAS pleased to note in the September 8 edition of Air Force News that Flight Sergeant Matt Clarke was awarded the US Commanding General’s Coin of Excellence for the work he had carried out at Camp Victory in Baghdad.

What is also worth noting is that Flight Sergeant Clarke came from No. 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit and that another member from that same unit, Flight Sergeant Wayne Breen, was also awarded the US Commanding General’s Coin of Excellence.

Flight Sergeant Breen worked – I believe – in exactly the same position that Flight Sergeant Clarke did. Flight Sergeant Breen performed that duty from late 2003 to eaarly 2004.

I shared accommodation with Flight Sergeant Breen for our six-month tour and can attest to the late nights he spent pouring over his engineering – not technician – plans for bettering the coalition communications network.

WOFF Douglas Barthelson
A/SO2 OPS
Certificate and Directory Management Centre, Server Operations

MY FATHER, Frederick Stanley Neale, 84, of Brighton, Sussex, England, was in the RAF stationed at Seletar, Singapore, during World War II. He is one of only two surviving members of No. 36 Squadron and attends the reunions for Seletar whenever he can.

He worked on Wildebeasts while there, but spent the latter war years as a Japanese POW in Fukuoka camp. He is asking if there are any veterans who were stationed at Seletar between 1940 and 1944 who would be interested in contacting him.

If so, please contact me at psilsby@optusnet.com.au or P.O. Box 1029, Penrith, NSW, 2751. It would make his day to hear from someone.

Patricia Silsby
Penrith

COULD you possibly spread your coverage of different flying squadrons around Australia. I’m a little tired of reading about Hornets and Pigs – they are not the be-all and end-all of the RAAF.

I realise subjects like Hawks, Caribous, 707s, etc, may not attract the interest, but these guys that work on these things need to see themselves getting coverage a little more often. I do like reading about other musterings in the RAAF, I just feel there is an unequal coverage of aircraft.

Sorry to sound like I’m bitching, but I want to read about what’s happening in other squadrons, not just [Nos.] 1, 6, 75, 77 and 3 [Squadrons].

I was actually starting to get discouraged because all the stories I read about the Middle East were Hercules stories. I saw your story [recently] about Orions, but we have been deployed there for ages with little coverage.

I apologise for sounding forthcoming, but these are my views.

Editor’s response:

I appreciate Leading Aircraftman Hatherly’s willingness to express his opinion and help improve Air Force News.

Although statistically it would seem his view is unjustified – only eight of the 41 pieces of writing in the previous (November 17) edition of the newspaper related directly to aircraft – I can see why such an opinion would be formed, with aircraft-related stories dominating the front page and centrepiece, as well as several news pages.

The decision on which stories run and where is based on a number of factors, including a story’s perceived news
value and interest level.

As this is an internal communication tool, it’s also very important that we attempt to give even coverage to all parts of the organisation, and I hope Leading Aircraftman Hatherly’s letter will serve as a reminder for us to do so.