Aussie artisans

By WGCDR Bob Rodgers
Volume 48, No. 11, June 29, 2006

The signed mural left by 37SQN personnel deployed to the MEAO from March to July 2005.

he painting drawn by 10SQN’s LAC Pat Kenny for the 12th rotation of the AP-3C detachment..

Photos by WGCDR Bob Rodgers

WHO said that the military personality isn’t creative?

When travelling through the Middle East, stepping off a C-130J at one of the major air hubs, you will be greeted by rock music and the colourful murals that mark the entrance to the Australian flightline area.

Each panel marks a group of Australians who have been separated from their families to come and support their Army and Navy comrades conducting operations across the MEAO.

And if you stop and look you will see some illustrious company has signed their names along with the men and women of the detachments.

Similarly, at the Maritime Patrol Task Group in the Middle East, each rotation of maintainers has immortalised their presence on the flightline walls.

It is also clear that some of the Aussies who have been here in the last three years have really missed the surf, so they recreated their own reminders of the things they value. It might not be the real thing but it does evoke a sense of home.

We can only hope that all this art work is recorded for prosperity, perhaps as part of an Australian War Memorial display?

 

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