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| Reach for the
sky By FLGOFF Eamon Hamilton Volume 49, No. 02, February 22, 2007 |
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Her new rank took effect on January 1, but WOFF Crothers’ achievement was recognised by 33SQN in a promotion ceremony before Christmas. OC 84WG GPCAPT Tim Innes presented WOFF Crothers with her new rank slides at the ceremony. “It should help the crew attendant mustering by giving them someone to aspire to,” GPCAPT Innes said. WOFF Crothers joined the Air Force as a clerk in 1991 and her first posting to Canberra led to her sharing accommodation with flight stewards from 34SQN – an experience that clearly left an impression. “Living with them, I saw the fun they had and the travel they did,” she said. Remustering to flight steward in 1994, she came to 33SQN at RAAF Base Richmond where she worked on the B707. As a CPL, she returned to Canberra in 1999 to serve on board 34SQN’s fleet of Falcon 900 VIP jets. WOFF Crothers recalled that serving VIPs – whether it be government ministers, the Governor-General, and even Queen Elizabeth II – was “all in a day’s work” for the squadron. Promoted to SGT in July 2000, she was posted back to Richmond in 2001, where she took the role of crew attendant instructor with 285SQN. She returned to 33SQN as crew attendant section leader in 2006. CO 33SQN WGCDR Jim Ghee said: “It’s good to see people come back through the unit and fulfilling their potential.” With 13 years of crew attendant/flight steward experience, WOFF Crothers said “the mustering has definitely matured in that time”. Changes include amended pay and promotion conditions for crew, putting them on an equal footing with other airman aircrew musterings. She said she’s looking forward to stepping outside the crew attendant world and into a staff posting within ALG in the near future. Having risen to these heights, her next plan is to apply for a staff position within ALG, broadening her warrant officer skills. Afterwards, she hopes to return to 33SQN “with a fresh perspective” when the squadron takes delivery of the new KC-30B tanker transport. Her time as a crew attendant has left her with a wealth of travel experience, with her most memorable destinations being China and Vietnam. “They’re places that are out of the way, that I would never have been to otherwise – especially, too, with 34SQN, where you tour a lot of outback Australia,” she said. “This job is one of the best kept secrets in the Air Force.” |
