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| Daisy leads the
way By Andrew Stackpool Volume 49, No. 4, March 22, 2007 |
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Circumstances dictated otherwise.She may not have reached her target, but she achieved the next best thing by becoming the first female PHOT to reach FSGT rank. “The PHOT mustering had 164 members then. Now, we are reduced to 54, so promotions have been very far and few between in the past 10 years,” she said. A warrant may have slipped her grasp, but she was able to make history for her mustering last year when, the day before she went on maternity leave, she was promoted to FSGT at RAAF Base Amberley. Her then boss, FSGT Glenn McCarthy, and her husband, SGT Terry Baldwin, presented her new rank slides on July 21. “It was part of an action-packed week [for me],” FSGT Baldwin said. “There was the F-111 wheels-up landing, then the FSGT ceremony, followed by the early birth of our daughter the next day.” FSGT Baldwin enlisted on August 14, 1986. Initially, she wanted to be an air traffic control officer, but a week of work experience beforehand convinced her that photography was her real passion. “I had a ball [during the work experience],” she said. “I got to crawl over Hercs, Caribous, engines and trucks, and I helped out with holding flashes while the PHOT got the required defect/engineering shots. “We did studio portraits, processed film and printed negatives. It was great; the most exciting job of all.” FSGT Baldwin’s postings include RAAF Bases Williams (Laverton), Williamtown, Amberley and Edinburgh, during which she served as senior flight test photographer at ARDU – a high-flying role involving fast-jet missions. Over the years, her duties involved deployments on many major exercises and attachments to locations including Butterworth, Woomera and New Zealand in support of flying operations. She also participated in the ANZAC Exchange Program with the RNZAF in 2004. FSGT Baldwin said she now had a number of options on what she wanted to do next. “I completed my FSGT promotion course a few years ago so I’m substantive in rank,” she said. “I always enjoy courses and improving my knowledge base. In May last year, I completed the Air Force Safety Advisor and Coordinator courses which I believe to be important for managers. “Some members of my mustering think I should go for WOD as I’m such an Air Force nut, but I enjoy being an Air Force photographer and care about the people in our mustering.” She said she “might settle in for the long wait for one of the WOFFs to discharge or retire to get promoted”. “I love my mustering and care about our future with its changing technologies, so I will be doing as much as I can to promote our capabilities,” she said. “I’d like to get promoted to WOFF, but it’s early days yet and it depends on whether vacancies occur before I retire.” FSGT Baldwin had some advice for anyone who may be considering joining the mustering. “Things are changing within our mustering so you need to be prepared to accept changes and be computer-savvy,” she said. “We have to accept that our future tasking will be very different to what we have done in the past and even today.” She recommended members take a good look at what they wanted to do and go for it. “We only live life once, so if you’re not happy, then do something about it.” |
