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Wise career choice
By LT Peter Martinelli and Andrew Stackpool
Volume 49, No. 17, September 20, 2007 |
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ARE YOU BEING SERVED?: LACW Rebecca Wise demonstrates her Air Force CREWATT skills aboard a 34SQN BBJ.
Photo by LAC Guy Young |
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ARE YOU BEING SERVED?: LACW Wise in front of the BBJ with her crew attendant instructors CPL Tanya Lans (left) and SGT Alisha O’Brien.
Photo by LAC Guy Young |
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The class reunion for the Air Force’s latest crew attendant will be an intimate event.
LACW Rebecca Wise graduated solo from her crew attendant’s (CREWATT) initial course at Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra on August 20.
The former commercial flight attendant created a small niche in Air Force history as she was also the first member to pass straight from recruit training to the VIP fleet. She achieved a double milestone when she was reclassified LACW on the same day.
34SQN ran the 27-week course in conjunction with 285SQN.
“It is absolutely fantastic because I worked hard for it, and I was glad to get to the end,” LACW Wise said.
84WG CO GPCAPT Tim Innes and her father Phil put up her new rank slides.
The class-of-one was the first to graduate from 34SQN, where she will serve aboard the squadron’s VIP Boeing Business Jet (BBJ).
LACW Wise said she had been working as an attendant with Virgin Blue, but felt she needed a change as the airline was a “log-on/log-off job”.
“I wanted something that would challenge me and give me some more diversity,” LACW Wise said.
She completed most of her 100 hours’ flying time aboard the BBJ.
She was instructed by staff of 285SQN through her CREWATT courses at RAAF Base Richmond and Fairbairn after she finished her recruit training at RAAF Base Edinburgh in February.
She joined the Air Force to serve aboard the VIP fleet.
“I had heard about it via word of mouth in the industry,” she said.
“One of the other ‘hosties’ had looked in to doing it but she had not proceeded any further. So, I decided to look at it and I realised it was going to be a wonderful experience and a huge challenge.”
Her training included subjects such as crew attendant administration and responsibilities, grooming and deportment, food and beverage service and a comprehensive array of safety and emergency procedures.
LACW Wise said that, despite her experience, there was a lot of difference in the training she received at Virgin compared to Air Force.
“My training with Virgin Blue was five-and-a-half weeks. The training with the Air Force was more demanding and challenging, including the combat survival course; I never did any courses like that before,” she said.
“Aviation medicine covered a lot of theory; not just basic first aid, and I got to go in a hyperbaric chamber. The Air Force course also went further into the theory of flight, so there was a lot more involved in the training.
“I learnt so much more about the job I had already done for two years.
“I can now provide my guests with a much higher service than I was able to at Virgin, as it was a low-cost airline. My [Air Force] duties are a lot more demanding and are kept to a much higher standard,” she said. |
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