Midnight oil burnt in abundance
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Chief
Petty Officer Sharon Brown (left) and Able Seaman Richard Keepers-Heath
have been burning the midnight oil at Darwin Naval Base to ensure
the urgent stores for HMAS Kanimbla get through on time. Much
of the equipment, food and fuel onboard the ship was loaded in
Darwin.
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By
Corporal Cameron Jamieson - filed 28 January 2005
THE race
to get HMAS Kanimbla loaded with supplies for Banda Aceh required fuel
of a different kind for the supply personnel at Darwin Naval Base.
Midnight oil was needed, and it was burnt in abundance.
Chief Petty Officer Sharon Brown is a stores accounting officer in the
naval stores section of Darwin Naval Base.
She was also a central player in ensuring the stores needed for HMAS
Kanimbla's mission to Aceh were ready and waiting for the ship's brief
stopover in Darwin.
"I received a call from the Port Services Manager on December 27,
telling me that Operation Sumatra Assist had commenced," Chief
Petty Officer Brown said.
"The next day we received messages about HMAS Kanimbla being tasked
to go to Aceh, and that's how I got involved in the task."
HMAS Kanimbla was scheduled for a 24-hour stopover in Darwin to load
both the supplies and the Army engineers that were needed in Aceh.
The clock was ticking - navy logisticians were in a race against time
to ensure the ship would get everything it needed before the deadline
had passed.
She was one of a team of five personnel tasked to ensure the necessary
stores were ready, and straight away the team shifted into overdrive.
Fortunately for the team, the relationship between Darwin Naval Base
and HMAS Kanimbla was already very close, a factor that helped greatly
in the coming days and hours.
"As soon as we knew Kanimbla was going, we e-mailed our counterparts
on the ship and told them no-matter what they needed, we'd try and get
it for them," she said.
"My job was to get the ship's logistic stores onboard - making
sure the stores from down south were coordinated, consolidated and loaded.
"I was like Radar O'Reilly in the television show MASH, trying
to pull rabbits out of my hat to make it all work."
By working long and arduous hours, the team ensured that everything
was in place by the time the ship arrived.
The stores were loaded, and the team went home for a well-earned rest,
but it wasn't long before their sleep was interrupted.
Much-needed medical supplies had arrived at RAAF Darwin, and they needed
to get to the ship - fast.
"I had gone to bed at midnight, and an hour later I received a
call saying more stores were needed," she said.
"Everything was locked up, and I had to work through the frustration
of getting everyone together at that time of night and get the stores
to the ship."
Once again, the team fought against the clock and won, with the supplies
making it to the ship before it resumed its voyage.
For Chief Petty Officer Brown, it was gratifying to see it all come
together and to now see the stores being used in Banda Aceh.
"It's my job, and I love doing what I do," she said.
