Our People in NSW
Duncan Cook - Broken Hill man in Afghanistan
“It does get cold in Broken Hill, but it’s nowhere near as cold as this,” the 22-year old said. “It can get extreme here, with a wind chill factor of minus ten degrees. It will make for good stories though when I get back home.”
Leading Aircraftsman Cook is a Radar Technician from the RAAF’s 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit in Darwin, and has been deployed for six months to the Air Force’s Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan as part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.
The former Willyama High School student said he was proud to be there on his first overseas deployment. He and his fellow technicians maintain the massive air surveillance radar used by their RAAF co-workers to manage the movement of military aircraft in the skies over Afghanistan.
“We have an important role to play,” he said. “I think my technical team is doing well, because the air surveillance operators can’t do their job without us keeping the radar turning. When the radar goes down we run out there to get it back up as quickly as possible. When we see the briefs on what the CRC is doing we can see how we’re helping.”
Leading Aircraftsman Cook said he was originally destined for university along with his friends when he heard about the RAAF’s electronics trade. “I was 17 at the time, and I made a call. I haven’t looked back since.”
The Defence recruiter presented the teenager with a variety of possible jobs, and it was the radar technician job that caught his eye. “I’ve always been interested in electronics, so I thought I’d take it a bit further,” he said. “My job’s a mixture of information technology and radio frequency work that allows me to test myself through fault-finding.”
“I enjoy the job and get a lot of satisfaction when we fix faults. Sometimes it’s rough when you spend 12 hours trying to fix something and you don’t get anywhere, but on the whole it’s been a good experience.”
Leading Aircraftsman Cook said despite his parent’s early concerns about him deploying to Afghanistan they had given him their full support. “They’re really proud of me and recognise that it’s a great opportunity for me,” he said. “I’ve been able to call them up and talk while I’ve been here, and they’ve been sending me lollies and stuff, which has been great. It’s hard though when they send two packets of Tim Tams in one parcel – it’s hard not to eat them all in one go.”
Although mail and telephones have helped bridge the distance between Afghanistan and Australia, Leading Aircraftsman Cook said it was tough to be away from family and friends. “You can’t just catch up with them on weekends like you normally would,” he said. So at times you have to deal with on your own, but you manage.”
A former Celtic Soccer Club player in Broken Hill, Leading Aircraftsman Cook said he was looking forward to going home to Broken Hill on his return to Australia to visit his parents and friends. “I want to catch up with my soccer friends for a few beers at the Old Mulga Tavern on a Sunday afternoon too,” he said. “I’d also like to be there for Anzac Day - to be able to march there with my medals would be a very proud moment for me.”