Our People in NSW
Garreth McKnight - Hot Times For Cooma RAAFie
Cooma man Garreth McKnight joined the Royal Australian Air Force in the hopes of finding a challenging and rewarding job. Now he’s a Sergeant and featured in “Air Force”, the latest book by distinguished journalist Ian McPhedran.
Garreth joined as an Aircraft Technician, doing his training at Wagga Wagga, because he wanted to do complex mechanical work, plus travel and experiences that the average person never gets the chance for.
So far Garreth’s most challenging and rewarding time has been in the Middle East, where he did both management and maintenance work on the C-130J Hercules aircraft.
One particular challenge came from one simple thing – heat. In Afghanistan the daily temperature during the summer is almost always over 35oC, on the black of a tarmac it can get to over 50 oC. In the Middle East it can be as high as 55 oC with temperatures inside the aircraft reaching 70 degrees.
Garreth says that repairing planes during the summer is a real challenge. “It’s hard work, the plane is hot to touch, it will burn you, so it makes it really hard to work”.
Garreth, as a red head, is acutely aware of the dangers of heat stroke. If the maintenance crew do have to go and work they wear ice vests, they are drinking constantly and can only work outside for about half an hour before they are required to go inside for a break. But doing jobs that are tough “provide the maintainers with a great satisfaction”, explains Garreth.
He talks about the challenges of the heat in the upcoming book Air Force by Ian McPhedran which is on sale since 1 August.
When prompted about what are the best things about the ADF and his stand out moments he talks about the ‘mateship’ he has experienced, and “the bonds that are formed with people you deploy with”. He gives the example of the Christmas he spent in the Middle East. “Seeing how the members pulled together during a time that would normally be spent with family was inspiring,” he said.