Our People in SA
CPL Mark Brereton - Life with the astro-camels
Air Force Corporal Mark Brereton, 32, is a Mount Gambier-raised man who has once again found himself in the hostile surrounds of the Middle East in summer.
"It's hot, dry and dusty," he explained, "but the evenings can be quite good."
Mark recently commenced his second tour in the Middle East Area of Operations at the main Australian Defence Force logistic base. In 2005 he deployed as a procurement clerk at another base in the region, but eighteen months ago he decided to work with aircraft and changed jobs to become an Air Movements specialist.
"We load passengers and cargo onto military aircraft," he said. "A lot of our work involves building up the cargo onto pallets and restraining it properly so it won't move in flight. We also conduct dangerous goods checks of passengers' baggage and calculate the weight and balance figures of the payload for the aircrew."
With three RAAF C130 Hercules cargo aircraft stationed in the Middle East the days get hectic for the air movers. "We are busy here, but that makes the day go by quickly," Mark said. "After work we can relax and go to the gym or watch a movie in the recreation room. We get a bit of Australian TV here, and there are computer games, internet facilities and welfare phones available."
Despite the high volume of work Mark enjoys the demands of getting everything ready in time. "I'm doing similar things to what I do back at my base in Townsville, with the same time constraints," he said, "but the conditions here make it a lot more challenging.
"I get great satisfaction from doing what my country has asked me to do, and knowing that at the end of the day I've done my job to the best of my ability."
Mark attended St Paul 's Primary School and Tenison College in Mount Gambier , and his mother and many school friends still live there. "My mum spent six years in the Army, so she's very proud of me," he said. "She understands why I am here and the risks involved. She just asks me to take care of myself and to keep my head down.
"I also have a lot of friends there from my school days, and I'm looking forward to catching up with them when I return before Christmas. We'll go out for dinner and a few beers."
Speaking of beer, Mark had a mild shock when he first arrived at his latest base. "Our base is a dry camp, and when I arrived I was surprised to see something that looked like beer in the fridge," he said. "But it's just a beer-flavored soft drink that is commonly sold across the Middle East . We call it Near Beer, and it's nowhere near as good as Coopers. So I reckon I'll just have to stick to bottled water until I get home."