Our People in SA

Morphett Vale’s Kina Noble was sick of staying behind when her Army husband went away. Her solution was to join the Air Force!

“After my husband had been in the Army for three years, although I appreciated the challenges that he faced, I was also sick of being the one left at home while he was away,” she said, “I wanted some excitement in my life.”

So Leading Aircraftwoman Noble joined up in 2006 “because I wanted to be challenged and have experiences that normal life wouldn’t give.  

Over 100 hungry mouths for the cooks to feed did provide quite the challenge “it’s amazing, the organisational skills you pick up when you have to feed several hundred people,’ she says. ‘At first it is, “Oh my goodness, how am I going to do this?” But the skills come along and that’s quite surprising. In the military you can’t panic, because if you do, things don’t get done. You have to fall back on your training [and] the skills you have learnt”

Her experiences in the Middle East are featured in the upcoming book Air Force by Ian McPhedran, available on August 1.

She was posted to the United Arab Emirates, which was her first time outside of Australia. She was one of six Australian cooks at the Al Minhad base in late 2009. The curry nights became one of the most popular culinary attractions where she worked with Arabs, Indians, Sri Lankans and other nationalities, she says “they are great and are more than happy to teach you as well. Their curries are amazing and they make fresh roti bread, it is fantastic.”

When she isn’t feeding the masses at work, Kina likes to “spend time with my husband and the new addition to my family my Labrador puppy, Bella, who is proving to be a handful!”