Our People in SA

Tranmere’s Peter ‘Choady’ Cseh, started as an Air Force Cadet, and now he’s a Squadron Leader. He’s also in defence journo Ian McPhedran’s latest book on the Air Force.

But, right from joining the RAAF in 1997, Peter just wanted to be a pilot.

had a pretty simple plan when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1997.

Now the C-130 Hercules pilot has been on deployments to the Middle East, East Timor, Iran after the 2003 earthquake, and Indonesia after the Boxing Day tsunami.

‘Choady’ has some special stand-out memories from his time doing peace keeping and humanitarian missions in East Timor. “A little Timorese boy and girl came up to me and grabbed my legs and gave me a big hug, like a ‘thank you’ gesture. That was very memorable.”

More stories, about his deployments are shared in the upcoming book Air Force by Ian McPhedran which has been on sale since 1 August.

When asked about the best parts of the ADF he says that the “camaraderie is the best, [I] love the aircraft I fly, love the role we do. I enjoy being so operationally-focussed instead of just training.”

He talks about being involved in all the role expansion activities for the Hercules since its inception. “I get great satisfaction in starting and then completing these role expansion activities.”

When he isn’t working, the Squadron Leader “likes 4-wheel-driving, camping and woodwork, as well as spending time with the family.”