Our People in SA
Kina Noble - Kina battles dust, heat in Timor
MORPHETT Vale’s Kina Noble is preparing for a very hot and humid Christmas Day but she won’t be at home – she’s on Operation ASTUTE in Dili, Timor Leste.
The Air Force Clerk, 31, and former Morphett Vale High School student is currently sweltering in an old hangar in Dili as she forms part of a small team packing up all the Australian Defence Force’s files and equipment for return to Australia in the New Year.
The Leading Aircrafts Woman (currently posted to RAAF Richmond) deployed to Timor Leste two months ago and follows on from her previous deployment to the Middle East for Operation SLIPPER.
“My role here in Timor Leste is in the information management cell and I am part of a team that is archiving all the correspondence that has been collected over the last six years and sending it back to Australia,” she said.
“It’s hot, dusty and the wet season is about to start – what better way to spend Christmas!
“I joined the Air Force for the adventure, to develop life experience, to travel and I can safely say I have achieved those three things since joining in 2006,” Kina said.
Kina keeps in regular contact with her family in Morphett Vale including parents Marion and Paul Bodsworth.
She works as part of team from Army, Navy and Air Force and said she will take away many positive memories from the experience.
“There have been so many things that will stick in my mind but certainly participating in the First Lady’s Fun Run through Dili as well as walks through the villages and the helicopter rides will be the highlights. There’s also plenty of laughing with the team here which has made the work more enjoyable than it could have been,” she added.
In her time away from sorting endless piles of files, Kina does plenty of exercise, reads a lot and emails home at every opportunity to check up on her dogs “Bella” the Labrador and “Ollie” the Dalmatian.
She also can’t wait to return home and get back into the garden, cook her own meals and walk the dogs.
“I feel very privileged to have had the opportunities that I have experienced in the Royal Australian Air Force and can’t wait to see what’s around the corner. I will be spending next Christmas at home with family – I am planning to make it very special,” she said.
Timor Leste began an exciting new chapter in its history when the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force (ISF) ceased security operations on 22 November.
After more than six years of supporting the Timor Leste security forces, the ISF role has changed to the redeployment of its people and equipment to Australia and New Zealand. ISF troops started to depart Timor Leste in late November and bases will be remediated for handover by mid-2013.