Our People in VIC
Ross Proctor - Retired Postie Answers ‘Call Of Duty’
St Arnaud’s retired Post Master, Ross Proctor, is often lured away from home by the ‘call of the duty’ to serve with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
As a Navy Reservist, answering the call of duty often takes Commander Proctor to Southeast Asia and the four corners of the globe.
“After serving in the Navy for more than 20 years I came home to St Arnaud and bought into the Post Office with my sister Helen, but my role as a Reservist often requires me to leave this ideal rural existence for extended periods,” Commander Proctor said.
Commander Proctor often ‘disappears’ for weeks and months at a time to work as an instructor with the ADF’s Joint Warfare Doctrine and Training Centre in Newcastle in NSW.
“I contribute to the delivery of over 20 courses per year aimed not only at ADF personnel, but also defence civilians, DFAT officers, Australian Federal Police and the training of foreign military personnel,” Commander Proctor said.
His sister, Helen, and her new husband, took over the License for the Post Office in 2010, which allows Commander Proctor the freedom to serve his country whenever needed.
In October and November Commander Proctor’s duties as an instructor in the ‘art of war’ took him to Singapore’s Changi Naval Base to assist in the mentoring of over 200 personnel from Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, the UK and Australia.
The mentoring of the military officers in the planning and execution of military operations and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief was conducted on the side-lines of Exercise Bersama Lima 11, which was conducted under the auspices of the Five Powers Defence Arrangement (FPDA).
When locals don’t see Commander Proctor around town for a few days they assume he has answered the call of duty once again.
“I am often stopped in the street by locals asking me where I have been recently, as they are fascinated to know where the ‘winds of war’ have taken me each time,” Commander Proctor said.
In 1978 as a 17-year-old at the time, he left the family farm that had been established in the 1870s to join the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
“I jumped at the opportunity to join the Navy when I was old enough, as many rural people today still do,” Commander Proctor said.
“I have noted a recent trend with the young people of St Arnaud’s joining the Australian Defence Force more than previously,” Commander Proctor said.
Commander Proctor and his sister, Helen, took over the operation of the Post Office in 1999 and are well-known to most people in the community. Ross enjoys catching up with friends and kin-folk when he returns from duty.