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Richard Mousaco - Navy Sailor rekindles family connection on Ops in Timor
NAVY sailor Richard Mousaco can’t help but crack a smile as he embraces family members and surveys his father’s childhood family home while deployed in Dili, Timor Leste.
The Communications Information Systems sailor from Narre Warren, Victoria is currently deployed to Timor Leste and will be one of the last of the Australian contingent to leave the nation as the ADF returns home this year.
Able Seaman Mousaco said he found it surreal to be deployed as part of a multi-national mission to a country where he has an active family history and where the majority of his family still resides.
“I never thought I would be deployed to a place where I have so much family history and where my grandmother’s house was literally just around the corner from where I am based,” Able Seaman Mousaco said.
“Australia is my home, I am proud to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, but you can’t forget your heritage and I think you can’t see where you are going if you don’t know where you came from. So when the opportunity to deploy to Timor arose I jumped at it because there are not too many people who get the chance to serve on operations to their family’s own country”, he said.
In a one-hour break from operations, AB Mousaco cut a beaming smile as he embraced his great aunt, two uncles and a number of other direct relatives who live in the family home bordering the hillside of the dusty and humid Timor Leste capital city.
He could not help but laugh as an endless stream of young cousins jostled for the best position for a photo with the “uncle” dressed in the Australian camouflage uniform that is held in high regard in the fledgling nation.
“It has been surreal to check out the area where my father grew up. I have only been here once when I was about seven years old in 1992 – and from what I can remember it’s all changed a lot. My mum and dad’s family were Timorese business owners, who ended up in Portugal following the Indonesian take over in the 1970s.
“Mum’s family were heavily involved in sandalwood and dad’s family were coffee growers. It’s good to see that like the rest of Timor my family is continuing to rebuild this house and are positive about what the future will bring.”
AB Mousaco said his family moved to Australia in the mid-1980s so they could be closer to their homeland in the hope that they would be able to get back there one day and continue family bonds.
The Navy sailor said he has thoroughly enjoyed the experience of his first operational tour where he serves as the Australian commander’s driver before returning to Australia in late January.
“It has been fantastic and something I will truly never forget. It’s a great feeling to be helping out another country – in my case; this is a lot more personal and gives me great satisfaction. Family aside, I have had some truly memorable experiences like meeting the Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as well as the PM and President of Timor Leste and our Chief of the Defence Force.”
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 International Stabilisation Force’s 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.