Our People in WA
Dean Collins - Pidgin Spoken Here
The Army Reservist with 16th Battalion, The Royal West Australian Regiment spent five weeks at the School of Language in Melbourne’s Laverton Barracks.
He deployed to the Solomon Islands with the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.
“Being the linguist of my section and it’s my job to engage with the locals’ first.” Private Collins, 39, said.
“Very little English is spoken here; Solomon Islanders speak Pidgin.”
The goldmine supervisor from Kambalda, 675km east of Perth, said his employer had never stopped him serving in the reserves.
“My boss allowed me the time off to study, but I do have to balance it all out which means I can’t take every deployment,” he said.
“It is so different to my civilian job.”
He enlisted 2 ½ years ago and sailed in the Royal Australian Navy from 1984 to 1995.
“I missed the comradeship and wanted the opportunity to deploy while I was still young enough to contribute.”
“Being an infantry soldier, I’m constantly faced with different challenges and maintain high fitness levels to keep up with the younger guys.”
The assistance mission is known as Operation Helpem Fren -Pidgin English for 'Helping Friend'.
The soldiers assist the Solomon Islands to restore law and order, economic governance, and improve the machinery of government.
The military component of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands dubbed RAMSI includes personnel from four nations including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
The military’s main task is to provide security for RAMSI's multinational Participating Police Force.
The Combined Task Force works closely with the police and civilian elements of RAMSI to assist the Solomon Islands Government and the Solomon Islands Police Force in maintaining law and order.