RAAF Placement Chanages Career Path

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RAAF placement changes Career Path

By Joanne Heenan

RAAF Townsville's Mechanical Equipment Operations & Maintenance Section workshop recently hosted work experience student Jarrad Trevorrow for a week in November.

Jarrad, 15 years of age, attends the Cathedral School in Townsville and was thinking about a career as a Fitter and Turner before attending his five day placement with the Royal Australian Air Force.

As part of his placement, Jarrad spent the week in the huge Mechancial Equipment Operations & Maintenance Section workshop, but was also able to visit the Weapons Training Simulator System facility and the armoury and have a look at the aircraft arrester cable. While on placement, Jarrad was able to help the RAAF personnel on a range of tasks including working on an air loader and trying welding, grinding and bending metal for different jobs.

While previously he wasn't really thinking about a career in the RAAf, the work experience has changed Jarrad's mind and now that he has completed his placement, he is considering a career in Defence as he thinks it is "fun and laid back". No doubt this attitude was helped along by the RAAF personnel who supervised Jarrad during his placement, in particlar LAC Michael Snushall, who has ensured Jarrad had an enjoyable and informative time.

For Jarrad, probably the most valuable thing he learnt during his work experience was that there is not a huge demand for Fitters and Turners out there and he is now considering a career as a Diesel Fitter, as his time with Mechanical Equipment Operations & Maintenance Section demonstrated that there is a great demand for this trade.

Jarrad highly recommends doing work experience with Defence as it "gives you a good idea of the jobs they do and what it's like".

Images

Jarrad & LAC Michael Snushall
Jarrad & LAC Snushall in MEOMS workshop
Jarrad grinding