Flight Lieutenant Tracy Flynn is an Emergency Department nurse in civilian life, with more than 20 years of experience as an Air Force reservist.

But that’s just a one small part of her family’s significant contribution to Defence.

During a short deployment to Malaysia for Operation Gateway, Flight Lieutenant Flynn revealed that her daughter, son, step-daughter, son-in-law, ex-husband and their niece all serve, or have served, in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). 

A seasoned hand in the medical community, Flight Lieutenant Flynn is new to operating outside of the country, though she is no stranger to Malaysia. 

“I’ve actually visited Penang three times whilst my daughter, Amy, and son-in-law, Luke, were posted to Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Base Butterworth, but this is my first time on base for work and on an overseas operation,” Flight Lieutenant Flynn said.

“Savannah, my step-daughter, is an equipment officer, my son, Jake, drove tanks in the Army, my niece, Mercedes, is a medical technician at (RAAF Base) Amberley and my ex-husband Tony is an aircraft structural fitter. 

“My youngest daughter, Tayla, is a civilian and a nurse, like me. A couple of weeks ago she told me she was thinking about joining the reserves.”

'My motivation to serve was hearing about my grandfather’s service as a combat medic in the Second World War.'

After 20-plus years in both Air Force and hospital emergency departments, Flight Lieutenant Flynn has enough stories to fill a best-seller, and now she can add Operation Gateway to that growing list. 

“We were at Butterworth to make sure that the aircrew were fit to fly and that everyone else on Operation Gateway stayed healthy”, she said.

“The medical team provided advice to command early, and thankfully we were able to prevent any illnesses from having an impact on the operation.”

Being the humble, dedicated RAAFie that she is, Flight Lieutenant Flynn and her family’s contribution to the ADF had never really struck her as outstanding.

“Yeah, there really are a few of us, now that I think about it,” she said. 

“Personally, my motivation to serve was hearing about my grandfather’s service as a combat medic in the Second World War.”

As to the motivations for the rest of the family, readers can probably work that out for themselves.