ADGie News 2009 ..............................

Air Force to mark 90th Anniversary at 2011 Avalon Air Show

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is planning to make the 2011 Australian International Air Show a centrepiece of RAAF’s 90th anniversary activities, Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin announced today.

The Air Show at Avalon next March will be one of the largest and most comprehensive air shows ever conducted in the Southern Hemisphere.
“The air show will coincide with RAAF’s 90th Anniversary. So the 90th will be a key theme for this world class event which is run by Air Shows Down Under,” Air Marshal Binskin said.

“This will be a great opportunity for the public to get a close look at Air Force’s current high-tech fighter and strike capabilities, including the potent F/A-18F Super Hornet and the Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, both of which came into RAAF operational service this year.”

“The air show will be a major opportunity to highlight RAAF’s future, in particular our transition to the cutting-edge Joint Strike Fighter,” Air Marshal Binskin said.

“The Avalon air show and associated conferences will also focus on unmanned aircraft. Air Force’s Heron is already providing crucial support to operations in Afghanistan, and remotely piloted aircraft will be a key feature of our future capability.”

“We anticipate nearly all of Air Force’s aircraft types will be represented at Avalon next year, along with Navy and Army aviation assets. Dozens of Australian Defence Force aircraft will participate. We’re also planning major displays of the ADF’s ground-based equipment and capabilities.”

“The Australian International Air Show is a key opportunity for Defence to engage our industry partners. The air show and conferences will also draw senior military personnel from the Asia Pacific region and across the world. This makes it an ideal forum to meet and exchange ideas with our international military counterparts,” Air Marshal Binksin said.

The air show will occur at Avalon from 1 to 6 March 2011.

Pom

Red Forbes has asked me to give you info on Mick.

My first contact with Mick was in 1963 when I was posted to East Sale as a GH. Mick was the Woff Defence officer at the time and conducted the annual training. I can still recall the shout of “gas, gas, gas” through a large set of gritted teeth while fumbling with a WW1 gas mask.

The next time we met was 1965 when I went to GDTF as a trainee DI. Mick was still a WOFF and a fearsome sight with the teeth. I remember Merv Reid giving a lesson on the SLR with Mick assessing. Halfway through Mick snuck up behind Merv and bashed him on the head with his cane while hissing through the teeth “ don’t talk to the rifle”. The stunned look on Merv’s face was priceless. Another little trick of Micks was at the 25 yard range where we had various responsibilities. I with one other was responsible for counting the remaining ammo after the Practice. We counted several times then went onto other tasks. Mick then gathered us together then began to berate us about how careful we need to be when accounting for ammo. He folded back a groundsheet and there was two bright shiny rounds glistening in the sun. The buggar had slipped them into his pocket after we had done the count. The point was made.

I didn’t come across Mick again until after Vietnam I was posted to BSqn Amberley then after a few months I went to GDTF 3AD and Mick as a FLTLT. My fist day was memorable for the reason that when I “marched” into his office the only thing I recognised was the teeth. In the chair was a bloke with hair sitting in a cloud of cigarette smoke. The Mick I last saw was bald and detested smoking.

There were some good times at GDTF with lots of stories about Mick in the bush. Like when on a night exercise Mick and I were going back to camp and he said “stay behind me Bob I’ve got eyes like a cat I can see where we are going” just as he said this he went “A over T” over an old plough. Fortunately no injuries occoured.

The last time we met was at the AYR RSL where a few of us had lunch with the old feller. We had a great time reminiscing with some photos and stories. He was bright as a button and remembered, with prompting, the names of just about everybody that he had trained. He was most adamant that the only thing that kept him going in the RAAF was the Adgies.

He is now where he has wanted to be for a long time and may he rest in peace.

WE WILL REMEMBER HIM.

Bob Kinnane

Speaking on ABC Radio in 2006, after her appointment as the army's first Director of Military Prosecutions, Lyn McDade, told her interviewer:
''I'm outside the chain of command.''

Interviewer: ''That puts you in a unique position.''

McDade: ''Absolutely.''

Advertisement: Story continues below Brigadier McDade's position is now unique in every way. The scale of anger being directed at her decision to charge three commandos with manslaughter has created the greatest internal stress in the army in decades. This is not speculation. This is based on a super-abundance of sources. The Australian Army is in a state of suppressed consternation.

Almost as soon as she got the job, Brigadier McDade did not endear herself to the army culture when she described the treatment of David Hicks as ''abominable''. Hicks is beyond the pale with soldiers. He joined the Taliban. He fired on Indian troops. He gave comfort to Islamic jihad.

Nothing in this column should be interpreted as a criticism, overt or implied, of Brigadier McDade. She, not I, has seen all the evidence from the incident in Afghanistan, and is a lawyer of long standing, and has spent 23 years in the military and military reserve. I do not question her judgment or credentials.

Tomorrow, Australia's military commitment in Afghanistan will be debated in Federal Parliament. Also this week, in the NSW Parliament a former army officer, the Liberal MLC Charlie Lynn, will introduce a notice of motion calling for, among other things, the Chief of Defence Force to be given veto power over decisions made by the Director of Military Prosecutions.

''I have never dealt with an issue that has generated such anger and outrage within all ranks of the service and ex-service community,'' Lynn told me. ''I have been overwhelmed with responses from former baggy-arse privates through to retired generals. They want politicians banned from military funerals.''

This existential mutiny began on September 27, when Brigadier McDade announced that three commandos from the elite No 1 Commando Regiment would be charged with manslaughter. The charges stem from a fire-fight in Afghanistan in February last year, when the soldiers are alleged to have killed several children while responding to an attack by a Taliban fighter firing from within his own family.

The decision to lay charges has had the effect of ending nine years of major-party bipartisanship on Afghanistan. The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, said last week the three commandos were ''being thrown to the wolves by the government''.

His accusation did not happen in isolation. The opposition has received an outpouring of anger from present and former members of the armed forces over the manslaughter charges. I have seen dozens of complaints from former senior military officers, such as this, from Brigadier (retired) Philip McNamara: ''As the Honorary Colonel of the 1st Commando Regiment, a Vietnam veteran, a former Commander Special Forces, and the father of a Special Forces soldier who has completed three tours in Afghanistan, I cannot believe that the Defence Force is allowing all this to happen . . . They are really letting our soldiers down and causing concern to all who are deployed because these charges will make all commanders and soldiers hesitate as they confront enemy gunmen instead of following their training and instinct . . .

''If the courts martial do proceed, the army must ensure that the officers sitting in judgment do have operational experience so they can truly understand what it is like to be under fire.''

A widely held view has formed within the military community that the Australian deployment in Afghanistan has been compromised by rules of engagement that reflect the Gillard government's desire to avoid civilian casualties. This perception has taken root in the context of a spike in the number of deaths by Australian troops in Afghanistan this year.

''Unfortunately, the federal government wants to sanitise the war,'' wrote Captain (retired) Roger Cooke. ''They do not want casualties to our troops nor non-combatants. The fact is in war people shoot at each other and so there are going to be casualties to both sides.''

His comments are typical of the dissent, which includes protests from a brace of generals, Brigadier-General (retired) Digger James, Brigadier-General (retired) Neville Smethurst and Major-General (retired) David Ferguson, who wrote: ''We must give our soldiers the confidence to undertake the difficult, bloody and unsavoury job with which they have been tasked.''

On Thursday, acting on information provided by a senior officer and a retired senior officer, I put several questions to Brigadier McDade, through the Australian Defence Forces media unit, as instructed. A response arrived on Friday night, via a Defence spokesman:

Question: I have been advised that the officer who completed the investigation into the action where three commandos were charged with manslaughter did not have operational experience. Is this so?

Response: It is inappropriate to comment on this matter due to the ongoing legal process.

Question: I have been advised that the Director of Military Prosecutions sought advice from senior Australian Defence Force operational commanders on the recommendations of the investigation, and that they advised that the charges not be laid. Is this so?

Response: The Director of Military Prosecutions was approached and has declined to comment on this matter.

So this case begins its belated, glacial, excruciating progress though the justice system. The army has already lost. If the commandos are exonerated, it will have been a disastrously pointless ordeal for the army. If the commandos are convicted, it will be an even bigger disaster.

As one soldier wrote, sardonically, if the commandos are convicted, the Gillard government will need to reintroduce national service, because nobody will be joining the army except people who want careers as lawyers.

I have received the following request, please reply to the address at the end of this message:

Jim Drever has forwarded the following request with regard to Ms Michelle Wyatt seeking information about her father William Wyatt who served in No 2 Squadron as FSGT MTFITT A35320 from 14 February 1968 to 5 February 1969. If anyone is able to assist please contact Ken OBrien as detailed below.

From Ms Michelle Wyatt:
Hi, I am looking for any one that can help me with finding info on my father as he was in the RAAF in Vietnam. I am told he served for a good 20 years, and sadly died when my mother was 8 months pregnant with me. He was a mechanic while in the RAAF, and was then classed as an invalid pensioner. His name was William Charles Arthur Wyatt, born Melbourne, Victoria. He was 53 yrs old in 1978 the year of my birth. My birth certificate does not say he was deceased when I was born. I am trying everything I can think of to research him, not only for myself but also my older brother William. It would be nice if one day we may be able to locate a photo of our father, who is a mystery to us. I am also told we have two half sisters out there some where. Any direction and help would be greatly appreciated.

It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could assist us in helping this daughter of a Vietnam Vet find a photo of her Dad. This is very, very important to us.

Kind regards,

Ken O'Brien
CEO: Families After Trauma Foundation
Principal: Children & Grandchildren of Vietnam Veterans Network (AU)
Consultative Forum Member (VVFHS - DVA)
PhD Researcher: Queensland University of Technology
m. 0410 452 836
e. k3.obrien@qut.edu.au
w. http://www.familiesaftertrauma.org
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