Week 9 of 2005

FROM: ACTING NATIONAL SECRETARY, NO. 9 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION INC.
TO: ALL NOMINAL ROLL LISTINGS WITH EMAIL ADDRESSES

Hi Everybody,

About mid-December 2004 (and pre-Tsunami), we initiated a fundraising appeal to provided a motorized wheelchair for Peter Hales who suffers from Huntington`s Chorea, a very disabling genetic disease akin to a spastic condition with uncontrollable limb spasms. The charitable response to this appeal was overwhelming, pledges being received within about 36 hours covering the approximate cost of a suitable wheelchair and ultimately well exceeding the envisaged project expense.

Peter`s need for a motorized wheelchair was perceived by Hedley Thomas who joined with `Sandy` Main in researching products and co-ordinating trials of the preferred model wheelchair at the RSL Care Centre, Currumbin Waters, QLD; where Peter is accommodated - these men did a fine job. 9SQN Association purchased the wheelchair to expedite delivery preceding inflow of donations and we respectfully ask that contributions not yet made be reduced to about 66 percent of amounts pledged, to aggregate approximate project cost.

Peter Hales was the second last Commanding Officer, No. 9 Squadron preceding Angus Houston, before disbandment of the Unit in 1989. Air Marshal Angus Houston, AM, AFC - now Chief of Air Force - very graciously made a special trip to the Care Centre on Friday, 11 February to present the wheelchair to Peter. The event was attended by Dorothy Hales, `Sandy` Main, Hedley Thomas, Graeme Chalmers and key staff who assisted with the project. Unfortunately, Ray Townsend - who co-ordinates RSL major fundraising to support the Care Centres - was unable to participate due to other commitments. Peter`s medical condition is expectedly deteriorating and he has virtually lost conversational ability; but the occasion gave him a real buzz.

This exercise exhibited wonderful compassion and generosity, not only from former 9SQN members at all rank levels, but those who served with other units/forces, including an Affiliate Member who was a former USAF GCA operator at Phan Rang, Vietnam. RSL Sub-branches at Ipswich, QLD and Rose Bay, NSW also donated generously. A finer side of humanity emerged and Dorothy Hales requests that I convey her very special appreciation to all contributors toward this endeavour. Charlie Walford, our National President, also extends sincere gratitude from No. 9 Squadron Association.

Cheers for now and kind regards to all,

BRIAN DIROU
Acting National Secretary
Tele: 61 2 4982 3606

> Department of Defence Media Mail List
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> CPA 058/05
> Thursday, 17 February 2005
>
> BERYLLIUM INFORMATION SERVICE NOW OPERATIONAL
>
> The Department of Defence has today announced that the Beryllium
> Information Service (BIS) is now operational via the ADF Defence Service
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> and the public to register their names.
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> Individuals who believe they were exposed to beryllium as a result of
> Defence-related activities will be offered the opportunity to register
> their details with the Defence Service Centre.
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> This Beryllium Information Service is now available and concerned
> individuals are encouraged to ring 1800 000 644.
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> The Beryllium Register will record each caller's personal and potential
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> The Service Centre expects to be contacted by four potential groups of
> callers.
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> * Currently Serving ADF and APS members.
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> * Contractors working on ADF facilities or projects.
> * Other third parties including former APS civilians, cadets and family
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> Individuals who register will be contacted in writing regarding the
> appropriate course of action for their individual circumstances.
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> A Defence Health Service Beryllium Fact Sheet will make up part of all
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> Media contact:
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The American military is working on a new generation of soldiers, far different from the army it has.

"They don't get hungry," said Gordon Johnson of the Joint Forces Command at the Pentagon. "They're not afraid. They don't forget their orders. They don't care if the guy next to them has just been shot. Will they do a better job than humans? Yes."

The robot soldier is coming.

The Pentagon predicts that robots will be a major fighting force in the American military in less than a decade, hunting and killing enemies in combat. Robots are a crucial part of the Army's effort to rebuild itself as a 21st-century fighting force, and a $127 billion project called Future Combat Systems is the biggest military contract in American history.

The military plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in automated armed forces. The costs of that transformation will help drive the Defense Department's budget up almost 20 percent, from a requested $419.3 billion for next year to $502.3 billion in 2010, excluding the costs of war. The annual costs of buying new weapons is scheduled to rise 52 percent, from $78 billion to $118.6 billion.

Military planners say robot soldiers will think, see and react increasingly like humans. In the beginning, they will be remote-controlled, looking and acting like lethal toy trucks. As the technology develops, they may take many shapes. And as their intelligence grows, so will their autonomy.

The robot soldier has been a dream at the Pentagon for 30 years. And some involved in the work say it may take at least 30 more years to realize in full. Well before then, they say, the military will have to answer tough questions if it intends to trust robots with the responsibility of distinguishing friend from foe, combatant from bystander.

Even the strongest advocates of automatons say war will always be a human endeavor, with death and disaster. And supporters like Robert Finkelstein, president of Robotic Technology in Potomac, Md., are telling the Pentagon it could take until 2035 to develop a robot that looks, thinks and fights like a soldier. The Pentagon's "goal is there," he said, "but the path is not totally clear."

Robots in battle, as envisioned by their builders, may look and move like humans or hummingbirds, tractors or tanks, cockroaches or crickets. With the development of nanotechnology--the science of very small structures--they may become swarms of "smart dust." The Pentagon intends for robots to haul munitions, gather intelligence, search buildings or blow them up.

All these are in the works, but not yet in battle. Already, however, several hundred robots are digging up roadside bombs in Iraq, scouring caves in Afghanistan and serving as armed sentries at weapons depots.

By April, an armed version of the bomb-disposal robot will be in Baghdad, capable of firing 1,000 rounds a minute.