Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

What did you do in the ADF? Can you describe your role?

I was a Communications Supervisor in the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. My role was to operate and then supervise army telegraphic and radio communications assets, in support of military field and strategic operations, and to operate and manage cryptographic equipment and codes. I also served as the Australian Army cryptographer during peacekeeping service with the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Desert in 1994. This required a security clearance of Top Secret.

How long where you serving? From what year to what year?

Twenty years – 1978 to 1998

Can you tell us something from your time in the ADF that you’re proud of?

I supervised communications support for the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Parade in 1987 in Sydney while posted to 104th Signal Squadron Holsworthy Sydney. It was an honour to participate in the long overdue ceremony to welcome home our Vietnam Veterans.

Why did you leave the ADF?

I turned whistleblower to report a senior member of my peacekeeping contingent while deployed to the Middle East. I and other subordinate members were passengers being driven by our superior in Cairo in 1994. He struck a woman and then ordered the rest of us to keep quiet. The driver never reported the incident and I reported it on return to Australia. It was made clear to me that I no longer had a career and I voluntarily discharged. The chief of army Major General David Morrison apologised to me in 2012, and my case is now recorded as official history in Volume 1 of the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian, and Post-Cold-War Operations, commencing from page 801.

Can you describe the nature of your current work or what jobs you have had since leaving the ADF?

I am currently employed by the Queensland Ambulance Service as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher in their southwest region operations centre, based in Toowoomba Queensland, where I have been since discharging from the army in 1998. Our centre covers southwest Queensland from Gatton west to the South Australian border, and Bunya Mountains south to the NSW border. We dispatch land ambulances for approx 30 stations and take 000 calls from anywhere in Queensland. We also have a life flight helicopter based in Toowoomba that we utilise for aeromedical retrievals, and we also move patients on behalf of the RFDS. My role with the ambulance service is to coordinate urgent and non-urgent patient movement by road and air throughout southwest Queensland.

How long after leaving the ADF did you find employment?

It was a cross over – I took long service leave at half pay at the 19-year mark of my army service in 1997 and commenced my career with the Queensland Ambulance Service. I was fortunate to receive a tip off that the ambulance service had a vacancy in their communications facility in Toowoomba.

Since leaving the ADF, are there any major achievements that you are proud of that you would be willing to share?

On 10th January 2011, when the inland tsunami slammed Toowoomba and surrounds, I was called in to work the second half of a day shift as the regional Operations Centre Supervisor, commencing at 1300. Quite a number of Darling Downs and Lockyer Valley residents lost their lives that day and most cases had to be attended to by air as road resources mostly could not negotiate the floods. I am very proud of how communications and on road staff performed that day, providing the best care given the circumstances. For our service that day a number of paramedics and communications staff were awarded the National Emergency Medal with clasp Qld 2010-11. I will never forget that day, the significant loss of life to our community, and I often think of those families who lost property and loved ones during that entire flood period.

Can you share something you really enjoy about your current/post-ADF work?

I have now served with the Qld Ambulance for 24 years and I enjoy providing prehospital care to those who are suffering a significant health or emergency crisis in their lives. It is a privilege to assist those people who need our care. My career in the ambulance also evolved partially due to being ordered to keep quiet about a military hit and run. I was motivated to move into health care where I could assist those who are suffering, and fortunately my move from the military to the ambulance was entirely positive and I adjusted quickly into another service environment. I have never looked back.

Did you find anything particularly challenging in the transition from your work in the ADF to civilian work?

It was a steep learning curve gaining medical knowledge and new communications skills but other than that my ambulance career in communications has been like an adjunct to my army communications career, and my army experience was considered during my ambulance selection process.

How have you used the skills and experience learnt in the ADF in your civilian workplace(s)?

Yes, management and some common communications skills. As the ambulance is also a service organisation my military institutionalisation carried across seamlessly to the ambulance, albeit not as rigid in that all ranks in the ambulance are on first name basis, something that took me some time to adjust to after a military career.