Reunions and other stuff.

Djinnang Association Reunion

The next Djinnang Association Reunion will be held at the magnificant old Public Service Club building in William Street, Brisbane, starting around 2.00pm and finishing around 8.00pm on Saturday 31 May 2008. The committee is planning for a big gathering for 2008 and welcomes all those interested in attending and catching up with old friends.

In order that they can arrange catering for the reunion the committee would like all those intending to attend to either advise the secretary or indicate on the web site their intention to attend - Click Here!

RAAF Ballarat Reunion

ALL members who served at RAAF Ballarat at any time during its existance from 1941 to 1961 are invited to a reunion. See HERE. The reunion will be held from 27th Feb 2008 - 2nd March 2008. Bookings need to be made as they already have more than 70 wishing to attend. Contact either Phillip Marsh, Jim Owens or Doreen Marsh through radschl.reunion@gmail.com 

Steve Hartigan, the Assistant National Secretary of the 9Sqn association advises that 'The First Edition of The Bushranger Story '...and so, "A Gunship was born" has been released on CD and a printable version will become available mid-2008. A condensed 20 page version features in the Summer Edition of the RAAF Association Journal 'Wings' now being distributed. The CD embraces 73 pages including near 200 images, mention of many individuals from multiple armed forces, poetic tributes and impressive 9SQN related statistics.

You can get an overview of the CD version content and an order form, both of which  appear in the Defence segment of the Association's website menu, from HERE. If you want any further info contact Brian or Diane Dirou via email on bddirou@iinet.net.au.

The 9 Squadron Association is proud to assist Brian Dirou in the dissemination of this, his outstanding effort of compilation of the history of our Bushrangers including their initial development. All enquiries are to be forwarded to Brian and Diane on the above listed email address.

Steve also advised the following:  "The arrangements for the Late L/Cpl John F. Gillespie's return to Australia are as follows. John Gillespie was lost in the Long Hai hills of South Vietnam on the 17th April 1971 when a 9 Sqn Dustoff chopper was shot down. The retrieval group will accept John's remains from the Vietnamese Government on Monday the 17th December. His remains will arrive at Melbourne - Avalon on Wednesday 19th December at 1000 hours. The funeral will take place on Saturday 22nd December. The Service will be Requiem Mass at 1030 hours at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, 78 Grange Road, Glen Huntley, Vic, followed by a burial at Springvale Cemetary, Princes Highway, Springvale, Vic, 

A gathering is planned for the Noble Park RSL, 1138 Heatherton Road, Noble Park Vic. For further information contact Jim Bourke (representing the Gillespie Family) 0412 826 744. Members attending are requested to wear their medals or minitures.

Geoff Schmidt, who is a Search and Placement Specialist for the Defence and Aerospace Industries, is searching for a Melbourne based Project Manager – see the position description below. He suggests that if none of our readers is interested in the role, then perhaps they might know who would be interested. You can contact  Geoff at Geoffrey Schmidt Associates (GSA) Recruitment Specialist -- Defence and Aerospace

The position - Project Manager

Aviation Industry, Market Leader

 · Overseas Travel Opportunities ·

Around $xxk package (plus bonus potential)

A privately owned Melbourne based technology company providing environmental monitoring solutions to the world’s busiest airports in Australia, Europe and the Americas. Currently a vacancy exists for a Project Manager to join their project delivery team. In this role you will have overall responsibility for the delivery of a portfolio of projects. Typically your project portfolio will be made up of a number of projects consisting of mixture of new system deployments and existing system upgrades. Typically these range in dollar value from $200k to $1.5m each and are delivered over a period of 9 to 18 months. You must have a background in technical project delivery, preferably within a product based environment. Customer service and communication skills must be of a high level as there will be significant interaction with clients primarily by phone and e-mail and occasionally face to face.

To succeed in this role you ideally will be able to demonstrate:

     *  An ability to meet tight schedules and cost targets without compromising customer satisfaction

     *  An ability to juggle multiple project priorities with a focus on achieving overall business objectives

     *  An good understanding of structured project management methodologies (e.g. PMBOK / Prince 2)

     *  Experience in financial management of projects, including requesting invoices to be raised, recording of actual

         costs and re-forecasting costs to complete.

     *  A commercial awareness of contract and subcontract management

Personally you will be degree qualified preferably with a Computer Science/IT /Engineering background, 5+ years experience in a technical role with at least 3 years experience in a project delivery role. You will need to be self motivated, enjoy working in a busy environment and love a real challenge! The role is based in the Inner South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne with possibilities for overseas travel to Europe and/or the Americas typically for up to two weeks at a time, two to three times per year. Geoffrey Schmidt Associates (GSA) Recruitment Specialist -- Defence and Aerospace

Tel: 0418 210526 A/h 02 6255-8999 ABN:: 56 183 531 388

Opinions expressed in this Magazine, unless marked otherwise, are entirely those of the writer - Trevor Benneworth. This newsletter is not affiliated with, nor does it maintain to be associated with any other organization.   We warmly welcome your input, and should you have an opinion contrary to, or perhaps you agree with any article published here, please express your thoughts to us in writing, and we will gladly publish them.