Radschool Association Magazine - Vol 26

Page 10

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Mirage in Darwin.

Jim Barden saw our article about the crash of A3-105 in earlier editions, and as he says “As your article points out, I was the last person to fly that aircraft. Attached are some personal photos plus the "Joke" that appeared in the newspaper the next day. It was a good caricature of GPCAPT Whisker, (I think).

I'm told, but cannot verify, that the first aircraft in the flight line photo (below) is 105, before its last flight. 105 was trialing the lighter brown colour scheme at the time.

Another good story that emerged from that episode, is “it was the same Safety Equipo who packed both ejection seat parachutes, he scored two cartons of beer that day.

Then around 2003/4 my son was going through 2FTS when the same Safety Equipo (now a contractor) noticed the name (same as mine) on the helmet and asked the obvious question.  He got a real buzz out of it!!   My son flies Caribous!!

Banks.

Last issue we had a “Rant” about the fees and charges levied by the NAB onto our normal everyday Savings Account. We said all we had to do was “go down the road to the Bank of Queensland” and we found an account that was free of fees and levies provided you were a Pensioner.

Well, we very quickly got a huge bunch of emails from blokes who told us, in no uncertain terms, that the NAB offers the same fee free account too, provided you are a pensioner.

So we went back to the NAB to find out and sure enough, the blokes were right, the NAB has one too and it’s called the NAB Retirement Account and of course it too is fee free.

However, there is one big difference. With the NAB if you want to ring the bank and speak to someone about your account you have to ring their 13 number and then you get shunted from extension to extension and could eventually end up speaking with someone off-shore.

When you open an account with the BOQ you get a card with the name of the branch manager and his direct phone number on it and you are encouraged to call whenever you have a query.

I know where I’m staying.

Bastardisation.

A recent report by the Dept of Defence Inspector General's Office states that allegations of "a culture of widespread bullying and brutality" within Defence are, in the most part, unfounded. The Audit team travelled to major Defence establishment across Australia and abroad and interviewed staff from all services and found a few cases of unfair treatment and bullying within the Army and  Navy. However the Air Force told a completely different story. Complaints came from a total of 3,555 Air Force members. While this statistic is alarming in its own right, it becomes horrific when one considers that each complaint represents a sad story of abuse, mistreatment and neglect.  Examples of the some of the more disturbing cases are shown below:

·         One young pilot told of having to spend two nights in tented accommodation, despite the fact that there was an available five-star hotel just one mile away.

·         Another said that he had been forced to endure a gruelling fitness test every year since he joined in 1997.

·         One airwoman alleged that she had been overlooked for promotion on numerous occasions simply because she was fat, lazy and stupid.

·         An aircraft maintenance technician stated he had been refused permission to wear civilian attire to work, despite the fact that his uniform clashed with his eye colour.

·         Another had been forced to wear uncomfortable safety boots for periods of up to eight hours straight.

·         A clerk could not understand why she had been sent to work in a Joint Military Headquarters, "I have been forced to work for horrible Army people who just don't comprehend what the military is all about. I feel the Air Force has victimized me by forcing me to do this...I will be seeking compensation..."

·         Shockingly, Air Force senior ranks are also subject to mistreatment. One SNCO stated, "I was deeply upset when I was addressed as 'Sergeant' by an officer. He knew my name was Bruce. It was just horrible - I have never been more humiliated in my life." A senior officer advised that "the officer in question has since been moved on..."

·         A number of personnel complained of having to attend courses that were not relevant to their jobs, such as rigorous ground combat courses and drawn-out lectures on occupational health and safety. To add insult to injury, a young corporal was even ordered to pack up chairs in the classroom after one such course.

The huge backlash against treatment of Air Force personnel should provide senior officers with a vital clue with regard to the massive retention problems experienced by the RAAF in recent times.

HMAS Sydney II.

We received the following from CDRE Bob Trotter RAN (Rtd) via Steve Hartigan:

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to announce the news that the Finding Sydney Foundation (FSF) and the Naval Association of Australia (NAA) have launched a Virtual Memorial on the internet to commemorate the 645 men lost with HMAS Sydney II on 19 November 1941.

We are providing a unique experience accessible globally for those wanting to learn more about the human loss of HMAS Sydney II and honour the memory of the individual sailors through shared stories and images.

The FSF is very grateful to the NAA for accepting the task of carrying the ‘Sydney’ banner into the future.

The website, located at HERE features an Honour Roll with individual pages of information for each of the 645 sailors lost. Families are invited to submit stories, images and other related content to feature on each sailor’s pages.

The website also houses HMAS Sydney II historical information and an extensive set of archival photographs courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian War Memorial. Video footage can also be viewed.

It includes previous commemorations; the search for the wreck; scenes of the ship and crew in

Egypt (Jul 1940) after the successful engagement with the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni; the triumphant ceremonial welcome home march in Sydney (Feb 1941) and scenes aboard the ship taken during the months before her loss."

Another web site worth a look is http://www.findingsydney.com/

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