ANZAC Newsletter - RAAMC Association

Items of Interest
(1) MEDIA RELEASES (With kind permission of the Dept. of
Defence—edited for space and in no particular date
order)
(i)
FORCE COMMUNICATIONS UNIT FIVE return
home.
A ‘Hand-Over Ceremony’ for the ‘Transfer of Authority’
parade was held at the Al Minhad Airbase, in the
United Arab Emirates on the 13th December 2011.
A number of personnel were awarded “Commander
JTF 633 Commendations” in recognition of their
exceptional service during their deployment.
Almost 120 members of FCU-5 returned home, a few
days later, to Australia after completing a 7 month
deployment in the Middle East.
This is a joint unit predominately from the Towns villebased
3 Combat Sigs Regt but with elements drawn
from 17 units across the ADF.
Their CO, LTCOL Dan Bennett said the deployment,
which included Active Service on both OPERATION
KRUGER (Security for Australian Embassy personnel)
and OPERATION SLIPPER (in support of our troops in
Afghanistan and the Middle East), was a SUCCESS.
This joint unit utilises the combined skills and
experiences of Navy, Army and Airforce personnel to
provide JTF 633 with national ‘Communications
Information Systems’. It included coordination of
Coalition CIS services.
During the deployment, FCU-5 provided 24/7 support
to 3 forward operating bases and up to 5 patrol bases
in Uruzgan Province.
LTCOL Bennett said he was very proud of his team.
They met every challenge ‘head on’ and represented
the ADF as a professional and adaptive force.
He said they were ‘handing over’ to FCU-6 a robust
and reliable CIS networks which are agile enough to
meet the needs of changing operational situations.
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(ii) ADF PERSONNEL DEPLOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST
AND EAST TIMOR.
The Chief of Army, LTGEN David Morrison AO,
reviewed a 7th Brigade parade held at Gallipoli
Barracks, Enoggera, in early December, along with
official guests and invited members of the public.
The parade comprised about 900 soldiers who are
about to deploy to the Middle East and East Timor.
The majority will be from 8th/9th Battalion RAR and
serve with MTF-4 (Mentoring Task Force), CTU
(Combined Team Uruzgan), PRT (Provincial
Reconstruction Team), ATTK (Artillery Training Team-
Kabul)and the SOTG (Special Operations Task
Group)—as well, about 70 ADF Personnel will deploy
to East Timor.
LTGEN Morrison expressed his gratitude and
appreciation for the professionalism, courage and
dedication to the members on parade, as they
prepare to serve on overseas operations. He said it
was a privilege to personally farewell the soldiers as
they embark on an important and demanding
mission and to know they will serve our nation with
honour and distinction.
(The majority of the troops departed in January.)
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(iii) DEFENCE HONOURS & AWARDS (MEDALS); (Kind
thanks to Issue 11, Nov. 2011)
WW 1 – Australia had over 400,000 volunteers serve
overseas and any descendants that may have
accessed their forebears records would have seen a
photo copy of a stamp depicting 3 medals.
viz; 1914/15 Star (if this had NE on the medal stamp it
signified that the member was “Not Eligible”), British
War Medal and the Victory Medal.
REPLACEMENTS; These are only issued to the person
who earned them.
In the past, the medal/s of a deceased ADF person was
not replaced if lost or stolen but the government has
‘relaxed’ this for ‘Special Circumstances’ I.E. as a result
of natural disasters.
POSTHUMOUS ISSUE; In circumstances where the
member dies before the medal/s was issued—
unissued medals may be gifted, by the government,
to other family members.
These will be issued to the member’s nominated
primary Next-of-Kin as shown in his personal record.
After the estate is settled, if there are any unissued
medals the following priority is used; Beneficiary of
Will, Widow, Child, Parent, Sibling, Aunt/Uncle,
Niece/Nephew, Grandchild.
MEDAL UPDATE; AASM with Clasp “SIERRA LEONE”
following upgrade on Operation HUSKY for period 15
Jan 2001 to 28 Feb 2003 to ‘Warlike’.
AASM with Clasp “MIDDLE EAST” for service on
Operation PALADIN within the prescribed area of
Lebanon during the period 12 Jul 2006 to 14 Aug
2006.
AASM with Clasp “SOMALIA”. This incorporates the
naval component on Operation SOLACE during the
period 10 Jan 1993 to 21 May 1993.
CALLING FOR APPLICATIONS FOR AUSTRALIAN
SERVICE MEDAL WITH CLASP “CT/SR”
Counter Terrorism (CT) and Special Recovery (SR) was
first raised in 1979 as an interim Tactical Assault
Group (TAG) within the SAS Regiment.
Approval has now been given to claim the above
medal.
TO QUALIFY; Complete a minimum of 60 days
continuous service in the online TAG, Must have been
a member of the TAG OR been a ‘specialist’ member
but only so long as they meet the requirement to serve
continuously online for 60 days.
Special Operations Command is assisting the DH & A
by providing nominal lists. Applicants will be checked
against the list.
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