Edition 1285, July 05, 2012 - Department of Defence
Edition 1285, July 05, 2012 - Department of Defence
Edition 1285, July 05, 2012 - Department of Defence
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4.5 STAR Sub Penthouse<br />
5 Year Rental<br />
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WORLD www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews<br />
Sea legs: Military Police Sgt Hayden Watson and US Navy Master at Arms James Conroy conduct a<br />
routine security patrol <strong>of</strong> the USNS Mercy flight deck during Pacific Partnership <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Photo by FSgt Craig Sharp<br />
0414 739 891<br />
tcp@primeinvestment.com.au<br />
Maj Cameron Jamieson<br />
“<br />
Army <strong>July</strong> 5, <strong>2012</strong><br />
Cop joins<br />
mission<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mercy<br />
� Enoggera-based MP on Pacific Partnership<br />
A MILITARY policeman is finding his<br />
sea legs <strong>of</strong>f the Philippines coast after<br />
volunteering for duty aboard a hospital<br />
ship for Pacific Partnership <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Sgt Hayden Watson, <strong>of</strong> the Enoggera<br />
Barracks Domestic Policing Unit, has<br />
joined a US force protection team<br />
aboard the 1000-bed<br />
US Navy hospital<br />
ship USNS Mercy<br />
on a journey through<br />
South-east Asia.<br />
“Our job is to<br />
maintain the internal<br />
security <strong>of</strong> the ship,”<br />
Sgt Watson said.<br />
“I’m attached to<br />
the Master-at-Arms<br />
section, which consists<br />
<strong>of</strong> Army and<br />
Navy military policemen<br />
and women.<br />
“We look after<br />
the people on<br />
board, escort visitors<br />
around, ensure<br />
people are clear <strong>of</strong><br />
restricted areas during flight operations<br />
and walk through the wards to make<br />
sure our patients are okay.”<br />
Forty-one ADF personnel are<br />
assigned to Pacific Partnership, the latest<br />
in an annual series <strong>of</strong> US Navy-led<br />
humanitarian relief operations created<br />
as an ongoing commitment to south-<br />
east Asia and the south-west Pacific<br />
after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.<br />
While stationed <strong>of</strong>f the island <strong>of</strong><br />
Samar in the Philippines, USNS Mercy<br />
ran surgical, medical, veterinary, engineering<br />
and expert exchange projects<br />
to help disadvantaged people in the<br />
region.<br />
Sgt Watson had previously worked<br />
ashore with US<br />
Navy police in<br />
Rockhampton during<br />
Exercise Talisman<br />
Sabre, so he jumped<br />
at the chance when<br />
the call went out for<br />
a MP to join Pacific<br />
Partnership.<br />
“The Mercy is the<br />
largest hospital ship<br />
in the world, so it’s<br />
a once-in-a-lifetime<br />
opportunity,” he said.<br />
“It’s a chance to<br />
Sgt Hayden Watson experience something<br />
different and see<br />
some very different<br />
places.”<br />
He will have spent 12 weeks aboard<br />
USNS Mercy by the time it finishes<br />
its tour <strong>of</strong> Indonesia, the Philippines,<br />
Cambodia and Vietnam.<br />
He said after patrolling up and down<br />
stairs on an eight-storey ship for three<br />
months, if nothing else, he should have<br />
the fittest legs <strong>of</strong> any MP in Australia.<br />
The Mercy is the<br />
largest hospital<br />
ship in the world,<br />
so it’s a oncein-a-lifetime<br />
opportunity.<br />
DEFENCE TRANSITIONS<br />
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www.nextjobnow.com.au<br />
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