“[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e got rocketed so we had to go and put on our flak jackets and that; sometimes they were firing in the air, but you had to be really unlucky to be hit – that’s the way I looked at it.’’
Speaking is Helen Brown, a mother of two from Macquarie Links, who served in the Australian army in a full time capacity for 16 years.
During that time she was deployed overseas to Afghanistan, Iraq and East Timor, where her electronics and telecommunications training and skills were put to good use.
She was part of the reconstruction task force in Afghanistan in 1996.
“This was my first deployment overseas, and it was pretty big, the amount of work we had to do over there,’’ Helen said.
“It wasn’t so dangerous when you were on the base, plus we were lucky we had special forces there at the same time.’’
While in Iraq, her second deployment overseas, Helen Brown’s team of 10 audited every single communications site in that country as part of a project to standardise the system across the three arms of Defence – Navy, Air and Army.
Her last deployment was to East Timor in 1997 over an eight week period.
“The initial communications installations had been rushed so we went in and replaced them with what’s called commercial off the shelf equipment.’’
Helen Brown, who reached the rank of Warrant Officer Class One before she gave away her full time Army career, offers high praise for our Defence forces.
“We’re highly trained, and we’re not just trained in one area but a variety of areas,’’ she says.
“For example a signaller can also drive a vehicle, change a flat tyre, do some of the maintenance on the vehicle, and tune the satellite dish.
“Yeah, we’re in good hands.’’
Helen enlisted in the Army in 1993 at the age of 17, straight from school, as an electronics technician apprentice in the 48th class.
“I was in Air Training Corp and always loved that, and wanted to join the Air Force, but they had stopped offering apprenticeships, so when I went down to Recruiting in Wollongong, the army recruitment officer said, ‘but look at all our apprenticeships’. So I thought I’d give it a go,’’ she says.
She was sent to the Army Logistic Training Centre in Bonegilla, Victoria, then it was off to Melbourne to complete further training as a basics telecommunications technician.
Helen also met her husband in the army when they were both apprentices and have now been married 21 years and have two children.
Both were posted in Holsworthy and lived in Wattle Grove, and in 2001 they bought land in Macquarie Links and built the family home.
Most of their friends are from the Army, so Anzac Day is extra special for them.
“These are lifelong friends and it’s really special catching up with them,’’ Helen says.
“So Anzac Day is normally the dawn service at Ingleburn, then off to the city for a reunion,’’ she said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“This year we’re going to Canberra because Army Apprentices celebrate 70 years and will be leading the march there.’’[/social_quote]
A member of the Ingleburn sub-branch of the RSL, Helen Brown does not share the view held by some that Anzac Day glorifies war and military adventure.
“Anzac Day is commemorating and reflecting on the sacrifices everyone’s made across all the services,’’ she tells the South West Voice.
“Those sacrifices are why we’ve got the freedoms we’ve got in Australia.
“And it’s not until you travel to these other places that you realise how lucky we are here in Australia,’’ she said.
“I don’t think Anzac Day is glorifying military action, I think it’s definitely reflecting.
“The people who think that, if they went to a dawn service and heard what is said at such a service they would see that.’’
