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Privacy Policy | Editorial Policy | Profit Policy | Join the Association | List of Members | Contact us | Index | Links |
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Out in the Shed with Ted.
Ted McEvoy. |
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This page is brought to you compliments of the Kedron Wavell Services Club, Brisbane’s superior Club.
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DVA Christmas Break.
"With the Christmas and New Year period fast approaching, I would like to share with you the Department of Veterans’ Affairs service arrangements for the Christmas/New Year period.
All DVA offices, including all Veterans’ Access Network (VAN) and Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service (VVCS) offices will close at close of business on Wednesday, 24 December 2014 and will reopen on Friday, 2 January 2015.
While the offices may be closed, veterans and their families can continue to access many of the key DVA services by:
Other services that will be available include:
It is also important to note that the last pension payday of the calendar year has been brought forward to Monday, 22 December 2014 to allow payments to be received prior to the Christmas Day public holiday. All other pension pay dates will remain the same.
I wish you all a safe and merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Senator the Hon Michael Ronaldson Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC Special Minister of State
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Warlike service recognised by DVA.
Service men and women (both serving and ex) who have been deployed in a specified warlike area should apply to have their service recognised by DVA. Once recognised a number of benefits and services are available to them such as:
1. Entitled to a Gold Card at age 70. A Gold Card covers a person for all their medical, dental, pharmaceutical, etc expenses. You can download an information sheet on how and when to use the Gold Card HERE. 2. Non-liability health care. This entitles members to treatment for the following conditions, from the moment they submit the form - and for the rest of their life, whether the military is the cause of the condition or not:
·
any form of
cancer (malignant neoplasma),
· TB, · PTSD, · Anxiety Disorder and/or Depressive Disorder, · Alcohol Abuse Disorder and · Substance Abuse Disorder. 3. Pension granted earlier. If eligible for the aged pension from Centrelink (which is income and asset tested), then you are able to get the pension 5 years earlier through DVA. This same pension (still income and asset tested) is available also if at any stage you are incapacitated and permanently unable to work - whether service related or not. This also has a spouse pension attached.
Obviously the big one is the Gold Card, however having cover for any type of cancer and the other conditions listed above in the meantime is pretty valuable.
Members will need to fill in this form (HERE) and return it with a copy of their Service Record Long Version to DVA. You can access your ADO Service record long version by calling 1800 333 362 and they will email it to you. You can have this emailed to your work or private email. If you cannot provide your ADO Service Record any other evidence you can provide, such as a certificate of service, etc may suffice. These will need to be certified true copies (unlike the ADO Service Record).
If members are unsure whether their service is specified as warlike they can look it up in PACMAN Chapter 17 Annex 17.1.B: Deployments approved by the minister since 1982. You can access that HERE, or you can check DVA factsheet IS58 HERE.
Click HERE to see (and print out if you wish) what is covered by each of DVA's health care cards
If you have any queries, contact your closest DVA VAN office HERE
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Introducing “Lite” – the new way to spell “Light”, but with 20 per cent fewer letters.
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Planning??
On Wednesday 12 Nov, a couple of US Marine Osprey aircraft arrived for the G20. They were practicing landings in Victoria Park, an area of land opposite the Royal Brisbane Hospital not far from the City Centre and despite 2 years of meticulous preparation, it seems nobody twigged that this would happen due to the fact that there hadn’t been significant rainfall in Brisbane for yonks.
Click the pic below.
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You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman. Stuff you pay good money for in later life.
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Buying on line!
If you buy stuff on line, no doubt you would have met the situation
where the seller wouldn’t sell to you as you didn’t live in the US of A.
Well, Australia Post may have the perfec
Parcel Post general manager Kelly Heintz says the service will cut the annoying price difference suffered by Australian consumers. She says the service also means Australians won't have to wait any longer than Americans for products that haven't yet hit local stores.
ShopMate isn't the first service of its kind in Australia, but it's the first that won't rely on more costly international couriers. Australia Post charges a base rate of $24.95 a parcel, with a weight rate of $5.95 per 500 grams.
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I got home from the pub and found the missus had left a post-it note on the fridge saying "It's no good, it's not working, I'm staying at mum’s for a while" I opened it, the light came on, the beer was well chilled. God knows what she was on about?
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Orions Decommissioned.
Early
in November, 2014, three of the RAAF’s remaining eighteen AP-3C Orion
aircraft from Edinburgh were decommissioned as their airframes had
reached the end of their useful life. Most of the aircraft components
were removed and will be used as spare parts to keep the other aircraft
flying - a process that used to be called "Christmas treeing". The aircraft fuselage and wings were transported to a
In January 1968, 11 Squadron moved from Richmond to Edinburgh, getting rid of its old P2V-5 Neptunes and later that year was re-equipped with ten P-3B Orions. In 1978, 10 Sqn moved from Townsville to Edinburgh and replaced its P2V-7 Neptunes with ten of the newer P-3C Orions. The B models of 11 Sqn were replaced with P-3C models in 1986.
The RAAF lost one of its Orions on the 26 April 1991 when 10 Sqn’s A9-754 suffered structural
damage in flight and ditched in shallow water at Cocos Island.
Nineteen members of the crew survived the
crash and were able to scramble to safety on top of the aircraft
The RAAF's Orions are expected to be replaced by up to a dozen Boeing P-8 Poseidons and six to eight MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicles between 2015 and 2018. At this time the RAAF is expected to retire the Orions in 2019.
Although the P-8A is built from the ground up as a military aircraft, it is based on the proven commercial designs of Boeing’s 737-800 fuselage. It has been substantially structurally modified to include a bomb bay, under wing and under fuselage hard points for weapons, as well as increased strengthening to allow for continued low level (down to 200ft) operations and 60° angle of bank turns.
An internal fuel
capacity of almost 34 tonnes gives it a range of over 4000 nautical
miles (7,500 km) (not at 200ft I bet!!) or the ability to remain on station conducting low
level Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) missions for over four hours at a
range of more than 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km) from base. The P-8A
is also air-to-air refuelable from the boom of tanker aircraft such as
The Poseidons will be the RAAF’s third aircraft built around the 737 airframe, the others being the VIP aircraft with 34 Sqn and the Wedgetail operated by No 2 Sqn at Willytown. Boeing were certainly on a winner when they designed and first flew the 737 back in 1967. As of October 2014, they have built 8,263 of them in various models.
Click HERE to see video of the Orions going to Lockheed Heaven.
In the realms of further education….
Infinite loop is a computer programming concept, describing a situation of cause and effect that continues forever, one action causing another action that causes the first action etc. These loops can never happen in real life, unless...
A company CEO tells his
secretary: "Next week we're going to a convention abroad and we’ll spend
some quality time together, please make all the required arrangements.
"The secretary calls her husband: "Next week the boss is taking me
abroad for a week on business, please take care of yourself during this
time. "The husband calls his lover: "My
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The Cancer of Military Incorrectness.
The Hon. Charlie Lynn Member of the NSW Legislative Council.
"The cancer of political correctness has infiltrated our most elite military training academy. Cadets are no longer allowed to be criticised because it might affect their ‘self-esteem’. Instructors are forbidden to mark their papers with red-ink because it is an ‘aggressive’ colour. Military training has been subsumed by academic study. Team sport is no longer compulsory.
One can only wonder if the future role of our infantry will be re-defined from ‘close with and kill the enemy’ to ‘close with and counsel them?
The signs are already apparent. We recently had a case where a female Brigadier in Canberra charged Australian commandos for killing the enemy in Afghanistan. Thank God she wasn’t around in previous wars when our veterans killed Nazis, Communists and Japanese imperialists who slaughtered millions of innocent people in their quest to conquer democracy. Our courts would still be clogged!
The introduction of the helicopter during the Korean War changed the nature of the battlefield and led to the entrenchment of inter-service rivalries between the army and the air-force. The concept of an elite training academy for our military leaders was spawned during this period. The aim was to breakdown these rivalries by putting future leaders into one institutional pot and growing them together. In Vietnam the US Army regarded the helicopter as another battlefield vehicle providing fire support and transport for its troops. In Australia they were owned and operated by the RAAF who regarded the army as a ‘client’. This led to much inter-service bickering which took more than 20 years to resolve.
The elite training academy envisaged before the Korean War became a reality a decade after the Vietnam War. It was to be known as the Australian Defence Force Academy and located in the nation’s capital of political correctness, Canberra. During this time bastardisation scandals were reported at the Royal Military College in Duntroon. The esprit of this college, with a proud record of producing some of our finest combat leaders, was sapped by relentless media scrutiny, academic commentators and political sycophants. The process of socially-engineering our military had its genesis in these scandals. Gays and lesbians were allowed to enlist. Women were allowed to share foxholes. Troops were allowed to have breast enlargements, penis reductions and gender changing operations if they were deemed to improve their ‘self-esteem’.
Occupational Health and Safety was imposed to protect them from dangerous training activities. Instructors were banned from yelling at recruits. Military Law was transferred to civilian courts. The ‘security’ of our defence bases was outsourced to civilian contractors. It was enough to make any old digger weep.
During my 21 years in the army we were constantly reminded that our defence force was a reflection of our society. The military had to adapt to diverse community values and attitudes in their recruiting and training processes. Unfortunately the arbiters of political correctness now regard our armed forces as agents of progressive change rather that a reflection of the society it represents. The raison d’être of our military is to serve the Government of the day. Those who enlist are trained to kill and expected to die in the defence of our democratic ideals if necessary.
Our servicemen and women need to be patriotic, disciplined, highly trained and well equipped for their role. Unfortunately this was mission impossible with the gelding of the defence budget by the Gillard Government. Our borders have been busted wide open by foreign people smugglers. Under Labor we were on the verge of spending more on the welfare of illegal immigrants than on our defence budget!
One can only imagine how our arbiters of political correctness would judge General George Patton’s speech to his 3rd US Army in the war against Nazi Germany in 1944:
“Men…an Army is a team. It lives, sleeps, eats, and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse shit. The bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don’t know any more about real fighting under fire than they know about f***ing!…war is a bloody, killing business. You’ve got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it’s the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you’ll know what to do..!”
They would undoubtedly call for Patton’s sacking for inciting violence and have him before the anti-discrimination board for not allowing women to join his wartime killing frenzy! If the Australian Defence Force Academy is not going to produce combat ready officers it should be shut down and allow individual services to revert to their traditional training colleges to do the job. We have enough universities to produce degree qualified recruits and to provide for post-graduate studies.
In the meantime we should beg the enemy not to say or do anything that will impact on the self-esteem of our troops!"
Charlie Linn served in the Australian Army: 1965-86. Vietnam: 1967. Officer Cadet School: 1968. Singapore: 1972-74. United States Army Exchange Officer: 1977-79. Australian Command and Staff College: 1981. Qualified US Army Special Forces Military Freefall HALO Parachutist.
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Kedron Wavell Services Club.
Back in 1966, the Kedron Sub-branch of the RSL took the courageous and visionary step of applying to the Brisbane City Council for a lease of land at Chermside on which to build a Community Hall and an Ex-servicemen’s Club
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Approval for this was granted on 14 June 1968. On 10 July 1968 Kedron Sub-branch with 300 members and Wavell Sub-branch with 100 members amalgamated to use their combined resources to create an Ex-Servicemen’s Club and on 4 December 1968 the inaugural meeting of the Kedron-Wavell Services Club was held.
On 21 February 1969 the Kedron War Memorial Hall which had been deeded to Kedron Sub-branch in 1947 was sold to a then unknown fast food chain which was expanding its operations into Queensland. In February 1970 the building of a public Community Hall and adjoining Club premises was commenced and opened on 18 December 1970 when the Club was licensed for business.
Since those early days, the Club has become Brisbane’s senior club offering two wonderful restaurants:
CHRISTMAS DAY LUNCHEON
If after all the presents have been opened and you’ve picked up all the wrapping paper that seems to be able to cover the lounge room floor from wall to wall and you’d just love to be able to walk out, lock the doors and enjoy a wonderful Christmas Luncheon, cooked by someone else, then the Club has just what you’ve been looking for.
This year the Club is offering a delicious all-you-can-eat seafood buffet, along with sparkling wine upon arrival, free soft drinks and live entertainment provided by ‘Terry Scott’ as well as a special appearance by the man himself - Santa Claus.
The cost is: Adults $135, Kids (10-14) $69, Kids (5-9) $39, Kids (Under 5) Free.
Click HERE to see the menu.
Doors open at 11.30am, in the upstairs Blue Pacific Room. It’s preferable to book early so you don’t miss out, ring 07 3359 9122.
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If you were born in the 1940's (or there abouts) you're sure to remember THIS |
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Chopper’s last ride.
ARMY and Air Force marked a significant milestone when the last helicopter of the Australian Military Iroquois fleet was delivered to its new home. Members of the Army Aviation Systems Program Office from Oakey (Queensland) delivered A2-295 to the Scottsdale RSL in north east Tasmania on the 30th September 2014.
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Left: Scottsdale RSL president Bruce Scott, granddaughter Mia Suttcliffe, 7, of Launceston, and Ringarooma military historian Peter France with the helicopter that will be housed in a specially built hanger at the RSL Club. |
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The Iroquois fleet ended operations in December 2007 and the majority of the aircraft were given to Defence establishments for use as static displays or training aids. The final eight aircraft were sold to Australian historical organisations, including military museums and RSLs around the country.
Huey A2-295 bad been in storage at Damascus Barraclcs in Queensland for seven years before it was carefully strapped down on the back of a semi-trailer for its journey south across Bass Strait.
The RSL paid $3,650 for the aircraft, but the real killer was the cost of transport from Brisbane, that cost over $15,000. The whole project, including the museum, is going to cost just over $300,000 and the state government has been very generous, giving them $230,000 towards that.
The cold and wet Tasmanian weather did not hamper the spirits of the large crowd that gathered in the street to welcome A2-295 as it arrived. The RSL's president, Bruce Scott, also a Vietnam veteran, could not believe that after many years of hard work his Huey had finally arrived. "It was a great day for the RSL subbranch as very little military memorabilia finds its way to Tasmania”; he said.
Hitler's Aircraft Carrier.
The German Kreigsmarine never really embraced the use of aircraft carriers in WW2. Hitler showed little interest in this type of Naval vessel and its operation. The chief of the Luftwaffe, Herman Goering, was always jealous of his command over all forms of aircraft and did all in his considerable power to stymie Admiral Reader's plan to build up to four aircraft carriers.
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In 1935, Hitler had announced a plan for the Navy to acquire aircraft carriers and two keels were laid down in 1936, and in 1938, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder produced his Plan Z, a grand scheme to build four Carriers and complete them by 1945, but in 1939 this was scaled back to just two. It was Naval policy to not actually name a ship until it was launched. The first laid down Carrier was designated Aircraft Carrier A, to be named Graf Zeppelin at her launch in 1938. The second, Aircraft Carrier B, was never launched.
In May 1941, Raeder informed Hitler that the Graf Zeppelin, about 85% completed, would be finally finished the next year but Herman Goering was no help, he told both Hitler and Raeder he was unable to supply the Navy with aircraft for Graf Zeppelin until the end of 1944. His delaying tactics worked, Carrier B was abandoned, and broken up.
By 1943 Hitler was not too interested in anything Navy and the frustrated Raeder asked to be relieved, which he was and Karl Donitz, the Submarine chief took charge. He was not at all interested in seeing an aircraft carrier gaining more focus than his beloved U-Boat arm and all work stopped on the Graf Zeppelin, notwithstanding she was 95% completed. The ship had her armament stripped out of her and sent off to Norway for coastal battery use.
At war's end in 1945, to ensure this ship did not fall into Russian hands, on the 25th April 1945, the Graf Zeppelin was scuttled in shallow water at Stettin in Poland. Under the terms of the Allied Tripartite Commission, Graf Zeppelin should have been destroyed or scuttled in deep water by August 1946, but the Russians decided to repair the Carrier and she was refloated in March 1946, no doubt loaded with loot from the conquered Poland and was towed from Poland to Leningrad, unloaded and designated PO-101 (ie. floating base Number 101). The Russians wanted to repair the ship at Leningrad as all the repair facilities at Stettin had been destroyed. But this did not happen and again Graf Zeppelin was towed off to the Polish coast where it was used as target practice for both Soviet aircraft and Naval ships. After taking 24 bombs and projectiles the ship was still afloat. Finally two torpedoes did the job, and the carrier sank.
The actual position of her sinking was unknown for many years, but in 2006, a Polish Oil Company ship Petrobaltic found a 265 metre long wreck close to the port of Leba. On the 27th July 2006, the Polish Navy survey ship ORP Arctowski confirmed the find was indeed the wreck of Graf Zeppelin, sitting at 264 feet below the surface.
A sad end for such a ship, once part of a scheme for the German Navy to get its wings. The world can thank its lucky stars that Hitler was a dill (and was surrounded by some dill Generals) and wanted to go to Russia when he did, otherwise we could all be driving VW’s.
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A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the jokes he resents.
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Can you believe this??
In the good old US of A.
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National Anzac Centre, Albany WA.
Officially opened on the 1st November 2014, the National Anzac Centre is an interpretive museum, featuring an array of technologies which encourage you to engage with the Anzac story on a unique and personal level.
From the minute you step inside, you'll be immersed in a journey of discovery, taking on an identity of one of thirty Anzacs as you travel from Albany to Egypt then on to Gallipoli and the Western Front. Using multi-media touch-points and digital displays, you can engage with the past in a way that’s never been possible. You can also have the chance, via a live web interface, to contribute your own stories and responses.
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This is more than a tribute to the men and women who endured so much, it is a conversation with History, giving insight into the individual stories of the soldiers, the nurses and the families they left behind. The opening of the Centre coincided with the centenary of the departure of Australian and New Zealand troops from Albany to join the First World War. This commemorative event took place in Albany from 30 October until 2 November 2014. The Centre was then available for general visitation from 3 November. If you're over that way, it is definitely worth a visit.
Click HERE to see some wonderful pics of the interior.
L-R: Jim Muscat (ex 2Sqn - Phan Rang), Lloyd Douglas (great supporter of Vietnam Vets), and yours truly. At the opening of the Anzac Centre.
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We've come a long way since the days of the 6BM8.
I didn't realize drone technology had advanced this far so quickly. The USAF is now using up its obsolete F-16s as drones. It’s not a good day for the future of manned aircraft, it seems the pilot is on the endangered list, bit like the man who used to fit horse shoes.
Boeing have produced a
little 4 minute Video which shows a first for a full size jet aircraft.
There are thousands of these planes that were once grave yard bound,
with costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars, now they can be used
as never before. These F-16 Boeing aircraft have been in the bone yard
at Davis-Monahan for 15 years and are now being used as drones.
Have a
look
HERE. You
really have to have imagination come up with an Ad like, this, click the
pic below.
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Click the pic for a bigger view.
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Sydney Harbour.
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The Middle East??
And you think you’re pretty good at Geography?? This is more than challenging - it's humiliating. I hesitate to call it fun, but actually it was. No wonder we don't understand what's going on over there!
Click HERE, then drag the country's name onto the map. There is no score or time limit. This is a learning tool. Don't be afraid to make an error, try again [and again, if need be!] and once you have finished the puzzle you will be far more educated about this very intense part of our world.
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Blessed are those who are cracked, for they are the ones who let in the light!
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Ok, Ok!! – I’m going back to my room now!!
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Back Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Forward |
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metal
recycling yard where they were crushed and recycled.
which
lay half-submerged on the reef, however, Flying Officer Tom Henniker was
killed when a propeller blade sheared off on striking the water and
entered the aircraft’s fuselage. In 2001, on the tenth anniversary of
his death, a plaque in his memory was dedicated at a special
commemorative service conducted on the island. 
the KC-30A, pushing its endurance out to over 20 hours and making it
possible to patrol Australia’s isolated Southern Ocean territories.
wife is going abroad for a week,
let’s spend it together..." The lover, a private school teacher, tells
the children: "Because of a personal problem, I will not be at school
next week, so you'll be studying at home. "One of the kids went to his
grandfather and said: "Grandpa, next week I don't have school, you
promised me that if I had time off we'd go to the mountains together."
The grandfather, who was also the CEO, calls his secretary and tells
her: "My grandson asked me to spend the week with him, so we're not
going abroad. "The secretary calls her husband: "The boss cancelled,
we'll be together, my love. "The husband calls his lover: "We can't
spend the week together, my wife is staying. "The lover tells the kids:
"My problem was solved, school is back on. "The kid goes to the
grandfather: "Sorry grandpa, school is back on, I won't be able to go.
"The CEO calls his secretary: "My grandson won't be able to spend next
week with me, rebook the flight abroad" The secretary calls her
husband....
creating the
perfect atmosphere to catch up with friends for coffee or dinner, before
catching a first class show or meeting over lunch or dinner with
business colleagues. The
HQ Cafe is open Monday to Saturday from
9.30am and Sundays from 8.30am. 
