ADF People Archives - CONTACT magazine

Being in command of the crew inside the HIMARS, Bombardier Nicholas O’Connor has been fortunate enough to travel overseas and gain first-hand training and experience. Story and photo by Major Tim Sydenham.

Hands-on with HIMARS a unique opportunity

13/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 443 Views 0 Comments 54th Siege Battery, HIMARS, RAAF Edinburgh

Members of 54th Siege Battery, located at RAAF Base Edinburgh, will be the first to introduce the High Mobility Artillery

Royal Australian Air Force officer Flight Lieutenant James Wilcox deployed on Operation Accordion at Al Minhad Air Base, 2025. Story and photo by Corporal Luke Bellman.

ADF People Australian Army Middle East Royal Australian Air Force Royal Australian Navy

The movers and shakers of the ADF

13/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 411 Views 0 Comments logistics, Middle East Region, Operation Accordion

They don’t wear capes or fly jets but Australia’s logistics planners drive every move in the Middle East, where nothing

Major Vernon Andrews presents Warrant Officer Class 2 (retd) Gene Cowin with a replacement warrant in his home town of Batlow, NSW, on Anzac Day 2025. Story by Leading Seaman Nadav Harel.

ADF People

Anzac Day restores lost connection to service

09/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1417 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day

The devastating impact of the 2019 bushfires on former infantry soldier Gene Cowin and his family in Batlow meant they

ADF People Health and Wellbeing History Lest We Forget

Anzac Day Kokoda trek raises $18,000

09/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 995 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Australian Space Command, Bravery Trust, Kokoda Trail

Squadron Leader Adon Lumley has returned from one of Australia’s most iconic military pilgrimage sites after completing the legendary Kokoda

Fighterworld general manager, Air Commodore (retd) Jack Fanderlinden, right, listens as Wing Commander (retd) Hugh Holt recalls flying Hercules aircraft with him in 37 Squadron during the Vietnam War. Story by Flight Lieutenant Julia Ravell. Photo by Leading Aircraftman Kurt Lewis.

ADF People History Royal Australian Air Force

Fighter World recalls last RAAF boots on ground in Vietnam

08/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 782 Views 0 Comments Vietnam War

Only three RAAF aircraft were in Vietnam on Anzac Day 1975, just days before the Fall of Saigon. CAPTION: Fighterworld general

Anzac Day didgeridoo player, Australian Army Warrant Officer Class Two Lachlan Youll at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkiye. Story by Flight Lieutenant Vernon Pather. Photos by Flight Lieutenant Vernon Pather. Leading Seaman Susan Mossop.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Indigenous soldier’s tribute at Anzac Cove

07/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 552 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Gallipoli, Indigenous

Just before dawn on Anzac Day on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkiye, Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Lachlan Youll played

Lieutenant Barton Heeney, of Fleet Aviation, and Lieutenant Jacqui Heeney, of Fleet Cyber Unit, at Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System during Exercise Bersama Shield 2025. Story and photo by Corporal Jacob Joseph.

ADF People Royal Australian Navy

Romeo pilot and wife go phishing on honeymoon

07/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 660 Views 0 Comments Bersama Shield

Newlywed lieutenants Barton and Jacqui Heeney put the honeymoon on hold when they found out they’d be deploying to Malaysia

Major Deta Kerschat receives his Federation Star from Major General Ash Collingburn. Story and photo by Captain Cody Tsaousis.

ADF People Australian Army History

Forty years of experience and memories

06/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 611 Views 0 Comments

Five uniforms, eight boots, four packs and five rifles – Major Deta Kerschat has seen a lot of change in

Captain Tahali Thomas lays a wreath at Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli, Türkiye commemorating 100 years of the formation of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals. Story and photo by Captain Edward Pym.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Corps centenary commemorated at Gallipoli

01/05/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 678 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Gallipoli, Royal Australian Corps of Signals

Standing beneath the slowly brightening skies over Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, Captain Tahali Thomas of the

Warrant Officer Class Two Greg Mills, Private Jacinta Watson's mother Genia Otuszewski, and Lieutenant Colonel Rachael Ayoub cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the Private Jacinta Watson Bridge at Greenbank Training Area. Story by Lieutenant Fenlan Miller.

ADF People Lest We Forget

Bridge named in honour of digger

30/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 474 Views 0 Comments

The life of Private Jacinta Watson has been commemorated at Greenbank Training Area, with a new bridge opened and named

Lance Corporal (retd) Kevin Booth with his grandson Lieutenant Kaleb Booth, of the 10th Force Support Battalion, pose together after the Mandurah RSL parade. Story by Captain Joanne Leca.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Soldier returns home for Anzac Day

29/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 557 Views 0 Comments 10th Force Support Battalion, ANZAC Day, Vietnam War

On October 19, 1968, in the dense jungle of northern Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam, 2 Platoon had just set an

Able Seaman Francis Piccin, of the Royal Australian Navy Band, Sydney, at Amiens Cathedral in France. Story by Captain Katy Manning. Photos by Corporal Nicole Dorrett.

ADF People History Lest We Forget Royal Australian Navy

One song unites two worlds

29/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 597 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, France, Royal Australian Navy Band

As the last notes echoed through Amiens Cathedral in France, Musician Able Seaman Francis Piccin stood with quiet pride, his

Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston delivers the 2025 Anzac Day message at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

A time to reflect on service and support

29/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 349 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, AWM, Chief of Defence Force

A message from the Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston CAPTION: Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston

Leading Seaman Phillip Lofthouse is deployed on Operation Accordion at Camp Baird, United Arab Emirates. Story and photo by Corporal Luke Bellman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Dawn service ashore a first for sailor

24/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 771 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Middle East Region

Deployed on Anzac Day in the Middle East region, Leading Seaman Phillip Lofthouse will honour his grandfather’s resilience as a

Royal Australian Air Force officer Flight Lieutenant Zac Pattison at his computer while deployed on Operation Accordion at Headquarters Middle East in 2025. Story and photo by Corporal Luke Bellman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Thoughts of home while serving overseas

24/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 564 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Middle East Region, Operation Accordion

This Anzac Day, project engineer Flight Lieutenant Zac Pattison will reflect on those who served before him and the role

Royal Australian Air Force musician Corporal Chloe Bruer-Jones will sing the national anthems of Australia and New Zealand on Anzac Day. Story by Warrant Officer Ben van den Akker. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Singing for her Anzac ancestors

23/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 770 Views 0 Comments Air Force Band, ANZAC Day, Chief of Defence Force, Vietnam

Members of Air Force Band have travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to perform at Anzac Day services hosted by the Australian

Australian Army soldier Corporal Hamish Smith at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Photo by Sergeant Tristan Kennedy.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Solemn duty to remember and connect

23/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 705 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Australian War Memorial, Last Post

Corporal Hamish Smith never imagined he would one day stand at the pinnacle of solemn remembrance on such an important

Private Luke Morrison, of Australia's Federation Guard, will join the catafalque party at Gallipoli. Story by Flight Lieutenant Vernon Pather. Photo by Sergeant Sagi Biderman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Service in homage to great-grandfather’s memory

23/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 439 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Federation Guard

Days before departing for Gallipoli to take part in Anzac Day commemorations, Australia’s Federation Guard (AFG) member Private Luke Morrison

Leading Seaman Benjamin Woodlock, of Australia's Federation Guard, at the Australian War Memorial during the lead-up to Anzac Day 2025, when he will command the catafalque party at the Gallipoli dawn service. Story by Flight Lieutenant Vernon Pather. Photo by Sergeant Sagi Biderman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Honoured and humbled to serve

23/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 371 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Federation Guard

‘Woody’, to his mates is a Larrikin, but on April 25 he will be stepping into a very important role,

Leading Seaman Christine Merrilees with her son, Leading Seaman Shannon Leak, and her father, Chief Petty Officer Stewart Merrilees. Story by Lieutenant Hinako Shiraishi.

ADF People History

Three generations share Navy heritage

23/04/202523/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 181 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, HMAS Sydney, Regional Presence Deployment

As HMAS Sydney sails through the Indo-Pacific region this Anzac Day, one sailor on board has a deeply personal connection

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