ADF People Archives - CONTACT magazine

Video screenshot of a RAAF EA-18G Growler pilot flying through Brisbane CBD during Riverfire 2025.

Riverfire from the pilot’s perspective

13/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1006 Views 0 Comments Riverfire

The Australian Defence Force has published some very cool behind-the-scenes footage of their involvement in this year’s Riverfire flypast. ADF

Sales of Legacy bears support the annual national appeal to raise awareness and funds for the families of veterans who have given their life or health in service to our country. Story by Leading Seaman Nadav Harel. Photo by Emma Taylor.

ADF People Australian Army Health and Wellbeing History Lest We Forget News Royal Australian Air Force Royal Australian Navy

Annual fundraiser a big boost for Legacy

12/09/202512/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1055 Views 0 Comments Legacy Week, Vivian Bullwinkel

Across the country, sailors, soldiers and aviators took to the streets selling pin badges and bears to raise funds in

Group Captain Kath Stein is the first current serving ADF member to be president of the Australian College of Nursing. Story by Michelle Hoare.

ADF People Health and Wellbeing News

First serving ADF nurse to lead nursing college

12/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 933 Views 0 Comments Vivian Bullwinkel

For Group Captain Kath Stein, following in the footsteps of one of her military nursing role models is deeply meaningful.

Defence APS member Grant Tebbutt with his late grandfather Tom Foster’s recently recovered World War 2 medals and a photo album belonging to his father, Ivan. Story by Lieutenant Fenlan Miller. Photos by Lance Corporal Luke Donegan.

ADF People Archives History Lest We Forget

Defence APS member reunited with lost medals

12/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 825 Views 0 Comments WWII

Forty years after they vanished, a set of medals belonging to a Defence Australian Public Service member’s grandfather has been

The crew of HMAS Ballarat hold a morning tea during their regional presence deployment to raise funds and awareness for R U OK? Day. Story and photo by Sub-Lieutenant Jake Badior.

ADF People Health and Wellbeing News Royal Australian Navy

HMAS Ballarat crew checks in on R U OK? Day

12/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 936 Views 0 Comments HMAS Ballarat, mental health, RUOK

The crew of HMAS Ballarat paused their busy regional presence deployment schedule to mark R U OK? Day at sea.

The immediate health and safety of ADF personnel has been the priority in the wake of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

ADF People Health and Wellbeing

Defence prioritises health, safety in wake of report

09/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 309 Views 0 Comments mental health, Suicide Royal Commission

One year after the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide delivered its final report, the senior officer supporting the

Leading Seaman Ernesto Sanchez is the first Navy photographer awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross, acknowledging his dedication to capturing the stories of Australia's military personnel through imagery. Story by Leading Seaman Nadav Harel. Photo supplied.

ADF People Royal Australian Navy

From behind the lens and into the spotlight

09/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1441 Views 0 Comments

Leading Seaman Ernesto Sanchez is the first Navy photographer awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross, making him the most highly decorated

Recipients of the Jonathan Church Good Soldiering Award (JCGSA) approach the Sandakan Death March Memorial in Sabah, Malaysia, while retracing the historic route. Story and photos by Sergeant Matthew Bickerton.

ADF People Australian Army History Lest We Forget Overseas

A journey of remembrance and learning in Borneo

05/09/202516/09/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 2071 Views 0 Comments Jonathan Church Good Soldiering Award, WWII

Recipients of the Jonathan Church Good Soldiering Award (JCGSA) have retraced the route of the single worst atrocity inflicted on

Signaller Ashlee Chivers with a photo of her great-grandfather’s cousin, Sergeant Henry 'Harry' James Chivers, at the Australian War Memorial. Story and photos by Warrant Officer Class 2 Max Bree.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Last Post reading a personal one for signaller

29/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1609 Views 0 Comments AWM, Last Post, WWI

Blaring bugle sounds and reading stories of Australia’s fallen is nothing new for Signaller Ashlee Chivers. CAPTION: Signaller Ashlee Chivers with

Funeral Guard members, left to right, Leading Seaman Lindsey Young, Able Seaman Jake Clarke and Leading Seaman Bella Cummins, carry the coffin of Leading Stoker Des Jones, as Navy Chaplain David Hastie follows. Story by Lieutenant Commander Ben Robson. Photos by Lance Corporal Joseph Hess.

ADF People History Lest We Forget Royal Australian Navy

Last living link to tragedy of HMAS Canberra I

27/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 2692 Views 0 Comments HMAS Canberra, HMAS Canberra (I), WWII

On a still and cloudy afternoon, Leading Stoker Des Jones was laid to rest, carried to his gravesite on the

History and Heritage - Air Force volunteer Pamela ‘Margaret’ Wilkinson with a newspaper article from 1965 when she was serving as a nurse at RAAF Base Townsville. Story and photo by Flying Officer Casie Scott.

ADF People History

Sixty years of RAAF, love and life

27/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1548 Views 0 Comments RAAF Townsville

As Pamela ‘Margaret’ Wilkinson walks the halls of RAAF Base Townsville’s Building 51, her memories of working from the site

Chief Petty Officer Pete Morrison works on his art. Story by Flight Lieutenant Thomas McCoy. Photo by Private Alex Brown.

ADF People Health and Wellbeing

Rebuilding through art

20/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1943 Views 0 Comments ADF Arts for Recovery Resilience Teamwork and Skills (ARRTS), HMAS Harman, PTSD

Chief Petty Officer Pete Morrison, originally from the United States, has been in the military for the majority of his

Dr Jordan Beavis, Academic Research Officer at the Australian Army Research Centre, has written on 'Debating the Army Profession'. Story by Trent Pollard. Photo byJodi Bingley.

ADF People

Heads up on Ukraine, Army profession, mission command

19/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1619 Views 0 Comments Australian Army Research Centre

What do the lessons learnt from the war in Ukraine, studies of the Australian Army profession and the unique German

Leading Seaman Adam Hamburger with the impressive trove of coins he collected during HMAS Sydney's regional presence deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. Story by Lieutenant Hinako Shiraishi. Photo by Leading Seaman David Cox.

ADF People

Sydney sailor’s coin collection spans the globe

15/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1145 Views 0 Comments HMAS Sydney

On HMAS Sydney, Leading Seaman Adam Hamburger – known as ‘Burgs’ to his shipmates – has a unique tradition. Every day

Chaplain Jean-Pierre Schroeder, left, with Chaplain Miljan Popovic at RAAF Base Curtin during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. Story by Evana Ho. Photo supplied.

ADF People Royal Australian Air Force Talisman Sabre

Chaplain tastes red dust of northern deployment

13/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1921 Views 0 Comments Chaplains, Exercise Talisman Sabre, No. 13 Squadron, RAAF Curtin, RAAF Reserve

In the space of a week, Jean-Pierre Schroeder went from his duties as an Anglican community school chaplain in Perth

Defence scientist Ben Harris is attracted to the extraordinary field of quantum physics. Story by Robert Nutbrown. Photo by Kasi Metcalfe.

ADF People Australian Army Cyber Royal Australian Air Force Royal Australian Navy Space Division

Weird particles reveal future of computing

12/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 2427 Views 0 Comments DSTO

A two-year-old child knows that if a toy is hidden behind a screen, the toy still exists and its form

Major Brian Moore receives his Federation Star from Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, right, in the presence of family members. Story and photo by Major Carolyn Barnett.

ADF People Australian Army History

Career comes full circle

12/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 12039 Views 0 Comments 51st Battalion Far North Queensland Regiment

For Major Brian Moore, life has come full circle. CAPTION: Major Brian Moore receives his Federation Star from Chief of Army

Centenarian and World War 2 Air Force veteran June Hunter cuts her birthday cake with help from Aircraftwoman Molly Blanch and Leading Aircraftwoman Nicole Webb. Photos by Group Captain Gregory Weller.

ADF People History Lest We Forget Royal Australian Air Force

Celebrating the life of a WWII air force veteran

07/08/202518/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1608 Views 0 Comments WWII

The life of World War II veteran June Hunter (nee Hitch), who died in late July, was a story that

Corporal Danielle Sass, a loadmaster on a C-27J Spartan aircraft at 35 Squadron, after her graduation at RAAF Base Amberley. Story by Flight Lieutenant Madeleine Magee. Photo by Leading Aircraftwoman Taylor Anderson.

ADF People Royal Australian Air Force

Egyptologist takes up RAAF career

30/07/202509/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1432 Views 0 Comments 35 Squadron, C-27J Spartan, RAAF Amberley

What do the Royal Australian Air Force and Egyptology have in common? CAPTION: Corporal Danielle Sass, a loadmaster on a C-27J

Executive Officer of 2 Security Forces Squadron, Squadron Leader Tai Kohn, has her head shaved after the squadron completed 3521 laps around the RAAF Base Amberley running track to raise funds to fight ovarian cancer. Story by Corporal Sam Price. Photos by Leading Aircraftwoman Taylor Anderson.

ADF People Health and Wellbeing Royal Australian Air Force

Squadron runs laps for cancer battle

18/07/202530/07/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 2071 Views 0 Comments No. 2 Security Forces Squadron, RAAF Amberley

Over the course of one morning, 2 Security Forces Squadron ran an impressive fundraising effort support a member undergoing her

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