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July 1998

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Latest "Battle of the Bulge" Index information

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GO GO LOGO
Tuesday, 28 July 1998

Since getting back I have intended to put up each of the course logo's that were drawn by the cadets at the JNCO courses at RAAF Pearce. Well here they are....

JNCO Course 40, 4 - 11 July 1998 - 125kb
JNCO Course 41, 11 - 18 July 1998 - 108kb.

These art works have now been framed and hung in the classrooms, and are the first in what is hoped will become, a pictorial historical record of the training courses held by the Squadron.

BOY! I NEED A HOLIDAY
Tuesday, 21 July 1998

I have been back at work for two days now - and boy do I need a holiday! "Just had one!", I hear you say? Well, sort of!

The course at RAAF Pearce ended on a high note for me - one of the cadets from my lot was dux on course - and thoroughly deserved too. Lots of late nights to get the results completed before the graduation parade, and then all the reports that needed writting.

I finally got back to Perth to stay overnight with Leonie's mother early Saturday afternoon. After a brief shopping expedition into Perth City, I went over to Leonie's brother, Murray, to watch some videos.

The train trip back to kalgoorlie on Sunday evening was uneventful - I even managed to get a few winks of sleep. The train didn't get in until after midnight - but it was so nice to be back in Kalgoorlie and curling up next to Leonie ;^)

Work was there at 8:30am next morning - straight into the deep end of Systems Analysis. I haven't had a moment to stop until now - and even this is rushed.

FLYING HIGH
Wednesday, 15 July 1998

It's a bit of a struggle, but I'm getting this course routine thing under my belt! A bit more free time before heading to bed this evening - and boy am I tired. Only a couple of more days to go now. It's crunch time for the cadets on this course. Today was spent trying to get them all assessed on Fieldcraft - that is, map and compass work, etc. For me it means a day in the DPCU's (military parlance for camouflage outfits - the "You can't see me" clothes).

That was the morning - this afternoon it was flying time. The RAAF sometimes makes available service aircraft for "air experience flights" for the cadets. As it happens, there is a Caribou transport on detachment here. So it was arranged that a few sorties would be flown - just with a plane load of cadets in tow! It wasn't a very long flight (about half an hour all up) but it was kinda fun. Especially when they did the turn around to come back - quite a steep turn - which brought a cheer from the passengers! (For the technically minded, the turn was about a 60 degree bank). Only one of the kids couldn't keep his lunch down. I have some pictures from the flight here.

This evening was spent starting assessments on this lot - not an easy task, and one of the downsides of being the Flight Commander - having to make judgements after such a short look at the kids. The next couple of days will be quite busy.

CHECK!
Tuesday, 14 July 1998

This last week or so has just disappeared too! I have now completed instructing one course, and we are about halfway through the second one.

For the first few days here it rained. It was a bit miserable, but fortunately the cadets were able to spend most of it indoors - instead of on the parade ground doing drill! Now that the weather is better - it is not so hard. I have managed to get a few photos of the various activities on these courses and you will find them here. The Detachment Commander was quite impressed as well, and wanted copies so he could use them for publicity.

I am amazed at some of the cadets that come on these courses. Some are very good - but with some, I guess you wonder why they are here! But still, we have to try to mould them into something!

Friday night was my turn to be Duty Officer - which meant sleeping over with the cadets in their lines, instead of at the Officers Mess. To make matters harder, it was the deadline to get results in for the first course, so I was up until 1am getting things organised. Then on Saturday morning I had to be up early to get the country cadets off base to catch trains and busses home. It was a last minute rush to get everything organised, and each cadet de-briefed, but I did get it finished in time. At least it was a nice opportunity to go for a jaunt in the "company car". For this course, I was rostered to do duty early (last night) which was better. Except that there was a faulty fire alarm, and I wasn't woken up! I slept so soundly that when the cadet flight sergeant came to tell me, he didn't completely wake me up! I had a vague memory of something having happened in the night - but I couldn't remember.

For this second course I have moved classrooms to the rooms I used last summer on the Senior NCO course. I was a bit strange coming back in there again - I kept thinking of those students I had then - one in particular. Fortunately good memories - but, strange, none the less. There is still much work to do, and I have brought some "work" work with me to do - if only I could find time in the evenings - and avoid the drink rounds in the mess!

And the title of this entry? Well, thats a long story best left to the late nights in the mess.

RAAF PEARCE
Saturday, 4 July 1998

I know you won't read this until I get back in two weeks time ('cause I have no way to upload it until then), but at least I am able to write as I go. This time I managed to get a loan of a nice laptop from work. It is now Saturday evening and I am quietly esconsed in my room in the Officers Mess at RAAF Base Pearce, just north of Perth.

Yesterday was hectic, to say the least! After getting some last minute work completed in the morning, and grabbing some stuff to take with me, I barely had time to do some last minute shopping, get my bags packed and get to the station by 4pm.

The train trip down was somewhat uneventful - for once the Prospector service ran on time! The odd restless child was drowned out by the sounds of Paul Kelly on my Walkman. It was about 1am when I finally got to the Base, found my room, and collapsed into bed.

Today has been very busy getting the cadets in, organised, and on track for the week long Junior Non-commissioned officers course they will undertake. I have been allocated duties as one of the Flight Commanders - that means its my job to make sure everything happens right for my group of kids. It also means that I have to assess them all. I will be teaching Instructional Technique, amongst other things.

On previous occasions when I have been here on Base it has been the middle of summer, and very hot. It's kind of weird being here when its cold and wet. Today has been one continuous procession of showers and thunderstorms! Well, I'll have to get used to it - this will be my home for the next two weeks.

HEY! WHAT HAPPENED!
Thursday, 2 July 1998

Damn it! I get involved in so much, and the time just disappears. What the hell happened to the last two weeks!

I can come up with a list a mile long of things I have done - but for now you will have to settle for edited highlights. 8^)

Firstly, work - thats always an easy place to start. Well - end of semester - thats what happened. For some reason students that hand in assignments expect them to be marked. So, this past week or so has seen copious quantities of red ink flying around my room, landing in appropriatly coincidental places on assignments, and, "hey presto", theres an assignment marked! Then all the scores have to be tallied on the sheets provided by Student Services (afterall, some of these students actually come here to study for a qualification). And today that all culminated in the Semester Academic Board meeting. Now all I have to worry about is getting next semesters classes underway.

Next was my study - and, again, I can blame (you guest it) - end of semester! Adrian and I spent several weekends, and too many late nights getting our final report for the Cirriculum Development module completed. For all those that helped in the survey, as well as those that just want to sticky-beak, you can find the final report, on-line, here.

Also in these last two weeks (which is something like 12% of the sememster time), I completed, like 80% of the contracts for my Internship module, and these can be found here. I don't think thats any kind of world record or anything, just my usual knack at procrastination (which, incidently, was the topic of my last contract). Now that thats over, I can look forward to the last two modules in my Graduate Diploma, next semester. [There is light at the end of the tunnel!]

So, what am I up to now? Must be time to talk about my personal life. Apart from mega-stress (due to the above two activities), this hasn't actually been to bad for me. The hormones are doing wonderful things for Leonie, I'm building up great friendships via irc (ever played Truth or Dare via irc?) ["Ah-ha", I hear you say - thats where the time has REALLY gone! - OK, I plead guilty!], and the social life hasn't been all that bad either. We had a wonderful evening with one of my students and her husband (the blokes beat the sheilas at Trivial Pursuit), and last weekend we hired a car and drove down to Perth.

Now the Perth trip wasn't exactly happy family visiting - there were a few things to sort out. But that was accomplished without trauma (touch wood!), and I was even able to spend a bit of time in the city shops. I now have a "Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hrs" book (complete with CD-ROM) to read, and in a few weeks I will have a second hand 486 box to load it on, courtesy of the Universities Business Department. So, Linux hacking, here I come!

The biggest surprise, though, was waiting for us when we got home late Sunday night. Every so often, KCGM (the big mining company here) have a huge blast in the underground mine - what's known as a pillar blast. Well the one on this particular weekend was a bit bigger than usual! It actually triggered a "seismic event" - techo talk for an earthquake! Not big mind you, about 3.5 on the Richter scale, but enough to cause some major cracks in our walls! And lots of dust everywhere! We had the agent look at it Monday morning - and fortunately it's not too bad - just looks that way!

[Andrew draws a deep breath] So, thats what I have been doing for the last two weeks. And the next two? It's Cadets time! Tomorrow I an off on the train down to RAAF Base Pearce to instruct on a Junior Non-Commissioned Officers Course. And this time, I promise to provide updates, even if you won't see them until I get back. This time I have arranged for some portable computing, so I can write it up as I go, instead of trying to remember it when I get back (like I did in January). Might even be some pictures too (oops don't let RAAFPOL hear me say that - non-security breach pictures only, OK?)

See you when I get back!