Around the country, there are many RAAFies still living on bases, in accommodation built around fifty years ago. The best way to change their lives is to change the portion of substandard, asbestos-filled, undersized cells in which they live. And the best way to do this is to help them become self-sufficient. This is what baseling sponsorship does.
How baseling sponsorship works for the baseling and block community
Baseling sponsorship helps to provide long term benefits to a sponsored baseling, their immediate neighbours and on-base community by funding vital in-block work such as:
-providing electric kettles for boiling water
-providing basic groceries so they can have enough food to eat without being dependent on the mess
-upgrading bedding so they do not have to rely on the two sheets and blanket provided by accommodation
-the chance for baselings to go to school (by correspondence)
-improving access to hot and cold running internet
Baseling Sponsorship helps provide whatever on-base RAAFies need to ensure they grow up in a healthy, non-homicidal environment with opportunities for the future.
How baseling sponsorship works for the sponsor
When you sponsor a baseling, your support allows us to work with the block community on long-term development projects. Your contribution of $43 a month is pooled with that of other sponsors. So you are helping not just one baseling but hundreds in need.
While your money is not sent directly to your sponsored baseling, you do have the opportunity to form a relationship with your sponsored baseling to see the changes you are helping to make in their lives.
Every day, too many baselings are suffering from malnutrition, boredom, parochial attitude problems, and exposure to the elements (including asbestos) without the opportunities we take for granted. Sponsoring a baseling is a way to make a difference.
Sunday, June 29
Monday, June 2
six impossible desserts before breakfast
Patisserie has never been my strong point. There's too much to baking that sort of requires an extra level of faith, which I don't think I quite have. You can weigh out your ingredients, mix the right things, monitor the times and the degree to which things are combined, but when you put it all into a pan or tray in the oven and close the door, all you have left is hope. Hope that you read the recipe right. Hope that
the recipe is a correct and reliable source in the first place, even if you did follow it to the digit. You just can't be the slightest bit of a cowboy in the pastry section - some things work well, some things don't work out like you expect, and you've just got to take it in stride. There's little room for improvisation, which I think is the
main reason why I struggle.
It's like baking is this fine art that I just don't think exists in my genes. When I was growing up, I didn't even realise until I went to other friend's houses for parties that had baked goods, that there was a whole section of the stove/oven that my parents just never used. My next door neighbour was a frequent baker, having got the official Aussie Nanna certificate in producing banana bread, cupcakes, biscuits,
cocktail sausage rolls, fairy cakes, tarts, you name it, if it was baked and she dropped it round, it would be devoured within a day. The sheer mystery of putting raw ingredients in and pulling tasty treats out of that hot box in the kitchen was a source of awe for me as a child, and some of that wonder still does exist for me now.
After a week in the Airmen's doing patisserie, I think I've made at least a thousand desserts. Probably more, considering making a cake or something similar that gets sliced up turns into about fifteen serves. There are usually two options for cold dessert, and a hot one as well. That's for lunch, and then for dinner there are meant to be two different cold desserts on offer. Because I was doing my crash course
in sweets, I wasn't allowed to rely on slicing up the frozen desserts for backup except for when I was making platters for the weekend. Yup, things had to be done the slow and painful way! No quick mixes, microwave fixes, everything made from scratch so I could learn, and I guess appreciate or make the most of shortcuts later on in my career or something like that.
Choux pastry, 3/4 flaky pastry, swiss roll, chocolate swiss roll, trifle, coffee gateau, mixed berry cheesecake, lemon and lime cheesecake, strawberry bavarois, passionfruit pannacotta, pavlova baskets, fruit danishes, bread pullaparts, apple strudel, apple pie, apple crumble, fruit flans, chocolate cake, vanilla slice, cream
puffs... That's what I can remember. Things were a bit of a blur towards the end of the week - whenever I thought I was on top of things, I was pushed to do something different; something more. It's hard to focus on getting a heap of sweets cooked and/or assembled and plated up, garnished and out in the fridge in the middle of the mess en masse. I'm looking forward to making desserts for less than fifty when it comes round to my turn in the Sergeant's Mess.
Just like any other stint in patisserie, I have renewed my respect for anyone that voluntarily works and excels in that section of the kitchen. I think it's one of those subsets of hospitality where you do truly have to be mad to work there. It just asks for a level of meticulousness and care which I find incredibly draining by the end of the day. The one great thing about pumping out large numbers of dessert day in, day out, is that all I do is crave savoury food by the time lunchtime rolls around. It's also good to be able to plate and garnish items individually - at least there's some room for creativity and visual presentation to feed the closet artist within.
I think if I ever get into a kitchen of my own, I'm going to have to put myself through a proper baking course. Just go through recipes systematically, from bread to pastry and beyond, so I can feel more comfortable with the idea of being thrown back into patisserie. It's like how sometimes if you're sitting on an aeroplane in a window seat near the wing, and if you think about it too long, it suddenly seems incredibly unnatural to be able to fly. After a good couple of decades without knowing the truth behind the mystery of the oven, I am gradually figuring out its power.
the recipe is a correct and reliable source in the first place, even if you did follow it to the digit. You just can't be the slightest bit of a cowboy in the pastry section - some things work well, some things don't work out like you expect, and you've just got to take it in stride. There's little room for improvisation, which I think is the
main reason why I struggle.
It's like baking is this fine art that I just don't think exists in my genes. When I was growing up, I didn't even realise until I went to other friend's houses for parties that had baked goods, that there was a whole section of the stove/oven that my parents just never used. My next door neighbour was a frequent baker, having got the official Aussie Nanna certificate in producing banana bread, cupcakes, biscuits,
cocktail sausage rolls, fairy cakes, tarts, you name it, if it was baked and she dropped it round, it would be devoured within a day. The sheer mystery of putting raw ingredients in and pulling tasty treats out of that hot box in the kitchen was a source of awe for me as a child, and some of that wonder still does exist for me now.
After a week in the Airmen's doing patisserie, I think I've made at least a thousand desserts. Probably more, considering making a cake or something similar that gets sliced up turns into about fifteen serves. There are usually two options for cold dessert, and a hot one as well. That's for lunch, and then for dinner there are meant to be two different cold desserts on offer. Because I was doing my crash course
in sweets, I wasn't allowed to rely on slicing up the frozen desserts for backup except for when I was making platters for the weekend. Yup, things had to be done the slow and painful way! No quick mixes, microwave fixes, everything made from scratch so I could learn, and I guess appreciate or make the most of shortcuts later on in my career or something like that.
Choux pastry, 3/4 flaky pastry, swiss roll, chocolate swiss roll, trifle, coffee gateau, mixed berry cheesecake, lemon and lime cheesecake, strawberry bavarois, passionfruit pannacotta, pavlova baskets, fruit danishes, bread pullaparts, apple strudel, apple pie, apple crumble, fruit flans, chocolate cake, vanilla slice, cream
puffs... That's what I can remember. Things were a bit of a blur towards the end of the week - whenever I thought I was on top of things, I was pushed to do something different; something more. It's hard to focus on getting a heap of sweets cooked and/or assembled and plated up, garnished and out in the fridge in the middle of the mess en masse. I'm looking forward to making desserts for less than fifty when it comes round to my turn in the Sergeant's Mess.
Just like any other stint in patisserie, I have renewed my respect for anyone that voluntarily works and excels in that section of the kitchen. I think it's one of those subsets of hospitality where you do truly have to be mad to work there. It just asks for a level of meticulousness and care which I find incredibly draining by the end of the day. The one great thing about pumping out large numbers of dessert day in, day out, is that all I do is crave savoury food by the time lunchtime rolls around. It's also good to be able to plate and garnish items individually - at least there's some room for creativity and visual presentation to feed the closet artist within.
I think if I ever get into a kitchen of my own, I'm going to have to put myself through a proper baking course. Just go through recipes systematically, from bread to pastry and beyond, so I can feel more comfortable with the idea of being thrown back into patisserie. It's like how sometimes if you're sitting on an aeroplane in a window seat near the wing, and if you think about it too long, it suddenly seems incredibly unnatural to be able to fly. After a good couple of decades without knowing the truth behind the mystery of the oven, I am gradually figuring out its power.
Sunday, May 25
such a lovely base
On a New South Wales highway, cool wind in my hair
Fading traces of fuel dumps, can be seen in the air
Just a bit past Fighterworld, I saw a shimmering light
My heart grew lighter from excitement within
This was my stop for the night
Said hi to security;
And asked if he was well
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be heaven or this could be hell'
Then he fired up the car and he showed me the way
There were voices on the radio, I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to RAAF Base Williamtown
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely base
Plenty of room at RAAF Base Williamtown
Any time of year, you can find it here
The room is kinda lacklustre, it could drive me round the bend
No block common room, so hard to make or find a friend
But they smoke on the balcony, or cross paths in the toilet
Some faces I remember, some I want to forget
One night it got too loud
Mentally I began to whine
There has been asbestos in the ceilings since nineteen sixty nine
And still that music keeps thumping from far away
Wakes me up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the RAAF Base Williamtown
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely base
I'm livin' it up at RAAF Base Williamtown
Hornets in the skies, what a nice surprise
Strange marks on the ceiling,
Rattling window pane - nice
Someone said, 'We are all just servicemen here, of our own device'
And in the Airmen's Mess,
We all gather to feast
Cooks still have to pay for their food
RAAF just can't make ends meet
Last thing I remember, I was
Looking for the form
I had to find the application
To live once more like a norm
'Relax,' said the CO,
'It's a simple five step process I believe
We can evict you any time you like,
But you can never leave!'
Fading traces of fuel dumps, can be seen in the air
Just a bit past Fighterworld, I saw a shimmering light
My heart grew lighter from excitement within
This was my stop for the night
Said hi to security;
And asked if he was well
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be heaven or this could be hell'
Then he fired up the car and he showed me the way
There were voices on the radio, I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to RAAF Base Williamtown
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely base
Plenty of room at RAAF Base Williamtown
Any time of year, you can find it here
The room is kinda lacklustre, it could drive me round the bend
No block common room, so hard to make or find a friend
But they smoke on the balcony, or cross paths in the toilet
Some faces I remember, some I want to forget
One night it got too loud
Mentally I began to whine
There has been asbestos in the ceilings since nineteen sixty nine
And still that music keeps thumping from far away
Wakes me up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the RAAF Base Williamtown
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely base
I'm livin' it up at RAAF Base Williamtown
Hornets in the skies, what a nice surprise
Strange marks on the ceiling,
Rattling window pane - nice
Someone said, 'We are all just servicemen here, of our own device'
And in the Airmen's Mess,
We all gather to feast
Cooks still have to pay for their food
RAAF just can't make ends meet
Last thing I remember, I was
Looking for the form
I had to find the application
To live once more like a norm
'Relax,' said the CO,
'It's a simple five step process I believe
We can evict you any time you like,
But you can never leave!'
Tuesday, May 20
this mess we're in
It's strange coming back from a week of leave and feeling like everything's all new and strange again. There have been some courses coming through base, which has meant a slightly increased tempo for the Airmen's Mess - catering speak for busy-ness, I guess. Some of the crew from the other messes have been jumping in to help us out, but I think I'm lucky to have missed a whole week of hotboxing three meals a day.
One would think that once you get to the stage of cooking for two hundred people, it isn't too much trouble to cook for a hundred more. It should be like when you cook a decent spaghetti bolognese or stew - you can always stretch it out to feed a few more people. Sadly, it doesn't work that way when it comes to doing what is essentially a
takeaway service on top of the regular eat-in meals. For one, the hotboxing takes place in between the regular meal times, which means not only extra prep time that you have to squeeze in somewhere or somehow, but also a chunk of the time you'd be spending getting normal dinner ready, is actually spent cooking and putting a whole other set of dinners out.
After doing back-to-back early to late shift, and having to hotbox meals for dinner and the following breakfast, I'm already over the novelty of it all. I actually did think it was fun to hotbox meals out field - it feels like you're actually doing something remotely tactical, and closer to the glorified version of feeding the troops. Still, it gets tiring being part of a process line, even if you do get the end job of slamming all the foil box seals shut!
I'm just into my eighth week here, which means that quite soon, I should start getting things signed off in my comp log. Unfortunately, I'm still technically lacking a mentor, as I'm about to be shifted over to the Sergeant's Mess starting next month, which means there isn't much point assigning me another Corporal. The one that I thought I was losing to a potential deployment is staying here, and I've found out
that nobody's going to Pitch Black after all.
I've spent a couple days catching up on medical appointments, training, and the biggest pile of emails in the universe. Why is it that so much appears to have happened in the mere five days I had off? Anyway, as much as I wanted to just get back into the swing of things, I haven't quite been able to, due to having to jump in and out of the kitchen. Next week I've been rostered on sweets as well, which is definitely out of my comfort zone - I'm hoping there'll be someone to guide me, otherwise it could all end in tears! I'm wondering if it's a fitting send-off from the Airmen's Mess... just when I thought I'd learned a thing or two since the start of April, I'm going to leave here feeling possibly more clueless than when I started!
I'm not sure how long my adventures out of the Airmen's Mess will last, considering one of the guys that just moved from here to the Sergeant's is coming back when I go over there. It's like some mixed up exchange student program, or something. However, I will be definitely seeing my Sergeant and Flight Sergeant again in the future, as I've signed up to be a participant in the Willytown team for Relay for Life. It's an
overnight run somewhere local, where I think the idea is to have a team of 10-15 people that clock up as many laps as possible, to raise funds for the NSW Cancer Council's various support networks. Should be interesting... oh yeah, and fun!
Speaking of fun runs, the Mother's Day Classic in Brisbane went without too many hitches. I got warmed up by about the halfway point (4km) before my right leg started to feel sore along my ITB, then the side of my knee, then my ankle, then I got a little paranoid of injuring myself whilst on leave (free medical is kinda useless when you have to hobble your way to it?) and took it easy for a stretch. I finished okay, but I think I could have done better. I like 8km as a distance - I can finish the race and still feel motivated enough to walk around for the rest of the day, as opposed to the usual post-race feeling of needing to eat half a chicken and take a nap until dinner.
I'm still leading in my age group for the 5km fun runs on base... however, this isn't too much to get excited about as I only have one competitor so far, even though the numbers for the runs have been on the climb. Fortunately, it seems that females in my age group are either few and far between, or have better/other things to do than run on Friday mornings! Not to get too cocky and wonder about what the prize might be, but I know I'm running faster than the existing competition. Gotta love being ahead by default!
One would think that once you get to the stage of cooking for two hundred people, it isn't too much trouble to cook for a hundred more. It should be like when you cook a decent spaghetti bolognese or stew - you can always stretch it out to feed a few more people. Sadly, it doesn't work that way when it comes to doing what is essentially a
takeaway service on top of the regular eat-in meals. For one, the hotboxing takes place in between the regular meal times, which means not only extra prep time that you have to squeeze in somewhere or somehow, but also a chunk of the time you'd be spending getting normal dinner ready, is actually spent cooking and putting a whole other set of dinners out.
After doing back-to-back early to late shift, and having to hotbox meals for dinner and the following breakfast, I'm already over the novelty of it all. I actually did think it was fun to hotbox meals out field - it feels like you're actually doing something remotely tactical, and closer to the glorified version of feeding the troops. Still, it gets tiring being part of a process line, even if you do get the end job of slamming all the foil box seals shut!
I'm just into my eighth week here, which means that quite soon, I should start getting things signed off in my comp log. Unfortunately, I'm still technically lacking a mentor, as I'm about to be shifted over to the Sergeant's Mess starting next month, which means there isn't much point assigning me another Corporal. The one that I thought I was losing to a potential deployment is staying here, and I've found out
that nobody's going to Pitch Black after all.
I've spent a couple days catching up on medical appointments, training, and the biggest pile of emails in the universe. Why is it that so much appears to have happened in the mere five days I had off? Anyway, as much as I wanted to just get back into the swing of things, I haven't quite been able to, due to having to jump in and out of the kitchen. Next week I've been rostered on sweets as well, which is definitely out of my comfort zone - I'm hoping there'll be someone to guide me, otherwise it could all end in tears! I'm wondering if it's a fitting send-off from the Airmen's Mess... just when I thought I'd learned a thing or two since the start of April, I'm going to leave here feeling possibly more clueless than when I started!
I'm not sure how long my adventures out of the Airmen's Mess will last, considering one of the guys that just moved from here to the Sergeant's is coming back when I go over there. It's like some mixed up exchange student program, or something. However, I will be definitely seeing my Sergeant and Flight Sergeant again in the future, as I've signed up to be a participant in the Willytown team for Relay for Life. It's an
overnight run somewhere local, where I think the idea is to have a team of 10-15 people that clock up as many laps as possible, to raise funds for the NSW Cancer Council's various support networks. Should be interesting... oh yeah, and fun!
Speaking of fun runs, the Mother's Day Classic in Brisbane went without too many hitches. I got warmed up by about the halfway point (4km) before my right leg started to feel sore along my ITB, then the side of my knee, then my ankle, then I got a little paranoid of injuring myself whilst on leave (free medical is kinda useless when you have to hobble your way to it?) and took it easy for a stretch. I finished okay, but I think I could have done better. I like 8km as a distance - I can finish the race and still feel motivated enough to walk around for the rest of the day, as opposed to the usual post-race feeling of needing to eat half a chicken and take a nap until dinner.
I'm still leading in my age group for the 5km fun runs on base... however, this isn't too much to get excited about as I only have one competitor so far, even though the numbers for the runs have been on the climb. Fortunately, it seems that females in my age group are either few and far between, or have better/other things to do than run on Friday mornings! Not to get too cocky and wonder about what the prize might be, but I know I'm running faster than the existing competition. Gotta love being ahead by default!
Saturday, May 10
flights and field kitchens
Here's a new one, even for me. I should be cleaning my room, sorting out clothes, and packing for my flight to Brisbane this afternoon. However, my chosen mode of procrastination is hunting down cheap flights to Melbourne!
I'm mildly concerned at making the check-in time for Tiger flights, which I'm assuming is saying two hours prior to flying in the instance of international as opposed to domestic flights. Otherwise my genius plan of scooting out of early shift and jumping onto a plane probably won't work out so well... it helps if they're willing to let you onto the plane. Anyway, if boot was good for anything, it has taught me a sense of urgency and also how to get changed from one uniform to another within six to eight minutes. I hope I can make it.
This could be one of many semi-impulse flight purchases. I say semi, because there was some minor consultation with the voices inside and outside of my head, and I did have to sleep on the decision (because I didn't have my credit card on hand to buy straight away!) so there was some thought involved. I'll see how I go with Tiger, seeing as I
haven't flown them before, and it seems like their rates are as competitive as Jetstar's despite departing the airport at odd times of day.
So if this random foray into Melbourne at the end of the month doesn't work, I know I'll definitely be back in town on the weekend of 13 June. I even have the travel requisition and pile of cab charges to prove it! Turns out that my Next of Kin travel did get approved, even though I didn't hear anything about it directly from my Sergeant or Flight Sergeant - the first I knew of it was getting an email from Customer Service saying that there was a Travel Order ready for me to pick up.
Hooray for adequate communication channels.
I haven't been in any Hornets yet, but I've come to the realisation that there's probably going to be a heck of a lot of flying around in my life for the next few years. Since I've been enlisted (last July) I've been on eight flights, including international to Thailand. In the next month (including today), I'll be taking five more flights. Shame that not all of these flights will be clocking up frequent flyer points!
I think I'll try to ground myself a little more after I get back from NoK travel. The sooner I settle in here, the sooner I can con other people into grabbing a cheap flight up to come and see me! It's hard to resist a $40 fare though, considering I usually have to spend at least that much in order to get into town, let alone out.
It's been a good but tough six weeks so far. I can remember getting to this point in recruits and feeling good about getting through so much without dropping out or completely losing my marbles. Week six was all about getting through field exercise Tarakan Dawn, more commonly known as Murray Fridge, five days of learning, fighting, and freezing our collective nads off. But it seemed like the home run after that point, seeing as exercise Tommy Irvine was only three days in comparison.
My room feels like a good place to be - now that I've set myself up with computer, Nintendo, TV/DVD, plenty of books, and a subscription to Quickflix which means I have movies and TV shows on tap (although with a base library full of war porn and Ramsay on the telly three nights a week, I've got it pretty sweet). I think I've got enough going on that I can amuse myself for as long as it takes to save up for transport, a
house, and some furniture essentials.
Work is going pretty well - it hasn't been too extreme a learning curve, and I'll be moving to the Sergeant's Mess next month, a month earlier than I expected to be escaping the Airmen's. Not that there's anything wrong with this Mess in particular, I've just found it annoying to have to work in it for most of the days of the week, and then come back to it for all my other meals in my time off.
Field training was quite interesting, considering I had no real idea how Gucci some of the Air Force equipment was, compared to the stuff we were hauling around at Latchford. I'm not sure if the Army just doesn't have the budget, or they've worked out somehow that they can afford to get grunts to move around all the equipment with sheer brute strength instead of using forklifts and containers like we do. I couldn't
believe how easy we had it - all we had to do was set up camouflage nets and a few tents, lay some tarps down... while a handy supplier used a forklift to drop containers with stovetop/oven, deep fryers, tables, and other essentials into place.
Don't get me wrong, there was still some dirty work left to do with just the set-up of the field kitchen. And we didn't have our time sucked away over the two days by having to cook anything. We still got our share of dust, of hurry up and wait, of being stuffed around by people who didn't know what they were doing. But considering what we had to accomplish amongst a bunch of people who didn't really know what they were doing (it was a training exercise after all), we managed to do it within two days.
There's a big RAAF exercise coming up called Pitch Black (I wonder why our training exercises get cooler names than the real ones, such as Operation Popewatch), in June. I doubt I'll be involved in it because I'm too new here, and knowing my luck, my leave is probably going to happen smack bang in the middle of it. But I'm actually looking forward to going bush with RAAFies and cooking the real deal. It was really tough going for me out at Latchford because I was quite out of my comfort zone, but the more I see and help make things happen in a field kitchen environment, it doesn't seem too far removed from working in a proper kitchen.
I'm mildly concerned at making the check-in time for Tiger flights, which I'm assuming is saying two hours prior to flying in the instance of international as opposed to domestic flights. Otherwise my genius plan of scooting out of early shift and jumping onto a plane probably won't work out so well... it helps if they're willing to let you onto the plane. Anyway, if boot was good for anything, it has taught me a sense of urgency and also how to get changed from one uniform to another within six to eight minutes. I hope I can make it.
This could be one of many semi-impulse flight purchases. I say semi, because there was some minor consultation with the voices inside and outside of my head, and I did have to sleep on the decision (because I didn't have my credit card on hand to buy straight away!) so there was some thought involved. I'll see how I go with Tiger, seeing as I
haven't flown them before, and it seems like their rates are as competitive as Jetstar's despite departing the airport at odd times of day.
So if this random foray into Melbourne at the end of the month doesn't work, I know I'll definitely be back in town on the weekend of 13 June. I even have the travel requisition and pile of cab charges to prove it! Turns out that my Next of Kin travel did get approved, even though I didn't hear anything about it directly from my Sergeant or Flight Sergeant - the first I knew of it was getting an email from Customer Service saying that there was a Travel Order ready for me to pick up.
Hooray for adequate communication channels.
I haven't been in any Hornets yet, but I've come to the realisation that there's probably going to be a heck of a lot of flying around in my life for the next few years. Since I've been enlisted (last July) I've been on eight flights, including international to Thailand. In the next month (including today), I'll be taking five more flights. Shame that not all of these flights will be clocking up frequent flyer points!
I think I'll try to ground myself a little more after I get back from NoK travel. The sooner I settle in here, the sooner I can con other people into grabbing a cheap flight up to come and see me! It's hard to resist a $40 fare though, considering I usually have to spend at least that much in order to get into town, let alone out.
It's been a good but tough six weeks so far. I can remember getting to this point in recruits and feeling good about getting through so much without dropping out or completely losing my marbles. Week six was all about getting through field exercise Tarakan Dawn, more commonly known as Murray Fridge, five days of learning, fighting, and freezing our collective nads off. But it seemed like the home run after that point, seeing as exercise Tommy Irvine was only three days in comparison.
My room feels like a good place to be - now that I've set myself up with computer, Nintendo, TV/DVD, plenty of books, and a subscription to Quickflix which means I have movies and TV shows on tap (although with a base library full of war porn and Ramsay on the telly three nights a week, I've got it pretty sweet). I think I've got enough going on that I can amuse myself for as long as it takes to save up for transport, a
house, and some furniture essentials.
Work is going pretty well - it hasn't been too extreme a learning curve, and I'll be moving to the Sergeant's Mess next month, a month earlier than I expected to be escaping the Airmen's. Not that there's anything wrong with this Mess in particular, I've just found it annoying to have to work in it for most of the days of the week, and then come back to it for all my other meals in my time off.
Field training was quite interesting, considering I had no real idea how Gucci some of the Air Force equipment was, compared to the stuff we were hauling around at Latchford. I'm not sure if the Army just doesn't have the budget, or they've worked out somehow that they can afford to get grunts to move around all the equipment with sheer brute strength instead of using forklifts and containers like we do. I couldn't
believe how easy we had it - all we had to do was set up camouflage nets and a few tents, lay some tarps down... while a handy supplier used a forklift to drop containers with stovetop/oven, deep fryers, tables, and other essentials into place.
Don't get me wrong, there was still some dirty work left to do with just the set-up of the field kitchen. And we didn't have our time sucked away over the two days by having to cook anything. We still got our share of dust, of hurry up and wait, of being stuffed around by people who didn't know what they were doing. But considering what we had to accomplish amongst a bunch of people who didn't really know what they were doing (it was a training exercise after all), we managed to do it within two days.
There's a big RAAF exercise coming up called Pitch Black (I wonder why our training exercises get cooler names than the real ones, such as Operation Popewatch), in June. I doubt I'll be involved in it because I'm too new here, and knowing my luck, my leave is probably going to happen smack bang in the middle of it. But I'm actually looking forward to going bush with RAAFies and cooking the real deal. It was really tough going for me out at Latchford because I was quite out of my comfort zone, but the more I see and help make things happen in a field kitchen environment, it doesn't seem too far removed from working in a proper kitchen.
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