Canucks in RAAF doin' good
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RCAF captains bring expertise, humour to RAAF unit
News Article / January 29, 2015
By Corporal Aaron Curran, RAAF
When you come from a country where the word “about” sounds like “aboot” and Australia’s Prime Minister called it “Canadia”, you know you’re in for a sustained period of practical jokes.
Captain Carson Choy and Captain Brad Hardiman, of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), hail from the second-largest country by area in the world – Canada. They have been posted to No. 5 Flight (5FLT) at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, southwest of Brisbane, Queensland, since 2012 as payload operators on the Heron remotely piloted aircraft. In that time, jokes about their accents, maple syrup, moose and “Canadia” have abounded.
But their popularity and personalities have enabled Captain Choy and Captain Hardiman to take the joking with humour while at the same time adding a wealth of operational experience to the unit. Both are air combat systems officers in the Royal Canadian Air Force and, when the opportunity to come to Australia presented itself, they jumped at it.
“It was hard to get an overseas posting in Canada so it came as a surprise,” Captain Choy says. “It has been a great posting and everyone has bent over backwards to help us out. It’s like our second home.”
The posting to Amberley has been excellent, Captain Hardiman says. “Being a small unit, we got to know everyone really well. They have similar attitudes and approaches to everything that we do.”
That similarity ended when it was time for 5FLT personnel to stir their favourite “Canucks”. “Of course, we copped a bit off the guys at 5FLT about accents, aboot, Canadia, maple syrup and moose,” Captain Hardiman says.
When Australia’s Prime Minister made the mistake of saying “Canadia” instead of “Canada”, Captain Choy adds, it gave personnel at 5FLT “three to four weeks of ammunition.”
What the two officers have brought to the unit is a great deal of previous experience with the Heron – both gained first-hand experience with the Canadian variant in Afghanistan.
“Canadians had stopped using the Heron in Afghanistan by 2011, and we weren’t using any UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] of that size in Canada,” Captain Hardiman says. “Coming to 5FLT enabled us to maintain corporate knowledge of the capability and a foot in the UAV game.”
Captain Hardiman deployed with 5FLT to Afghanistan on Rotation 11 in 2013, while Captain Choy deployed on Rotation 10. “The working culture at 5FLT was been amazing,” Captain Choy says. “Because it is a small team, you get to know your people. Everyone is respectful but our culture was not very rank-based. If you know your people, they will do things that are way above what they would normally do at their rank level.”
Captain Choy says he will always remember Australia and how easygoing everyone was. “It has been an awesome posting,” he says, “but I am excited about going home to a flying squadron.” Captain Hardiman says he is of two minds about leaving, but he knows that it has to end at some point.
Captain Choy and Captain Hardiman will be returning to squadrons on the east and west coasts of Canada in the summer of 2015.
Article and photos courtesy of No. 5 Flight, Royal Australian Air Force.
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BZ
RCAF captains bring expertise, humour to RAAF unit
News Article / January 29, 2015
By Corporal Aaron Curran, RAAF
When you come from a country where the word “about” sounds like “aboot” and Australia’s Prime Minister called it “Canadia”, you know you’re in for a sustained period of practical jokes.
Captain Carson Choy and Captain Brad Hardiman, of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), hail from the second-largest country by area in the world – Canada. They have been posted to No. 5 Flight (5FLT) at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, southwest of Brisbane, Queensland, since 2012 as payload operators on the Heron remotely piloted aircraft. In that time, jokes about their accents, maple syrup, moose and “Canadia” have abounded.
But their popularity and personalities have enabled Captain Choy and Captain Hardiman to take the joking with humour while at the same time adding a wealth of operational experience to the unit. Both are air combat systems officers in the Royal Canadian Air Force and, when the opportunity to come to Australia presented itself, they jumped at it.
“It was hard to get an overseas posting in Canada so it came as a surprise,” Captain Choy says. “It has been a great posting and everyone has bent over backwards to help us out. It’s like our second home.”
The posting to Amberley has been excellent, Captain Hardiman says. “Being a small unit, we got to know everyone really well. They have similar attitudes and approaches to everything that we do.”
That similarity ended when it was time for 5FLT personnel to stir their favourite “Canucks”. “Of course, we copped a bit off the guys at 5FLT about accents, aboot, Canadia, maple syrup and moose,” Captain Hardiman says.
When Australia’s Prime Minister made the mistake of saying “Canadia” instead of “Canada”, Captain Choy adds, it gave personnel at 5FLT “three to four weeks of ammunition.”
What the two officers have brought to the unit is a great deal of previous experience with the Heron – both gained first-hand experience with the Canadian variant in Afghanistan.
“Canadians had stopped using the Heron in Afghanistan by 2011, and we weren’t using any UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] of that size in Canada,” Captain Hardiman says. “Coming to 5FLT enabled us to maintain corporate knowledge of the capability and a foot in the UAV game.”
Captain Hardiman deployed with 5FLT to Afghanistan on Rotation 11 in 2013, while Captain Choy deployed on Rotation 10. “The working culture at 5FLT was been amazing,” Captain Choy says. “Because it is a small team, you get to know your people. Everyone is respectful but our culture was not very rank-based. If you know your people, they will do things that are way above what they would normally do at their rank level.”
Captain Choy says he will always remember Australia and how easygoing everyone was. “It has been an awesome posting,” he says, “but I am excited about going home to a flying squadron.” Captain Hardiman says he is of two minds about leaving, but he knows that it has to end at some point.
Captain Choy and Captain Hardiman will be returning to squadrons on the east and west coasts of Canada in the summer of 2015.
Article and photos courtesy of No. 5 Flight, Royal Australian Air Force.
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BZ
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Dolphin_Hunter
Yes you're right, but sadly it became Officer vs NCM thing (guess who won?).
AESOP will open positions to Sigonela on the NATO UAV program starting this summer, one member is already screening for it. They'll be more openings by 2016.
Yes you're right, but sadly it became Officer vs NCM thing (guess who won?).
AESOP will open positions to Sigonela on the NATO UAV program starting this summer, one member is already screening for it. They'll be more openings by 2016.
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