Veteran of the Day

Veteran of the Day - Col Lee

Col  joined the Navy in 1965 at 16 , went to HMAS Leuwin in Perth for a years training.He then left to go to sea. Col spent a small amount of time on HMAS Sydney before it was used as a troop carrier. He was called to join HMAS Hobartt, they were short crew. He was only 17, and the youngest on board.They were part of the American 7 th fleet and came under their command. They were the first combat unit in the Australian Navy to be sent into action in Vietnam.  Most of their time was spent in the gulf of Tonkin, they had to disrupt North Vietnam supply lines to the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army.  They would send out all their equipment, arms etc in barges and boats we had to stop them.  Destroy them.  We came under fire weekly as we went into action and got closer we got the heavier it was, we came under fire the closest to that came to us.  It  was about 10 foot of the port bow,  his job was AALookout, exposed personel.   He watched as they were attacked and his job was to report their gun positions to the bridge.  Col was 17 years old when he spent his 18th birthday in rescue operations when the USS Forrestal blew up killing 134 men it was on his 18th birthday, 29th July 1967.  That night after we assisted in the rescue we went back into action.  After Vietnam, when he was 19, on board HMAS Stewart they were in the rescue squad When the USS Frankie Evans was cut in half by the Melbourne.  74 men died that morning.  Col was there and they went to assist.  Col spent seven years in the Navy. His last year of the Navy was as a recruit school instructor at HMAS Cerberus, he then took his discharge. Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YFPA96HE5Q22A)

Veteran of the Day Anthony "Harry" Moffitt

Anthony 'Harry' Moffitt recently retired from the Australian Defence Force after almost thirty years, most of which was spent with Australia's elite Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment as a Team Commander and Team Specialist.  He has served in eleven active deployments, including being wounded in action in 2008. Harry completed his time with the SAS as its Human Performance Manager. He's a Registered Psychologist and runs a human performance consultancy, Stotan Group, working with sports teams, the military and industry. He remains a cricket tragic. RSL & Services Clubs Association RSL & Services Clubs Association share the responsibility of the welfare and support of veterans andSupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YFPA96HE5Q22A)

Veteran of the Day Casey Nixon

Straight out of grade 12 and at age 18, I joined Army as a PTE Soldier. I spent the next 90 days at Kapooka adapting to military life and absolutely loved every minute of it. After my initial training I went to Bandianna VIC for my IET training. From there, I got posted to 1 Combat Signals Regiment at Robertson Barracks, Darwin. I worked in logistics until I discharged in 2017. I was a reservist at 20 STA when I moved back to Brisbane after my discharge but now am an inactive reservist. Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YFPA96HE5Q22A)

Mark "Henry" Lawson

Hear from our latest Veteran of the Day, Mark "Henry" Lawson.Steve Price: That you're a military career in a moment. I just want to, on that theme when you're serving in the, uh, in the Australian armed forces, um, how much of that is that you are doing a job for Australia as well as doing something as an individual?Mark: Well, that's a bloody good question. I think it's each, because if you it's the foundation of why you're there, it's the foundation, you know, th that, that spirit of Australia representing a country is the foundation of everything you do. And I think, uh, because of the absolute, um, the pace of the unit I was in SAS was, um, it's very, you gotta be back to, uh, you know, the foundation of why we're there. Um, because everyone wants a career. Everyone must succeed highly competitive. You know what I mean, as good as you laugh at all, you know, cause you said earlier that it's always standing good standing editive manner to lift you up, not put you down. So, um, so like that, you know, when you wear your heart on your sleeve, it's to do a good job representing your country, not when you're getting feedback, that's when you put your heart off and put it back in your pocket, and then you get your notebook out and say, sorry, in the spirit of representing your country, it's definitely foundation's favorite present the speed and the top of top, some of the danger, um, and some of the very, uh, here would you say, very detailed tasks and planning and execution of very dangerous, uh, things that you do even in training you're, um, you know, you tend to think about self, getting the job, getting the job done well. Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YFPA96HE5Q22A)

Veteran of the Day Shane Healey

Shane enlisted in the Australian Army in 1995. Between 2004 and 2008 he was a private military contractor in Iraq where he initially trained Iraqi Special Operations police who fought in the second battle of Fallujah which I was also involved in as part of the CMATT program.Shane then reenlisted into the Australian Army in 2009 as a member of the Australian Intelligence Corps posted to SOCOMD.He has been deployed twice to Afghanistan (2010/2011 and 2012) as part of Task Force 66 where he provided insurgent threat assessments.  Shane's analytical efforts enabled numerous successful targeting operations of key leaders and disruption operations of IED networks.When in Australia he was part of the Tactical Assault Group - East and West where he was involved in several real time terrorist incidents as well as providing CBRNE threat advics for the 2011 CHOGM and POTUS visits as well as the G20 in Brisbane. In 2014 - 2015, Shane deployed to the UAE and Baghdad as part of the lead elements for TF632 (SOTG-Iraq rotation 1).  Shane's intelligence reports and briefs were briefed at the highest levels of the coalition, including to commander of US central Command.  Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YFPA96HE5Q22A)