Back home
Posted on May 11, 2009
Today is the last day of my full time contract with the army. Tomorrow I’m back to being a jobless bum until June when I start studying again at which time I become a student bum. The last day in country was an eye opener. On the way to the...
[Read More]
last day in country
Posted on April 3, 2009
Tomorrow morning we fly home. I’m nursing a hang over. Last night was our good bye harrar at Harry’s Bar (the on base boozer). At 19:30L the bar opened and the tab lasted less then 15 minutes. I downed my first hoping to take advantage of the tab but I...
[Read More]
Last shift
Posted on April 2, 2009
Today is my last shift and it’s only a half shift at that. After 5 hours of showing the new guys the rope, I’ll get my medal, then hit the piss :) Buzz had already been here, a fact I advertised on the fridge by writing “Buzz waz ear 07...
[Read More]
replacements have arrived
Posted on April 1, 2009
This is a big day for me because it secures my return home :) It means that someone is here to do my job so there is no reason for me to be here. I haven’t met our replacements yet and I’m keen to get them trained up so I...
[Read More]
The beginning of the end
Posted on March 24, 2009
The NZ replacements have arrived which signals the beginning of the end of our trip here. In a week our Australian replacements arrive and Saturday week I’ll be on a plane back to Australia, then after a few days in Adelaide I’ll be on my way home :) I’ve enjoyed...
[Read More]
A day off
Posted on March 15, 2009
Today was my first full day off in a couple of months (the first since Christmas I think). Our roster is over 16 days, 4 day shifts, 4 afternoon shifts, 4 graveyard shifts, and then 3 rest on call shifts (the extra day is eaten up by the rotating process)....
[Read More]
Zahli
Posted on March 14, 2009
I’ve got a niece and I can’t wait to meet her. She was born this morning at about 1am. I had given out the duty sig phone number so I could get informed as soon as the little one came. I’m looking forward to my new toy and it’s made...
[Read More]
The end is near
Posted on March 7, 2009
I’ve had a good couple of weeks here, we’re on the home straight and the atmosphere smells of excitement. Tonight we went out for dinner at a fancy French restaurant. It was a large group of ORs and Robyn the NZ sig covered my shift. It was a large group...
[Read More]
Trouble
Posted on March 4, 2009
I was playing radio and I introduced some ratel (radio telephone procedure) I picked up from Generation Kill, an american TV series about troops invading Iraq. The watch keeper wasn’t impressed but I was speaking to Buzz on the other end and I know he loves that show so he...
[Read More]
Greg's famous
Posted on February 28, 2009
This week I appeared in the Army Newspaper in the Our People section. So I’m pretty much famous now. I signed all the papers I could find with phrases like “reach of the stars”. Being in the paper means I owe beers and everyone is trying to call me up...
[Read More]
Trivia night and BFA
Posted on February 25, 2009
Tonight we’re playing trivia so we might get to drink tonight. For a dry deployment there has been a lot of drinking :) I’ve filled my boots on three occasions, the last time being last trivia night where I decided to be classy and get smashed on red wine. I...
[Read More]
red eyes
Posted on February 25, 2009
I’m still on night shift, it’s 4 am and I have a fitness test in 2 hours. I haven’t done much cardio since I arrived so I’m a little worried about the run. I’m watching Bond and I just finished uploading my blog from my trip to Europe in 2007,...
[Read More]
Graveyard shift
Posted on February 23, 2009
It’s ridiculous o’clock and I’m manning the radios. The graveyard shift is from midnight to 8am for 4 nights. It gives me a chance to catch up on movies and net research so I don’t mind. I went out on a patrol with a Tongan section on Friday. After the...
[Read More]
Latin dance
Posted on February 16, 2009
Some new PPF players arrived the other day and one has really gotten the boys attention. She is very well endowed. She’s a blue shirt which is a sworn police woman meaning that she walks around base with a loaded gun and handcuffs on a heavy black belt exaggerates her...
[Read More]
Back in GBR
Posted on February 15, 2009
I’m back in GBR missing the freedoms and sweet potatoes of the jungle. I just came home from a BBQ with Stevens, the Belgium hiker we rescued from the jungle (I didn’t really do much but I’m telling the story here). Only 5 of us went, I think a platoon...
[Read More]
They found him
Posted on February 10, 2009
They found him which means we might be out of here today. Good news for him, bad news for us. On the first day the Tongan LT was talking to locals, on his return he said “good news, they’ve found a pale body.” This news is even better than that....
[Read More]
Radio checks and sleeping
Posted on February 10, 2009
There coming to pick us up tomorrow. I was hoping we’d leave today because I really needed to go to the toilet and didn’t like the idea of squatting over a soggy hole in tall grass but I wasn’t so lucky and had an awful experience. On the up side...
[Read More]
Resupply day
Posted on February 9, 2009
It’s raining and in the distance I can hear the jungle eating machines. When there’s no more jungle to eat the machines will leave and with no flora to absorb the monsoons the rivers will flood and the villages that rely on rivers will was away. There is a lot...
[Read More]
Tongans, Belgiums and the jungle
Posted on February 8, 2009
Mossies are probing my position. Mossie net is holding. I’m lying on a bed made of jungle by one of my Tongan friends, and we’ve just had a heavy down pour. We’re involved in a search and rescue. A Belgium tourist tried to cross the island during wed season flooding...
[Read More]
Arrived in Solomon Islands
Posted on November 30, 2008
I’ve arrived in the Solomon Islands today and swam to the the air conditioned coach. After an annoyling long tour of GBR we setup camp in an air conditioned room.
[Read More]
BCCC
Posted on October 20, 2008
Today I started continuous full time service for the Australia Army, one day down 202 to go. We had a fitness test (I failed the run :S), filled out some paper work, got some patches denoting our operation, and listened to brass talk about what colour shorts to wear. Then...
[Read More]