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Swift and Sure
Paperback
Biographies GeneralMilitary Biographies
ISBN13: 9781922603661
Publisher: Echo Books
Published: Sep 1 2024
Pages: 264
Weight: 0.86
Height: 0.60 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
As I sit in my study in 2024, in the autumn, if not the winter, of my life, I often reflect on how it all happened.
I was born in the coal-mining town of Greta but avoided the pits when my parents moved to Sydney. I started school in Glebe, which, at the time, was a very working-class suburb. The high school I attended finished at the end of the third year, and I imagined working as a clerk.
Then life changed when my parents were granted a Housing Commission house in North Ryde, and I transferred to Holy Cross College. I repeated the first year to take academic studies and the following year joined the school cadet unit. I became a drummer in the band and so began a military career that lasted for the best part of 50 years.
I was lucky enough to gain entry to RMC, Duntroon, and became part of the engineering class. At the last minute, I changed my preference for corps allocation to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, a decision I never regretted. And so began a career that saw me posted overseas, appointed Director of the Corps, and later, Director-General Joint Communications - Electronics Branch, the senior communications officer in the Australian Defence Force. I was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence Force Academy and retired from the Regular Army in 1992.
Soon after retiring from the Army, I was appointed Colonel Commandant Royal Australian Corps of Signals and, later, Representative Colonel Commandant. How did this all happen?
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