OPERATION PLES DRAI PAPUA NEW GUINEA DROUGHT

THE PNG AND AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCES WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE PEOPLE OF PNG DURING THE 1997 – 1998 DROUGHT

THE UNSUNG ACHIEVERS

Among the muffled shouts of RAAF C-130 and Caribou crew whose voices are drowned out by the roar of aircraft engines at Jackson's Airfield in Port Moresby are a group of people who, although small in number, and not considered as glamorous as others in business of aviation, standout as the real movement force in Operation Sierra.

Operation Sierra is the Australian Defence Force component to the Drought Relief Operation in Papua New Guinea.

The work force behind Op Sierra is a group of six people from the RAAF¹s Mobile Air Terminal Unit (MATU) and their counterparts from the PNG Defence Force.

Together they are responsible for; ordering food aid, unloading trucks, keeping tallies on all stock, building loads for the aircraft and producing weight and balance paperwork for the crew. They are also in the business of coordinating all passenger and cargo requests.

By the end of thi month the unit will have moved more than 612tonnes of rice. Without MATU nothing in Operation Sierra would move. And controlling all this is one woman who can be found working at all hours that areoplanes fly. Flight Lieutenant Kirrily Dearing has helped move people and cargo and just about anything else you can fit on an aircraft for the last seven years.

She began her career at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in her home town of Canberra after completing year 12 at Phillip College.

"I guess my grandfathers had a bit to do with me choosing a military career. They both served in Papua New Guinea during World War II and that did have an influence on me," FLT LT Dearing said.

At ADFA and during her training after graduation she learned skills which are an important feature of any military unit, teamwork and discipline.

"We¹re a very tight unit. I have six guys working for me and we all know each others strengths and weaknesses. There¹s really no room for anyone of us not to pull their weight," she said.

FLT LT Dearing is responsible for everything that gets put onto an Australian aircraft and can often be found strapping down loads with her crew or arranging flights for visiting journalists over the telephone.

She and her personnel have also developed a close relationship with the PNG Defence Force members who work with them.

"The PNGDF guys we have with us are really doing well. They¹re used to working in a different environment to us and it¹s been fun showing them the way we do things and seeing how they do things as well," she said.

MATU personnel usually don¹t get to see their cargo being off loaded to hungry villagers in the remote communities of PNG but they do hear reports and feel their work is worthwhile.

"It is good to know that what we do is being appreciated. It¹s also satisfying to be taking part in a real-time operation where all the kills we¹ve developed during training are put into practice," she said.

As to her future, "I like the hands-on part of this job. I did think about swapping over to become a pilot during my last year at ADFA but I¹m very happy here. If I decide to leave the RAAF I¹d probably move into something like outdoor education. I just can¹t see myself stuck behind a desk."

By: Captain Chip Henriss-Anderssen - November 18 ,1997

The Unsung Achievers Picture Gallery.