The Trade by Rudyard Kipling - Royal Australian Navy

Making sure it’s a.... Fair Game
PHOTO FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
Director General Navy Capability, Plans and Engagement, Commodore Vince Di Petro, CSC, RAN, PTE Amy Woods, SMNCIS Adam Schultz,
SMNCSO Jake Farrugia, CAPT Travis Day, SMNEWSM Leigh Pope, ABAWASM Ashley Moore, ABBM James Bailey, Mr Bayley Lamont and
Commanding Officer HMAS Stirling Captain Brett Wolski, RAN
On Sunday the 15 th of July 2012, the
Australian Defence Force lent a helping
hand to the Australian Football League
(AFL).
The headline West Coast Eagles Vs
Sydney Swans round 16 AFL game has
become an annual battle for the HMAS
Sydney II commemorative trophy. The
trophy commemorates the loss of the light
cruiser on the 19 th of November 1941 to
the German raider Kormoran. A total of 645
men were aboard.
The Navy went head to head with an Army/
Air Force combined services team as a
curtain raiser to the main event. Personnel
from HMAS Stirling also participated in a
Tin-Shake at the Patersons Stadium in
Perth on the day.
The Navy team easily accounted for the
combined Army/Air Force team with the
final score 8.10 - 58 to 3.2 - 20. More
importantly for the Defence game, of the
nine officiating umpires (Field, Boundary
Message in a Bottle
We hear about it all the time, but have we ever experienced it? Well, AB
Tadashi Waters, during a pleasant afternoon, fishing on the West Coast of
Garden Island (Just off Perth Western Australia) stumbled across a “washed
up bottle”. What was interesting was the cap was on, securing the contents.
Closer inspection revealed something traditionally reserved for movies, “a
message in a bottle”.
Curiosity got the better of Tadashi, and he replied to the message, sending a
letter with some accompanying Navy PR Items to Melbourne Victoria. Several
weeks later, the grateful recipients responded, with details regarding the
launching of the bottle.
Who knows, maybe due to the efforts of Tadashi, he may have potentially
recruited some future submariners.
THE TRADE
EDITION 2, 2012 22
and Goals); three were from the Submarine
Force: ABAWASM Ashley Moore,
SMNEWSM Leigh Pope and ABBM James
Bailey. The boys took control and ensured
the game was played in the right spirit.
A great day was had by all involved, with
all funds raised from the tin shake going to
Legacy.
AB Tadashi Waters with the original message (small items)
and some return correspondence.
Men’s Health Peer
Education (MHPE)
The program is run by the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), but the idea behind
it came from the veteran community. It
is based on a Tasmanian pilot program
conducted by the Vietnam Veterans’
Association of Australia in 1999. The
program was in response to the finding that
Vietnam veterans experience a higher than
average incidence of coronary heart disease,
prostate cancer, diabetes, and high alcohol
consumption and related conditions.
Following the pilot there was national
consultation with veteran communities, and
then the MHPE program was set up by DVA.
What does a MHPE volunteer do?
After attending a DVA training course,
volunteers agree to share health information
with others. This can be done by giving a talk
on a health issue at a local community group
or ex-service organisation meeting, setting
up or working with ‘Men’s Sheds’, running a
stand at a community event, or just chatting
to a mate at a barbecue.
What can I do?
Consider becoming a MHPE volunteer. Visit
www.dva.gov.au/mhpe.htm to learn more
about the program or call 133 254 (1800
555 254 for regional callers) and ask to
speak to the DVA MHPE Coordinator in your
state or territory.
Subscribe to the MHPE Magazine – it’s
free! You can also read the latest version
online. See the MHPE website.
Complete the online Men’s Quick Health
Check. Find out what you’re doing well
and how you can improve your health and
wellbeing. See the MHPE website.
Host a MHPE information session. There
are a wide variety of health topics to choose
from, and MHPE volunteers can run a
presentation for your group. Contact the
DVA MHPE Coordinator in your state or
territory.
Talk to a volunteer about the program
on a one-on-one basis. The DVA MHPE
Coordinator in your state or territory can
put you in contact with a volunteer for your
area.
A submariner’s story
As a very impressionable young 19 year
old stoker in the British Royal Navy, I
received a posting to HMS Adamant, a
submarine depot ship anchored to a wharf
in Devonport. During the next few months, I
had considerable contact with submarines
and submariners, and pictures of exciting
times coupled with exotic places went
through my mind.
Needless to say, my request to become
a submariner was gladly accepted by
the Navy and I found myself travelling to
HMS Dolphin in Gosport to commence
my training. This was the winter of 1963-
64, and Britain was undergoing one of its
coldest spells on record - the small boat
harbour at Portsmouth was actually frozen
over.
Course completed, we all eagerly
awaited out draft chits, and in my case
a very pleasant surprise: HMS/M Tabard
attached to the 4 th Submarine Squadron
based in Sydney, Australia - a welcome
escape from the cold. I spent the next 12
months learning my trade as a submariner
on Tabard before being put ashore at
HMAS Penguin as spare crew. I began
negotiations to transfer to the RAN, and in
October 1965 was drafted to Cerberus as
an Australian sailor.
Being an ex-submariner, I considered that
I would be a walk up starter for service in
the fledgling Australian submarine service.
Imagine my chagrin to be told that I was
considered psychologically unfit! Back
to skimmers for me and a draft to HMAS
Supply followed.
LIFESTYLE
The Men’s Health Peer Education (MHPE) program encourages members of the
ex-service community to share the responsibility for managing their own health
and wellbeing by providing health information through trained volunteers.
Mr Marinus Kuiper from Esperance and Malcolm Small.
MHPE Pit Stop at the WA RAAF Base Pearce Defence
Air Show 19-20 May 2012
Post-service life, I took on a job, married
and had children. Later on I decided I
wanted to do volunteer work, and a friend
suggested I should become a Department
of Veterans’ Affairs Men’s Health Peer
Education (MHPE) volunteer. I completed
the training in 2009 and now represent the
WA MHPE Volunteers.
I have been involved in several MHPE
information displays, including ‘Pit Stops’.
As men regularly take an interest in their
cars and the ongoing maintenance of them,
the idea behind the Pit Stop is to attach this
concept of regular mechanical tune-ups to
their own health – for example, linking oil
pressure to blood pressure.
On a day-to-day basis, I sometimes have
phone conversations with veterans and
ADF serving personnel. Quite often it’s just
lending an ear to their problems and usually
they talk themselves into an answer.
MHPE has opened my eyes to some of
the health problems facing veterans, and I
include young people from operations like
the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. If I can
help just one person, I consider that my
training and time as an MHPE volunteer has
been worthwhile.
Malcolm (Tiny) Small
MHPE WA Volunteer Representative
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THE TRADE
EDITION 2, 2012