Fleet Air Arm
Association of Australia
FAAAA Medallions Presentation
See also:
Presentation Pictures
25 May 2004
A ceremony at HMAS Albatross has seen the presentation by the Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia of the second group of Medallions of Merit to recognise outstanding achievements of serving members of the RAN Naval Aviation Branch.
Three categories have been recognised:
- air engineering officer application course;
- Chief Petty Officer aviation advanced technician training course; and
- basic aircrewman course.
On Tuesday, 25 May 2004, the President of the FAAAA, Commodore Toz Dadswell, presented the 2003 FAAAA medallions on behalf of all FAAAA members to:
- SBLT Andrew Collard;
- POATA Colin Jeffrey Paton; and
- LSA Colin McCallum (accepted on his behalf by LCDR David Milnes of 723 Squadron)
The FAAAA offers it congratulations to the winners.
Background
The Association approached the Commanding Officer, HMAS Albatross in 2002 with a proposal to allow the Association to recognise achievements of members of the RAN Naval Aviation Branch.
The proposal received wholehearted support, and at the Association's 2002 annual general meeting it was agreed that Medallions of Merit would be awarded annually to personnel who were placed first in their aviation training courses during the preceding year.
The first of these medallions were presented at a ceremony in April 2003.
In the presentations on May 25, for achieving first place in the air engineering officer application course, SBLT Andrew Collard was the recipient of a medallion.
SBLT Collard is part of the NAPO PS1405 engineering team. He is an aerosystems degree-qualified engineer involved with mainly air vehicle design issues with the Seahawk S-70B-2 fleet.
His role will be to review a number of issues ranging from fatigue, vibration, stores clearance and human engineering.
For achieving first place in the Chief Petty Officer aviation advanced technician training course, POATA Colin Jeffrey Paton received a medallion.
POATV Colin (Jumby - pronounced Joomby) Paton was posted into NASPO in May 2004 from 816 SQN to take up a position within the Seahawk avionics engineering and logistic management section.
Colin was assigned to the COMM-NAV-ASW sub-section where he works in an integrated (APS/Service) environment and reports to a civilian TO4 supervisor, who also happens to be an ex-naval FAA CPO.
Colin's particular duties centre on the continued maintenance of the Seahawk ASW capability and those on-board systems that support this capability. As well, he plays a significant role in the research and development of future ASW capability, such as the introduction into service of new SSQ53 passive sonobuoys.
For achieving first place in the basic aircrewman course, LSA Colin McCallum was the third medallion recipient.
LSA McCallum graduated as dux of his aircrewmans course. He provided excellent service in his recent deployment on HMAS Anzac where he consolidated his aviation skillsets in a number of demanding tasks; notably, Anzac's resupply at Christmas Island solely supported by the embarked helicopter, where barge and ships rib were unable to conduct any form of replenishment due to the high sea state.
He volunteered for a posting to HMAS Tobruk as the flight deck marshaller, when the aircrewman category could not identify an available candidate. He is onward posted for operational flying training on the 816 Squadron September 2004 Senso course.
See also:
2004 Presentation Pictures
2002 Medallion Winners or
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