It’s at times of disaster and community distress that Australians turn to their Defence Force for assistance and support. That’s what happened in Victoria in early February after fires wreaked havoc across the State.

Amid the tragedy and heartache, a contingent of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel answered a call for help from the Victorian Department of Emergency Services and Operation Victorian Fire Assist was established.

In the March edition of our ENewsletter, we told you about the Operation from the perspective of its Commander, Brigadier Michael Arnold. Now, one of the more than 400 Reservists involved in Operation Victorian Fire Assist tells his story.

“My civilian boss immediately supported my involvement and I cleared my desk of urgent work so I’d be ready to go. Then it all happened very quickly.

“I was a member of the Joint Task Force, made up mainly of Reservists, raised out of 4th Brigade Headquarters at Simpson Barracks, Watsonia in Western Melbourne.”

Lieutenant Willee’s role was to provide public relations support to the operation.

Over a couple of very long and intense days, Lieutenant Willee was involved in the whole gamut of public relations activities. He coordinated media requests and support, oversaw Defence personnel gathering stills and video photography of affected areas and lent a hand wherever he could.

“I’m a Public Relations Officer in the Navy and slipping into a tri-service role was easy. Everyone was focussed on providing support and recovery services to the fire victims. The service you came from simply didn’t matter,” he said

Public relations comes easily for Ben Willee. On civvy-street he’s Managing Director of ‘Initiative’, an advertising media buying company that places ads on television, radio and other media outlets.

“I joined the Navy Reserve about five years ago. In a way it was inevitable because I’m now third generation Navy,” said Lieutenant Willee.

“My grandfather served in the Royal Navy in the second World War and my father was later in the Royal Australian Navy.

“I could see that my civilian work skills would be of use to the Navy. I also know sailing, so the action and adventure element was attractive to me as well.”

Ben Willee says he’s humbled and grateful by the opportunity he had to assist in the Victorian Fires Emergency.

“It's a tragedy on a massive scale but knowing that the Defence Force played its part in dealing with it is comforting,” he said. “I’m also grateful to the bosses of Reservists who made up the Taskforce, including my boss Roger Camplisson. They all released their employees for this operation.

“If any of them had said ‘no, you can’t go’, it wouldn’t have worked as well. It’s the cooperation between employers and the Reserves that makes it such a practical and useful force to serve the people of Australia."

Defence Reserves Support - New South Wales (DRS-NSW) is delighted to be a major sponsor of the 2009 New South Wales Local Business Awards.

There will be a total of 23 award presentation evenings held in Sydney Metro and greater New South Wales areas between April and October 2009.

The first awards presentation evening for this year was held in Fairfield on 22 April.

Staff from DRS-NSW had the opportunity to attend Club Marconi and enjoy an evening of recognition and celebration.

As a major sponsor, DRS-NSW has the honour of presenting several awards at each presentation evening.

For Fairfield, attending DRS staff were delighted to present the awards for best Fitness Centre, New Business and the Youth Award.

Since the Fairfield awards presentation evening, DRS-NSW staff have also attended the Hills Shire and Blacktown presentation evenings on the 29 April and 5 May respectively.

In May, DRS staff attended presentation awards evenings at Bankstown, Holroyd and Canterbury.

Defence has a significant number of Reservists who work in civilian positions throughout New South Wales and DRS-NSW would like to recognise the outstanding support from the employers who assist their employees to serve in the Defence Reserves.

DRS-NSW hopes that the professional, positive and unique training, self-development and skills that Defence Reserves employment provides employees becomes an additional asset to New South Wales employees, businesses and the New South Wales community.

Defence Reserves Support - NSW State Manager Squadron Leader Del Gaudry said it was “always fantastic to see employers and businesses gaining some well deserved recognition for their outstanding contribution to the community. 

“I am proud that Defence Reserves Support – New South Wales is a major sponsor of this wonderful event and look forward to attending this year's award presentation evenings,” she said.

Reserves and beef usually have little in common.

This all changed at the recent Beef Expo at Rockhampton in central Queensland, where Defence Reserves Support and local military personnel joined forces to promote the benefits of Reserve service.

More than 90,000 people attended this year’s Beef Expo, which involves major rural businesses and private enterprises from across Australia.

Defence Reserves Support – Queensland State Manager Major Nina Handley said her team and personnel from the 31st/42nd Battalion Royal Queensland Regiment (31/42 RQR) Recruiting Cell manned a stand at the event.

The Defence team answered about 3800 enquiries from attendees.  Many people were interested in joining the Reserves, while others were keen to learn more about the Employer Support Payment (ESP) Scheme and the rights and obligations of employers.

“Immediate results were seen at 31/42 RQR when people spoken to at the Expo came to a recruiting information session on the Tuesday night during the Expo,” said Major Handley.

“Our office has followed up with several major businesses as they were interested in formulating a Defence leave policy."

“I was amazed to see how many businesses were still not aware that they had an entitlement to claim for ESP. We had queries from staff at Kele Brothers and a few large industrial companies in the Gladstone/Biloela region.”

Major Handley said school students from as far away as Darwin, Charleville and the Atherton Tablelands attended the Expo on excursion.

“We found a range of interest from students, depending on their age, in regard to cadets, the Gap year, the requirements for ADF Apprentice/trainee programs, and joining either the Reserves or permanent forces.

“One farmer who was very interested in joining the Reserves advised us that the $1123.30 ESP is more than he earns in a month at the moment with the current economic climate.”

Medical professionals from across Australia have chatted with Defence Reserves Support - Queensland staff at the recent College of Surgeons Medical Expo in Brisbane.

The professionals were interested in learning about the services offered by DRS-Qld and also about joining the Australian Defence Force as a Reservist.