Navy People:Naracoorte Local Serving In The Middle East

06 June 2007

Naracoorte's Corey Finch is now half a world away on patrol in the North Arabian Gulf. The former Naracoorte High School student and Naracoorte United Soccer Club player is serving onboard the Royal Australian Navy Frigate HMAS Toowoomba.

Corey and his 180 shipmates provide an ongoing contribution to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq. This includes the important work of protecting Iraq 's offshore export oil terminals and monitoring, intercepting and boarding vessels suspected of illegally trafficking cargo that diverts funds from the Iraqi economy.

Corey joined the Navy in 2002 as a Combat Systems Operator and has now reached the rank of Leading Seaman. In HMAS Toowoomba Corey is the Electronic Warfare Director (EWD). As the EWD Corey works in the Operations Room, which is the nerve centre of a warship. It is Corey's job to know the parameters, limitations and offensive capabilities of every aircraft, ship or missile present in the Arabian Gulf so that in the unlikely event of the Ship being under threat we can respond in an appropriate way.

HMAS Toowoomba departed Australia in January after an intensive training and preparation period. Corey gets a lot of satisfaction from being an Australian serving in the Middle East. He says, "I feel that every day I am here I am making a difference for the rebuilding of Iraq."

Corey and his shipmates will be back home in July after a 6 month deployment.