Navy People: Kingaroy’s Kirsty Heads For Persian Gulf
26 March 2008
Former Kingaroy High student Kristy Shakespeare is now getting pretty focused. She and her 184 shipmates are aboard HMAS Stuart and heading for six months’ duty in the Persian Gulf.
One key job will be safeguarding Iraq’s two giant oil terminals which produce over 80% of the country’s income. They will also be hunting down and boarding contraband runners in Gulf waters, and Kristy will be one of the boarding party. It’s certainly different from playing netball back home.
“I joined in 2005 and I’ve specialized as a writer — an admin clerk. I did all of my training at HMAS Cerberus near Melbourne, and now I’m promoted to Able Seaman and hold a Certificate II in Business Administration.
“Aboard Stuart my job is to pay people, do accounts and admin for members on the ship and I am in charge of all ships files. When I am not in the office I’m out in the RHIB [ship’s boat] as a bowman and helping out with other seamanship evolutions like boarding contraband runners.
“I have already been to East Timor and Noumea in 2006. But this deployment is especially special as we’re out there showing the rest of the world that Australia is just as good as any other Navy in world if not better.
“I love being apart of the Navy because it’s like one big family. You have your ups and downs but everyone is there to help you get through the tough times — and to enjoy the good times with you! You never know what the next day is going to bring — from doing paperwork to going out on a boarding party, to helping other ships in distress.
“When I get back I will be getting married in Feb 2009 so it will be wedding plans, wedding plans, wedding plans! Other than that, I just want to sit back and relax and spin heaps of my own ‘war stories’ about how things went.”
Kristy is one of some 1500 members of the Australian Defence Forces who are now on duty in the Middle East. They are part of Operation Catalyst, the Australian Government’s contribution to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq. Working with the Iraqi Government and coalition forces, Australian military personnel are continuing to work for a more secure environment and assist with national rehabilitation programs.
