Musicians Onboard HMAS Adelaide

Sand Storm

(Sonya) One night before the war, our flight deck team was psyched up for five deck landings of which most would be hot refuels. During the twilight we had landed a helicopter with no problems, and now at 23:00 we stepped outside with a cylume stick each in our sleeve pockets and our cranials on ready to receive our next land on. We waited on the aft flight deck, and waited,… and waited. There was a strange substance in the air. Visibility waning so that we could no longer see any lights on the water or in the sky. Like mist or fog- yet neither, we concluded that it was dust! We were tasting the little gritty bits in our mouths. Very strange! We were in the middle of a sand storm, which from Kuwait, had blown itself out to sea. Bad news for the visiting helo that spent fifty minutes trying to find us! In an effort to help them our ship’s searchlights shone at full beam from the main mast into the dust blanket hovering over the ship. Though at one stage we distinctly heard the helo, we could see only dust and darkness. Even the idea of a trail of smoke flares from the pyrotechnics locker seemed futile. An hour later they radioed us to say they were safely on US ship Valley Forge. They would otherwise have had to ditch in the ocean. Back inside the hanger the dust filled the air and looking up the breezeway you could barely see the roller door at the other end. Our faces (bar a patch around our eyes from the goggles), were caked with sand as were our cranials, overalls and boots. It was so dusty. I can only imagine how it would have been to experience this dust storm ashore. (Chris, Meredith and Sonya) We have now left the Northern Arabian Gulf and have begun our journey home. As we write this we are pulling into Muscat, the port city of Oman. We also look forward to stopovers in Colombo and Singapore before we finish our deployment with a family cruise from Cairns to Sydney. As we begin sailing for home we can reflect on how lucky we have been. Although we faced numerous threats and at times ‘sailed close to the wind’, we are relieved that we have come through the experience unscathed. It’s been an amazing five months and a chapter in our lives that we will never forget.

MUSICIANS ONBOARD HMAS ADELAIDE

Article by Petty Officer Gabe Kicsak

After all the gear had been freighted from Sydney to Perth, the eight members that were nominated for sea were ready. All NBCD and Advanced NBCD courses were completed, medicals done. After collecting medical and dental documents, our post-out was complete. Monday, 26 May 2003, all our bags are packed and we are waiting at the airport. Usual story; hurry up and wait as our plane was delayed by 90 minutes. The flight over was smooth and transport at the other end was waiting for us. We went via Irwin Barracks to be greeted by Chief Petty Officer Bekendam who had all our gear waiting for us. We loaded it into the trailer and were on our final destination to HMAS Adelaide at Fleet Base West. We arrived at the gangway, met the Officer of the Day and were told that they weren’t expecting us until Thursday. Lucky we got there on Monday, as power for the amps was hard to get. We finally had power for everything by Wednesday afternoon. The ships program had changed at the last moment. We were now going to sail on Saturday morning instead of Friday. First day out at sea was great. No one in the band got seasick. Rehearsals had already begun whilst we were alongside and now rehearsing at sea. Our first gig was for Replenishment at Sea with United States Naval Ship Yukon. After six days at sea, we finally saw land. We were going to refuel at Christmas Island. The Ships Company were granted a SWIMEX for about an hour in crystal clear blue water. We weighed anchor and finally en route to Chennai, India. Monday morning came and we pulled into Chennai (formerly known as Madras). Final rehearsals happened for Ceremonial Sunset and the Cocktail party. About 150 guests were present for the evening function.

The next day we played at Mithra School for disadvantaged and less fortunate children. The day was a big success on the musical side. Most of these kids have never seen a saxophone, trombone or trumpet in their life before. Talk about having a completely captivated audience that was entranced by these instruments. The ship’s company built the school a new playground while others painted a mural including the talents of our newly promoted Petty Officer Kara Williams. That night, the group rigged up again at the Park Hotel for a fundraiser for the Rugby Club and the school we played for earlier that day. Most of the ship’s company turned up to the function including Maritime Commander. The night turned out to be a mini ship’s ball and a great time was had by all. Friday morning we set sail again and sailed into heavy seas. Exercises were the order of the day with an Indian ship. Late afternoon saw us all manning ship. The Indian ship sailed past us and we “Cheered Ship” to each other. This is the first time I have seen a “Cheer Ship” other than a commissioning. We all had Damage Control walkthroughs and were confident on how to use a Bauer Air Compressor. Damage Control Exercises happened and the band were manning the compressors and recharging the bottles for the next exercise. This freed up the ship’s company to do their jobs and everyone was happy again. The ship’s next stop was Singapore as Phuket was cancelled because of high terrorism threats. All the Able Seaman had a day each doing Force Protection in both Chennai and Singapore. Not many gigs were scheduled whilst alongside. Our only gig whilst in Singapore was a cocktail party onboard HMS Marlborough on the second night in. There was lots of shopping to be had by all and people comparing prices on whom got a better bargain. All in all, everyone picked up a great bargain and saved about 50% off prices compared to home. Six days in Singapore was the duration of the stay. Once again, we weighed anchor and were now involved in “Flying Fish 2003”. This exercise saw Malaysian, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Singaporean ships. The band played for RAS’s, Steel Deck BBQ’s and also a Sports Day. We are in middle of the exercise and won’t be back for another two weeks. We will stop in Singapore for a snappy refuel and food before returning back to Perth on the 10th July. The band is staying another day onboard Adelaide as she will be hosting a Family Day on the 11th July. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks the members that were my sea buddies onboard the mighty Adelaide. They are: Petty Officer Brad Scudds (Drums), Petty Officer Kara Williams (Keyboard), Leading Seaman Aaron Geeves (Guitar), Able Seaman Tracy Burke (Vocal), Able Seaman Kirstin Sampson (Trumpet), Able Seaman Shaun Tatnell (Trombone) and Able Seaman Stuart Vandegraaff (Saxophone and Vocal). A good time was had by all. We helped where we could to relieve the ships company’s duties. We cooked, we washed, we repaired computer systems that backed up vital data recordings (I did anyway) and did jobs that no one else wanted. Our Divisional Staff could not thank us enough. In the end, it was a job well done and the ship does not want us to go.