From the Director’s Desk

RAN BAND NEWS EDITION NUMBER 5 14 DECEMBER 2004

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER CAMILLE SMITH ENJOYS A HELICOPTER RIDE DURING A SEA DEPLOYMENT

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

We arrive at another very successful point on our voyage to promote Navy, and once again, there have been many successes for which we can all be proud. Stories abound throughout this edition of RAN Band News, which showcase the good work done by our people and their collective achievements. These stories also attest to Who We Are, What We Stand For, and Where We’ve Been. We are one of Australia’s premier military ensembles and we provide a very efficient and effective contribution to Navy’s public engagement profile. Many of our people have now served at sea and their involvement in these sea deployments has added significantly to the band’s profile within Navy. We have built on that program over the last six months and the articles in this edition on the deployments in HMAS Parramatta, HMAS Anzac, and HMAS Tobruk are an account of the work done and where we have been. Well done to all those members who have embraced the challenge and have contributed so very effectively to the success of our sea deployment program. Next year brings more challenges and opportunities. I look forward with much interest to hearing of the exploits of the eight musicians who embark in HMAS Anzac in January for Exercise Northern Trident. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo, to be held in Sydney next February, will give our people world wide exposure as well as an opportunity to participate alongside some of the best bands in the world. As well as participating in those events the usual round of ceremonial and public relations activities will continue. Over the next twelve months we will be building on our sea deployment program; but the challenge will be to do this for mutual benefit. I also expect to build on our previous good relationship with the Forces Advisory Council on Entertainment and hope to see other opportunities for deployments arise because of that relationship. Importantly though, I intend to ensure that the ‘whole of team’ tour’s program continues as shown in the band’s Marketing Plan; but the challenge will remain to withstand the funding pressure to enable this to happen.