From the Director’s Desk

RAN BAND NEWS EDITION NUMBER 10 30 JUNE 2007

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

Welcome to another edition of RAN Band News. Contained in this edition are numerous articles that continue to tell the story of Where We Have Been. I was particularly moved, and hope that you will also be, to read the stories from the recent ANZAC Pilgrimage. We now have 27 people still serving who have, over the past three years, enjoyed the opportunity to participate in such a memorable deployment. This edition also confirms the very high level of integration being achieved between our permanent and reserve musicians. On ANZAC Day I marched through the streets of Brisbane with the Queensland detachment: something that I did 30 years earlier when I served as a young member of the then Queensland Port Division Band. I felt very comfortable and proud to once

ABLE SEAMAN HANSCH PLAYS THE LAST POST AT GALLIPOLI again find myself marching with my colleagues from Queensland: a group that plays a very important and effective role in keeping Navy’s image constant in and around Southeast Queensland. I was also pleased to be in attendance with the South Australian detachment earlier in the year when each member received a Unit Commendation from the Commanding Officer, Commander Andrew Jackman: their work in South Australia has also been constant and highly effective. Commander Jackman also presented Chief Petty Officer Doug Antonoff with a Commendation from the Australian Navy Systems Commander, Commodore Peter Jones, for his exceptional work developing RAN Band capability within the South Australian detachment: 10 percent of our permanent people now proudly wear a Flag Officer Commendation. The stories in this edition, and our previous editions, certainly demonstrate that the band has travelled far and wide both within Australia and beyond. For example, during the last 12 months the Navy Band has undertaken 129 tasks in 66 towns outside of capital centres, and our musicians have also been seen in Brunei, Hawaii and Vanuatu, throughout New Zealand, in Beijing and on the shores of Gallipoli.