Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates

Marc 1

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Do any of you remember "pino gell" (or however it was spelt) in the 24hr ratpack? Reminds me of the stuff the other half feeds the baby, oh and what about the tinned steak and egg?
Too recent for me. I remember such delicacies as Biscuits cereal (a sneaky way for defence to trial ceramic plate armour if you put one in each breast pocket). Luncheon Meat Type 2 - a mess of congealed fat and mystery meat. You just know something is going to be appetising when the most imaginative name they can come up with has a number in it. Still as some eternal optimist once pointed out to me:
"If you think that's bad - can you imagine how much worse Luncheon Meat Type 1 must have been?"

AD - Hot box meals lose their appeal in the jungle at Canungra. I wasn't far from you then at 6RAR.
 

Abraham Gubler

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
I remember such delicacies as Biscuits cereal (a sneaky way for defence to trial ceramic plate armour if you put one in each breast pocket). Luncheon Meat Type 2 - a mess of congealed fat and mystery meat. You just know something is going to be appetising when the most imaginative name they can come up with has a number in it. Still as some eternal optimist once pointed out to me:
"If you think that's bad - can you imagine how much worse Luncheon Meat Type 1 must have been?"
I actually liked the biscuits cereal and the luncheon meat. But to make them palatable the biscuit had to go into the kidney cup (I’m sure this had another name but just can’t remember it) full of coffee and the luncheon meat covered in jam. That was a good meal in the bty recce party.

The worst food I remember was something called “pork and cereal” it came in a tin, I think in the one man rat pack? It was literally grey and tasted like rubber.

AD - Hot box meals lose their appeal in the jungle at Canungra. I wasn't far from you then at 6RAR.
The one hot box in 10 that had the entire allotment’s salt cube in it was always a pleasure.
 

Raven22

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
But to make them palatable the biscuit had to go into the kidney cup (I’m sure this had another name but just can’t remember it) full of coffee and the luncheon meat covered in jam.
Cups canteen.

All you old timers would be impressed with ration packs these days. They are all pretty good. They've started incorporating all sorts of new things like beef jerky, fruit cake, muesli, potato mash etc. The meals are all pretty good too - ever since they got rid of Beef Kai Sai Ming none of the meals are inedible. The ration packs go all the way up to H packs, which are the vegetarian/Halal pack. On Ex Hamel 2010 they had 20 000 H ration packs they had to get rid of. Eating nothing but baked beans and vegetable curry for a month wasn't much fun. There were literally fist fights to get some of the few non-H packs. A USMC rifle company literally mutineed, and refused to follow orders until they got fed decent food.
 

Volkodav

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Had a Catering Corps Captain drop in on us one ex in the mid 90's to see what troops thought of the 24hr ratpacks, we actually noticed an improvement in the contents of the after he spent a couple of hours tasting what was offered. "Here Sir, try some of this", "This ones pretty good Sir, have some", "You'll Luv this one Sir"......

Then again an ex or two a year did keep me pretty lean, maybe should see if they could market the old packs as a weight loss product?
 

Marc 1

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Had a Catering Corps Captain drop in on us one ex in the mid 90's to see what troops thought of the 24hr ratpacks, we actually noticed an improvement in the contents of the after he spent a couple of hours tasting what was offered. "Here Sir, try some of this", "This ones pretty good Sir, have some", "You'll Luv this one Sir"......

Then again an ex or two a year did keep me pretty lean, maybe should see if they could market the old packs as a weight loss product?
Reminds me of when the head of the Catering Corps (a Col Tucker - I kid you not) asked us Staff Cadets if we had any questions about his corps or the way the army fed its people. Pat Wright just had to ask:

"Sir, who smashes up all the biscuits with a hammer before they go into the rat pack? "

That stirred the DS up just a tad...
 

Marc 1

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
I actually liked the biscuits cereal and the luncheon meat. But to make them palatable the biscuit had to go into the kidney cup (I’m sure this had another name but just can’t remember it) full of coffee and the luncheon meat covered in jam. That was a good meal in the bty recce party.

The worst food I remember was something called “pork and cereal” it came in a tin, I think in the one man rat pack? It was literally grey and tasted like rubber.



The one hot box in 10 that had the entire allotment’s salt cube in it was always a pleasure.
Our experience of 10 man packs was very limited - it was normally 24hr CRP in the battalions (except 5/7 - Primus stove and 10 mans in the buckets) or occasionally the patrol rations (dehyd's) when I was with Norforce.

The only real exposure to 10 man packs was when for cost or stock rotation reasons
6 Brigade was being fed out of the messes on 10 man rat packs for quite a few months. That sucked and was a very noticable dro[ in quality. Whenever anyone hears you are in the army they always assume the food was crook - not so as a whole, the food was usually pretty damned good in the messes and in decent quantities too. Also good to see the quality of the food was pretty much the same regardless of whether you ate in the OR's mess or the officers mess (duty officers always ate in the diggers mess). The uniformed fitters and turners did a great job.

Geez, nearly a page of thread drift - how do we relate this back to Air Farce?
 

Raven22

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Darwin has by far the best mess in the country. It is the only place that they can buy their food locally, instead of being allocated their food from some generic plan. I remember my first meal was a choice between a pepper steak the size of the plate and a whole lobster. I had both, then bought a couple of lobsters (for $5) to take home with me. Wednesdays was a seafood buffet, with all you could eat fish, prawns, mussels, crab, lobster etc. Thursdays was a festival of meats, with all you could eat of every type of animal known to man. It was hard playing sport after that.

Mind you, mornos was pretty good too. I remember at the end of one year when most of the brigade was deployed, so bugger all people used to turn up, but they never cut back on quantities. Me and a few other blokes who had just got back from deployment would turn up for mornos, pull up a chair to the tables, and gorge ourselves. We'd then wait in the Regi room recovering until lunch, then gorge ourselves again. Good memories from that place.
 

hairyman

Active Member
I was assisting the cook to serve at Pukapunal one day, and the menu consisted of Irish Stew or Hungarian Goulash. The difference being, for one he put the potatoes on the plate and the stew on top of it, for the other the other way around. This was for the last intake of the original National Servicemen, 1959.
 

ADMk2

Just a bloke
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Geez, nearly a page of thread drift - how do we relate this back to Air Farce?
ADGies leave their airbases (very occasionally) and go bush. They must have something to eat, to keep their fuel levels up to their Specwarops standards...

:eek:nfloorl:
 

Volkodav

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
ADGies leave their airbases (very occasionally) and go bush. They must have something to eat, to keep their fuel levels up to their Specwarops standards...

:eek:nfloorl:
Have seen the RAAF has a new (or renamed) mustering "Airbase Protection". I am not sure but they appear the be second line ADGies (with out the elite delusions?)?

Anyone know anything about them besides the fact they are reserve only?
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Have seen the RAAF has a new (or renamed) mustering "Airbase Protection". I am not sure but they appear the be second line ADGies (with out the elite delusions?)?

Anyone know anything about them besides the fact they are reserve only?
I remember circa East Timor that a few of the new ADG'ies were ex firies slotted in as it was the only available round of positions left. Firies got first choice, They were by no shake of the bottle, special material (in the socomd sense)
 

Abraham Gubler

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Anyone know anything about them besides the fact they are reserve only?
Airbase protection is a more accessible version of the ADGs for reserve. ADG reservists are basically employed as the old RRES with one year full time followed by four years part time. Airbase Protection can do their initial training part time. Training also covers supporting security police as well as ADGs.
 

Scrumpoacher

New Member
Darwin has by far the best mess in the country. It is the only place that they can buy their food locally, instead of being allocated their food from some generic plan. I remember my first meal was a choice between a pepper steak the size of the plate and a whole lobster. I had both, then bought a couple of lobsters (for $5) to take home with me. Wednesdays was a seafood buffet, with all you could eat fish, prawns, mussels, crab, lobster etc. Thursdays was a festival of meats, with all you could eat of every type of animal known to man. It was hard playing sport after that.

Mind you, mornos was pretty good too. I remember at the end of one year when most of the brigade was deployed, so bugger all people used to turn up, but they never cut back on quantities. Me and a few other blokes who had just got back from deployment would turn up for mornos, pull up a chair to the tables, and gorge ourselves. We'd then wait in the Regi room recovering until lunch, then gorge ourselves again. Good memories from that place.
Never remember robbo barracks northern OR mess serving that! Officers mess for sure. I do remember seeing lots of barra on the menu...oh 8/12 why did you have to be such crap unit? I would have stayed in longer...
 

Abraham Gubler

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro

Raven22

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Never remember robbo barracks northern OR mess serving that! Officers mess for sure. I do remember seeing lots of barra on the menu...oh 8/12 why did you have to be such crap unit? I would have stayed in longer...
The ORs mess serves the same food, its just not cooked to order or as nicely presented. There's no pleasant, obviously gay steward to get you drinks either. Of course in the ORs mess you get soft drinks for free anyway.

I ate at the sourthern ORs mess plenty of times. You had nothing to complain about.
 

jack412

Active Member
Clown Club only gets funnier, they have put in another one, #27
House of Representatives Committees – Parliament of Australia
Within the professional defence analysts’ community, Air Power Australia is also respected; both for the robust and rigorous analytical skills demonstrated and professionally, as well as for the accurate assessments published on the Air Power Australia website. The website is used as a reference source by many military, strategy & intelligence, and security establishments.
The independent analytical techniques employed by the domain experts of Air Power Australia and the results they produce are well understood within this community, as is their importance and value to the needs of the community and those who depend on their expertise.

However, as a result of appearing before and providing evidence to your Parliamentary Defence
Oversight Committee, we find ourselves, both professionally and personally, the subjects of baseless
criticisms, derisive assertions and multiple abuses, not to mention defamatory pronouncements, on a
grand scale and of the most damaging kind. These draw upon the Parliamentary processes we
engaged in, at your Committee’s request, and, in turn, bring these same processes and the
Parliament, itself, into disrepute.

We observe similar if not the same quite inappropriate behaviours and abuses have been directed
towards our professional colleagues at REPSIM Pty Ltd.
If private citizens who seek what is right and what is best for the defence and security of Australia are
to be treated this way, then Australia and its Parliamentary processes are at risk of serious jeopardy.
In keeping with the words of our Prime Minister, “. . .a line has been crossed about respect for the
Parliament of Australia”.

Please advise what remedies are available to the Parliament and ourselves to address such
behaviours and obtain redress for the damages these have and continue to cause.
 
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aussienscale

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Within the professional defence analysts’ community, Air Power Australia is also respected; both for the robust and rigorous analytical skills demonstrated and professionally, as well as for the accurate assessments published on the Air Power Australia website. The website is used as a reference source by many military, strategy & intelligence, and security establishments.
Are these guy's serious ? I worked for DSB, and I can guarantee you that would never happen !! To seriously suggest that they would use an outside source of information when they have absolutely NO REPEAT NO access whatsoever to any tactical or operational data is just plain crazy.

The only time they are referenced is when, as usual, they make their claims and they need to be clarrified and shut down due to stupidity
 

Marc 1

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Translation:

Blah blah - puffery unsupported and unsubstantiated claim... Blah blah...


Please advise what remedies are available to the Parliament and ourselves to address such
behaviours and obtain redress for the damages these have and continue to cause.
We realise that we haven't a hope in hell of getting anywhere, but we have the unmittigated gall to try for cash compensation as a result of our own stupidity.
 
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