As the sun rose over Nelson Bay on Tuesday, Wing Commander Paul Muscat was standing in the crowd gathered for dawn service reflecting on his time in the RAAF, the people who have come before him and are currently deployed.
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For Wing Commander Muscat, who returned from his fourth tour to the Middle East in March, Anzac Day is a day of pride, thought and recollection.
“When you hear Last Post at dawn service, the ode and the Australian anthem you get choked up,” he said.
“I’ve been involved in a whole lot of crazy things, have lost guys. You think about all the people you have known that haven’t come back or have been injured.”
Squadron Leader Dean Bruce, who returned from his seventh tour to the Middle East in January, agreed with his friend and commander.
“When you’re standing there at dawn service and you hear the Last Post and reveille you do get choked up,” he said.
“It’s about remembering everyone who has come before us, and those who are over there now.”
Following the dawn service in Nelson Bay, Wing Commander Muscat joined Squadron Leader Bruce in Newcastle where they marched ahead of the main service.
For Squadron Leader Bruce, the moment was extra special – he marched side-by-side with his son, Matthew, who is also in the ADF.
On their last deployment, Wing Commander Muscat, an armament engineer, and Squadron Leader Bruce, a logistics officer, worked together in the Air Task Group.
The Air Task Group supports the Iraq forces.
Both men said their recent deployments were very different from their first tours to the Middle East in the early 2000’s.
“Communication is the biggest change,” Squadron Leader Bruce said.
“From the time I first went away in 2001 to now, the ability to communicate with your families has been made a priority.
“In the early stages, the only communication was a shared SAT [satellite] phone. No internet or anything like that.
“Nowadays, because of the ability to communicate, I think families of people who have [deployed] a few times don’t want to hear from you every day.”
Wing Commander Muscat, who has moved to Nelson Bay from Canberra after being posted to Williamtown RAAF Base, was first deployed to the Middle East in 2003.
He said there was “bugger all comms” and they had “minimal gear”.
“We’re talking seven weeks before you could talk to your family, and it was limited,” Wing Commander Muscat said.
“The problem, I tell the boys and girls, is that there’s too much communication.
“You don’t make the separation so you get tied up in the home stuff and you can’t fix it.
“So we try and say don’t call home every day, don’t email. Because if you do, you don’t have a break.
“You’re never really deployed and then you start worrying about everything because you can’t fix everything. You have to make the separation.”
It is a different deployment experience today, the servicemen said.
While on their most recent deployment, the Wing Commander and Squadron Leader immersed themselves in “local culture” and enjoyed the “local food”.
“It’s the first time I’ve been on deployment where I haven’t been shot at, which is pretty good,” Wing Commander Muscat said.
Squadron Leader Bruce, who has lived in Corlette for 13 years, will move to Sydney at the end of the year while Wing Commander Muscat has called Nelson Bay home for five weeks.
