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I'm a roaming Air Force electrician.
Varies from working on the air field from runway lighting to
refurbishing buildings overseas on deployments.
Mostly here for any sort of deployment operational carry
on's that are on at the moment.
What we do is, we'll come in after a four-year
apprenticeship outside as a tradesman.
We have our log book and complete a series of courses,
which we get paid to do, obviously, while we're on the
job training, which is a big plus.
Once we've done those courses, we can then progress in rank
and just go from there.
One of the main reasons joining up was the job
security, as well as have a chance to actually travel
around Australia, get paid to do it, as well, and you're
doing a trade at the same time.
Making a difference out there, basically.
Obviously, we do a lot of [INAUDIBLE].
From running from airfield lighting, working on the
runway right up to going out bush.
Working with generators and basically pairing
up the whole camp.
They do range from computer courses, and also [INAUDIBLE],
training and assessing, so we can further on
the training levels.
And being in the RAF, I can get promoted, work my way up
to sergeant and so forth.
And that's all paid training.
How awesome.
The Air Force is great.
We get to travel around Australia.
Basically, you go and do the courses, get paid to do it,
and get fit at the same time.
Being in the RAF, it has its rewards, where I'm getting
paid to get fit.
For starters, we're doing a lot of physical training on a
daily basis.
You can go ahead and dig that trench and get covered in
concrete dust.
But you're surrounded by planes and trains and
automobiles, and everything else that goes with it.
The variety of work where we got out, it's in air strips.
Obviously, make sure the lighting's fine and all that
sort of it.
And just our day-to-day job, performing our role,
electrician on base, making sure
everything's up and running.
Deployments.
I've been to Solomon Islands and East Timor and Iraq.
Basically, my job over there was to refurb buildings and
just make sure the pilots are comfortable with their
lighting and [INAUDIBLE] situation.
The major one's just the security of work, for me.
And you can make a lot more money and learning, and all
that sort of stuff that, ten years down
the track, who knows?
This is what I'm looking for.
Obviously, the biggest draw card is job security, and
getting to travel around Australia, as
well, at the same time.
This is the switchboard for the [INAUDIBLE] container.
Very similar to the one at home, got in your house, does
the same thing as [INAUDIBLE].
Just checking out the resistance between the two
points, and making sure that she's all up to scratch.
My job will be to test and run this [INAUDIBLE] equipment
here, just to make sure it's all working, all the
[INAUDIBLE] breakers are on the generator.
Check all the lights, switches, power points.
Being an electrician, also I get to do a wide variety of
jobs, helping out the plumbers all the time as well.
So there always is that assisting the
other trades as well.
A trade assistant is basically helping out the other trades,
electricians and plumbers.
Obviously, you've got to cover a range of different tasks
that are performed in the Air Force.
You don't just do the one job all the time.
And that's great.